Tour the Albuquerque Foundation, Portugal’s new ceramics hub

Albuquerque Foundation exterior old and new

(Image credit: Francisco Nogueira. Courtesy The Albuquerque Foundation)

published 13 February 2025

The Albuquerque Foundation, a new cultural destination in Portugal, is about to open its doors. The space, a complex that mixes old and new architecture, overseen by Brazilian studio Bernardes Arquitetura, is located in Sintra, a short trip from the country's capital of Lisbon – and is dedicated to celebrating the art of ceramics.

Explore the new Albuquerque Foundation

The brand-new Albuquerque Foundation was envisioned by Brazilian collector Renato de Albuquerque and his granddaughter Mariana Teixeira de Carvalho. Conceived as a permanent home for ceramics from all corners of the earth, the institution hosts and displays the renowned Albuquerque Collection of Chinese Ceramics, one of the world’s most significant collections of Ming and Qing dynasties export porcelain.

Renato de Albuquerque is a former civil engineer with a remarkable collection in his hands. It consists of more than 2,600 pieces, some loaned to seminal international institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Now, on public show together for the first time, the precious items will be available to enjoy after the foundation's opening on 22 February 2025.

Temporary shows will include a contemporary programme, bridging old and new art and craft. The opening show, overseen by director Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, will be a solo exhibition by acclaimed US artist Theaster Gates.

In a similar way, the new complex's architecture also combines past and present. The design, master-planned by the Brazilian practice, blends traditional elements and historical fabric with a modern new wing. The campus, of course, features exhibition areas but also a specialist library, a restaurant serving sustainable local produce, a concept store, and a garden that is open to visitors.

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Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).