Belém Cultural Center, Cultural center in Belém, Portugal
The Belém Cultural Center is a complex of pale beige limestone blocks arranged in offset tiers, with a lower front section featuring a row of tall, thin white columns and a sloping roof near the center. The blocks rise in steps toward a taller plain tower-like block at the rear. Its walls are mostly solid stone with horizontal bands of windows and recessed openings. Of the five modules designed by Vittorio Gregotti and Manuel Salgado, only three were built: the Conference Centre, the Performing Arts Centre and the Exhibition Centre.
The center opened in 1993 as a complement to the historic Santa Maria de Belém district. Architects Vittorio Gregotti and Manuel Salgado created it to connect the neighborhood's heritage with contemporary cultural activities.
The exhibition centre hosted the Museum of Design from 1999 to 2006 and the Museu Coleção Berardo from 2007 to 2022. Since October 2023 it houses MAC/CCB, the Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture Centre, which runs guided tours, talks and family activities at weekends.
Visitors should know that some areas have limited wheelchair accessibility and it is worth planning this in advance. The complex has multiple entrances, and it helps to check ahead which module is hosting the activity you want to see.
The complex's walls cover about 36,000 square metres and are clad in Abancado limestone from Pero Pinheiro, fixed on metal supports with a rusticated Gastejado finish. The building won the International Stone Architecture Award at the Verona Fair in 1993. Its technical fittings include 1,600 km of electrical cables, 15,000 lamps and 19 lifts.
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