Lisbon, Sept. 16, 2025 (Lusa) - The renovation and expansion of the Condes da Ribeira Grande Palace to create the Armando Martins Museum of Contemporary Art (MACAM) in Lisbon has been awarded the Gulbenkian Foundation Heritage Prize - Maria Tereza and Vasco Vilalva 2025, the organisation announced on Tuesday.
From among 23 entries, the jury also decided to award three honourable mentions to the Lousal Mining Museum, in the district of Grândola, and to the Casa do Passal — Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum, in Cabanas de Viriato, district of Carregal do Sal, and the Church of Nossa Senhora da Lagoa, in Monsaraz, region of Évora, according to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
For the jury, chaired by António Lamas, in choosing the winning rehabilitation project for the prize — worth €50,000 — was the fact that it is "one of the most important palatial buildings in Lisbon from the mid-18th century, a period of great construction activity and the revaluation of Rua da Junqueira as the axis between the city and the Royal Palace, which was installed in the Real Barraca da Ajuda after the 1755 earthquake".
"Throughout the 20th century, almost the entire area of the vast building was occupied by educational institutions, the most enduring of which was the Rainha Dona Amélia Secondary School," recalls the Gulbenkian statement, quoting the jury.
Acquired by Armando Martins in 2006, the palace underwent extensive renovation work between 2018 and 2025, with a new building constructed to house the museum and the businessman's collection.
In this process, architects João Pedras and Hélder da Silva Cordeiro - from the Metro Urbe architecture firm - created, according to the jury, a "captivating balance between heritage preservation and restoration and the structural, functional and aesthetic requirements of the new facilities".
In addition to the renovation and expansion of the Palace, the jury also mentioned the "exceptional quality of the collection on display" in the museum, the "effectiveness of the museography and expography" and the "management model adopted, designed so that the museum's operation is partially sustained by the hotel's revenues".
In this edition, the Award jury also selected three projects to receive honourable mentions: the Lousal Mining Museum, in the municipality of Grândola, district of Setúbal, the Casa do Passal — the Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum in Cabanas de Viriato, district of Carregal do Sal, region of Viseu, and the Church of Nossa Senhora da Lagoa, in Monsaraz, district of Reguengos de Monsaraz, region of Évora.
The Lousal Mining Museum, housed in the former power station of the Lousal pyrite mines, which operated between 1900 and 1988, preserves its original machinery, carefully restored, and an extensive collection of German-made mine models acquired for the Instituto Superior Técnico.
Opened in 2001, the museum underwent a refurbishment campaign in 2024 which resulted, among other things, in "the modernisation of the museographic support that enriches and contextualises the interpretation of the collection and included living testimonies from miners and their families who settled around the mine over the decades," notes Gulbenkian.
The restoration of Casa do Passal - Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum "has two complementary aspects, in which the recovery of memory proved to be a decisive factor: on the one hand, the restoration of the building, based on a scrupulous study of its pre-existing features, and, on the other, the recovery of the memory of Aristides de Sousa Mendes," (a Portuguese diplomat who is recognized in Portugal as a national hero for his actions during World War II. As the Portuguese consul-general in the French city of Bordeaux, he defied the orders of Portugal's dictator Antonio de Oliveira's Estado Novo regime, issuing visas to thousands of refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied France, including Jews).
"The dispersion of objects belonging to the family was overcome by means of a documentary exhibition that contextualises the diplomat's role and his humanitarian action," emphasised the award jury.
The Church of Nossa Senhora da Lagoa, classified as a National Monument in 1986, is an example of the counter-reform architecture of King João III.
Located in Largo do Pelourinho, in Monsaraz, "today its interior conveys a serene atmosphere of a historic temple that has regained continuity as a living space," emphasises the jury of the Gulbenkian Heritage Award - Maria Tereza and Vasco Vilalva.
"In parallel with the rehabilitation of the building, there was a comprehensive and careful restoration of carvings, altarpieces and altars, and a significant lighting project, in an exemplary work by architects, restorers, archaeologists, lighting technicians and builders, but also interaction with the authorities, ecclesiastical entities and the local population," adds the jury about this project.
Created in 2007 in honour of Vasco Vilalva, the Award aims to highlight exemplary restoration projects in movable and immovable property of cultural value that encourage the preservation and restoration of heritage.
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