Roy Lichtenstein Temporary Museum / Diogo Aguiar Studio + João Jesus Arquitectos

Architects: Diogo Aguiar Studio, João Jesus Arquitectos
Location: Av. Lusíada, 1500-392 Lisbon, Portugal
Area: 150.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

Construction: Unveil
Client: Sonae Sierra / State of the art

Text description provided by the architects. As part of an initiative that seeks to bring art closer to people, Diogo Aguiar Studio and João Jesus Arquitectos have come up with a Temporary Museum to receive works by American artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) within a commercial space in Lisbon.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to create a less conventional exhibition space, away from the logic of the white and abstract cube, the architects sought to explore a greater relationship between container and content, believing that it could contribute to greater public involvement and a better understanding of the exposed works.

Three planes define the exhibition space, which is accessible from three points, in a fluid continuity. The artworks are exposed in curved walls of corrugated and perforated black metal sheet, which assume as transparent as a longer distance, but that can define space and reveal some opacity at a shorter proximity.

If, on the one hand, the perforation on the metal sheet refers to the artist’s image (and even some of his creations within sculpture), on the other hand, it’s dark tonality places the artistic works in greater evidence, by the strong chromatic contrast. Taking as a reference the colors used by the artist in his artworks, the linoleum floor, and the articulated luminaires assume the lemon-yellow color, contributing to give a Pop aesthetic to the temporary exhibition space.