Timelapse movie by Alejandro Villanueva shows Amanda Levete’s sinuous MAAT museum

This movie by videographer Alejandro Villanueva captures the wave-like form of Lisbon‘s MAAT contemporary art museum, designed by Amanda Levete’s firm AL_A, as light shifts from day to night.

Villaneueva‘s movie captures the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) during its opening in October 2016.

It is the latest in a series of videos by Villaneueva, who has also captured Snøhetta’s Reindeer Observation Pavilion and Reiulf Ramstad’s Trollstigen Visitor Centre.

The MAAT opening coincided with the beginning of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2016. During which time, the museum experienced huge footfall – as shown in the video – with crowds of 15,000 forcing the closure of a footbridge used to access the site over fears it would collapse.

The AL_A-designed museum is covered in thousands of glimmering white tiles that reflect the changing light over the course of the day.

A rooftop observation point on the crest of the undulating form gives visitors views out onto the Tagus River and the waterside promenade below. The roof slopes down to the ground at either side, allowing the building to act as a continuation of the promenade.

The museum’s galleries are sunken below ground to keep the profile of the building low, in keeping with its historic neighbours.

The recently renovated Central Tejo power station next door hosts further galleries. The red brick building – shown at the opening of the movie – is a former thermoelectric plant that closed in 1975 but has now been converted into gallery space.

The courtyard between the old and new parts of the MAAT was used as one of the main exhibition sites for the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2016.

Pavilions made from white plasterboard and steel framework were set up in the space.

A second stage of construction work is now underway on the museum, with a new pedestrian bridge linking the roof with the street behind expected to complete later this year. A park by Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture will also open.

Video is by Alejandro Villanueva.

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