Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian

More than a museum or a foundation, Gulbenkian is a rare place where Lisbon seems to slow down. Created in 1956 through the will of Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian, the collector and philanthropist of Armenian origin who chose Lisbon for the last years of his life, the institution brought together art, science, education and charity within a single cultural project. The complex of headquarters, museum and garden, inaugurated in 1969, is a landmark of Portuguese modernism: its restrained volumes of concrete and glass seem to rest upon the greenery, in constant dialogue with the garden designed by Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles and António Viana Barreto, one of the most emblematic modern gardens in Portugal. It is worth noticing that rare fusion of architecture, water, trees and silence. Not by chance, the complex received the Valmor Prize and was classified as a National Monument, becoming the first contemporary work to receive that protection in Portugal.