MACAM, Museu de Arte Contemporânea Armando Martins

MACAM opened in 2025 in an eighteenth-century palace on Rua da Junqueira, with more than two thousand square metres of modern and contemporary art, a hotel and a restaurant in the former chapel. The lighting is the whole of it — architectural and museographic, from the galleries to the facades — and it is the largest commission the practice has taken.

The concept is a progression in time. Colour temperature shifts from room to room, following the periods held in the collections, and it is that shift rather than any signage that carries the visitor: Gallery 1 warm and delicate, guiding without shadows or unwanted reflections; Gallery 2 cooler and brutalist in character, tuned to the works it holds.

In a museum the light decides what is seen of a work. Illuminance controlled by medium, exposure limited on the fragile pieces, sources rendering colour above 95 CRI, and control systems that can be tuned — that is how the standing tension of any museum was balanced: to preserve without making illegible. The criteria follow the CIE recommendations for the display of art.

The route is drawn in hierarchies: general light, accent light, detail light. There are points of focus, transitions of lower contrast and visual pauses between rooms, so that a visitor is led without being told where to go.

The fittings disappear into the architecture. Glare and reflection were dealt with work by work, and the whole installation is adjustable for the curatorship still to come — a museum changes its exhibition, and the lighting has to change with it.

The tuning was done with the curator Adelaide Ginga, room by room. It is that work, and not the equipment schedule, that separates lighting a wall from presenting a painting.

Client: MACAM
Founder: Armando Martins
Architecture: MetroUrbe
Interiors: Andrez&Andrez
Curator: Adelaide Ginga
Location: Rua da Junqueira, Lisbon — the former Palácio dos Condes da Ribeira Grande
Lighting: Diana Delnegro Architectural Lighting, then Lightware

Museums and art galleries

The entrance atrium under its faceted ceiling, the light caught in the folds and the glazed facade at night. — Atrium, faceted ceiling

The approach corridor from the car park, a continuous line of light on the ceiling pulling the perspective and the names cut into the concrete walls. — Approach corridor

The exterior approach stair to the hotel and the museum at night, the handrails lit from within drawing the climb against the ceramic panel beyond. — Approach to hotel and museum

The temporary gallery, the sculpture standing in its own pool of light on the floor and a circular opening cut through the wall returning the painting in the room beyond. — Temporary gallery

The museum atrium, its coffered ceiling working as the light source. — Museum atrium

The entrance to Gallery 1, the wall text washed by a cove, the timber door at the centre and the classical sculpture lit inside its case. — Entrance to Gallery 1

The transition gallery, its track of spotlights answering displays that change. — Transition gallery

The glass-dome vitrine in the brick niche, lit from within: the light falls on the terracotta floor and leaves the brick vault reading around it. — Vitrine in the brick niche

A contemporary art gallery under the brick vaults, the sculpture at the centre. — Contemporary art gallery

The gallery under the brick vaults, the stone piers taking a grazing light, each work held by its own spot and the tulle sculpture hung from the vault; the polished floor returns the whole room. — Gallery under the vaults

The photography room, the tracks drawing the route across the ceiling and every print taken without a reflection in its glass; the striped chaise on its plinth at the centre. — The photography room

The overlapping glass panels, the painted figures throwing their own shadow onto the white wall behind and the light crossing the glass without lighting it up. — The glass panels

The modern collection room, the paintings taken one by one from the track, the opening through to the next room and the timber bench at the centre; the polished floor returns the whole wall. — The modern collection

The enfilade of galleries, each painting taken by its own spot and the mirrored floor doubling the sequence to the far end. — Gallery enfilade

Guest rooms

A guest room at the MACAM Hotel, the terracotta panelled wall behind the bed and a cove of light running the ceiling. — Guest room, terracotta panelling

The same room from the other side, the wardrobes washed by a cove and the herringbone floor running to the door. — The same room, from the wardrobe side

The bathroom of the same room, the fluted terracotta tile grazed with light and the round mirror backlit. — Bathroom, fluted tile

A room in taupe, vertical wall lights flanking the painting and the cove washing the ceiling above linen curtains. — Guest room, taupe

A painting on a narrow beam above the marble desk, the table lamp making the second layer. — Painting and desk

A suite bathroom, a cove of light running the whole ceiling, tall mirrors and a freestanding tub. — Suite bathroom

The principal suite beneath its painted nineteenth-century dome, lifted by a continuous cove of light. — Principal suite

A guest room seen through the frosted glass partition, the ceiling washed by a cove and a floor lamp over herringbone parquet. — Guest room, through frosted glass

A room in deep blue, the cove separating the pale ceiling from the dark walls and wall lights flanking the painting. — Guest room, deep blue

The bathroom of a new-wing room, the fluted glass shower at the left, the backlit round mirror over the stone basin and the timber shelf washed from below. — Bathroom, new wing

Common spaces

The state staircase of the palace, a cascade of crystal globes falling from the dome over the wrought-iron balustrade. — State staircase

The hotel library under its cove-washed dome, linear light built into the shelving, the crystal chandelier at the centre and the palace monograms on the spandrels. — Library

A guest floor corridor, vertical linear wall lights on the plastered wall and a cove washing the ceiling to the far end. — Guest floor corridor

The monumental staircase seen from below, its two flights opening under the cascade of globes with the lit enfilade beyond. — Monumental staircase

Exteriors

The MACAM complex at night: the palace facade grazed with light and returned by the water mirror, light lines set into the paving, and at the right the perforated ceramic facade of the new wing. — The complex at night

MACAM, restaurant and the àcapela bar

The restaurant dining room, the coffered ceiling lit pink over the laid tables, the counter at the far end and the glazed facade to the left. — Restaurant, coffered ceiling

The museum cafeteria, the counter shelving lit from within, the blue wall beyond and terracotta chairs on the timber floor. — Museum cafeteria

The palace church facade at night, grazed from below, the quoins, the pediment and the door surrounds drawn in light against the deep blue sky. — The àcapela facade

The chapel dome seen straight up, its coffers rising to the lantern and painted angels ringing the light. — The àcapela dome

The àcapela bar from the piano nobile, Trinity — the installation by the Spanish artist Carlos Aires — burning red in the chancel arch, and the painted dome above. — The àcapela — Trinity, by Carlos Aires

The àcapela bar counter under the chancel arch, the pilasters and the vault washed from below and, beyond it, Carlos Aires's black and gold panel above the bottle shelf. — The àcapela bar, the counter