Vertical Gardens Spruce Up a Dusty Monument
DC.AD and Victor Vicente return to Espelho de Água, a modernist building that hosted the 1940 Exhibition of the Portuguese World, to return it to its modernist roots and give it new life as a dining room and art gallery.
In 1940, a structure was built at Praça do Império, the site of that year's Exhibition of the Portuguese World, to serve as the restaurant for a celebration of the country's formation. Subsequent renovations had muddied its modernist style. DC.AD and Victor Vicente returned to the building, dubbed Espelho de Água, to restore and transform it into a lively dining room and art gallery.
Inside, a large planting feature designed by Michael Hellgreen of Vertical Garden Design clads the kitchen block. "The idea behind the vertical garden was to bring a natural element to the space, since the overall look was very minimal," architect Duarte Caldas says.
A custom bar sits underneath a retractable skylight. The material palette of the interior is simple, with white walls and concrete flooring.
In the dining room, a mural by Sol LeWitt, painted in 1990, was uncovered. A circular theme, introduced in the original project, is reinforced by round lamps throughout the interior.
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