A Lisbon townhouse, in the heart of the Portuguese capital, has been transformed into a calm oasis. The refresh was spearheaded by UK-based architects McLean Quinlan, who worked with the client, a couple with two children, who wanted a home centred on wellbeing.

Inside a wellness-inspired Lisbon townhouse

‘We wanted to create instant tranquillity, the moment you step through the front door,’ explains Will Mouland, associate architect and project lead at McLean Quinlan. ‘The space is enveloped by natural textures, diffused light and soft tones – I think it’s hard not to exhale deeply when you step into a space like that, particularly when it’s in contrast to the busy urban context.’

The client, the co-founder of a wellness company, asked McLean Quinlan to create an interior using natural materials and incorporate flexible family spaces; the façade must remain the same.

The firm began by reconfiguring the once uninspiring property. The residence was originally a series of subdivided homes that had been carved out of the property in the 1990s. During the process, McLean Quinlan discovered problems with the split-level floors, which left the house with echoes and bad acoustics.

Says Mouland, ‘The driving force behind the design was creating appropriately scaled spaces with an intentional flow. The aesthetic approach came from wanting to create a true oasis of calm, with an almost ethereal quality, distilled to the most limited palette of pale wood, stone, and natural plaster.’

The architectural firm settled on arranging the townhouse into a four-bedroom main house and a separate self-contained apartment above. The ground floor is centred on the client’s interest in wellness and meditation. This was achieved by creating distinct zones, including a massage room, a dedicated yoga space, and a gym.

However, it was important to step away from the functional feeling of a commercial gym, which led to the introduction of curtains and warm spotlighting for a more domestic atmosphere. There is also an additional custom cold plunge pool and an infrared sauna.

The use of Douglas fir throughout gives each room a cabin-like quality. The first floor is the main home entry and family area. A new kitchen, with a pantry, overlooks the garden, while Portuguese materials such as local tiles and lime-washed wall finishes are scattered throughout. The second floor, which is accessed by a repurposed Douglas fir staircase, accommodates family bedrooms.

‘There are so many spaces I love in this home,’ says Mouland. ‘The stairs, the wellness space, the pool changing garden room – but perhaps the space I’m most proud of is the relationship between the principal dressing room and bathroom.

'The dressing room is naturally lit, solely by borrowed light from other spaces, and yet it doesn’t feel dark. The chamfered wall to the bedroom and the glazed partition between the bathroom and dressing room, screened with the translucent linen curtains, are more successful than I anticipated.’

Stepping into this Lisbon townhouse, visitors are greeted with a moment of decompression. The light and soothing atmosphere that results from its organic materiality helps create a calming cocoon from the bustle of city life.

mcleanquinlan.com

Palácio Príncipe Real is a boutique Lisbon hotel with a backstory – tied to Portugal's aristocracy and the changing tides of the capital – and is infused with a sense of historic hedonism. Constructed in 1877 as a mansion for Diario de Noticias, co-founder of a Lisbon newspaper, the private residence was soon passed to the Teixeira da Mota family, who made it a centrepiece of Lisbon’s high society – famed for extravagant, decadent parties hosted in its lavish rooms – and would own it for more than a century.

Palácio Príncipe Real

The grand building is right at home in the surrounding Príncipe Real neighbourhood, an area established in the mid-19th century as a leafy residential haven for Lisbon’s aristocracy, and named in honour of King Dom Pedro V (Príncipe Real meaning ‘Royal Prince’), who reigned from 1853 to 1861.

After the Teixeira da Mota family moved out in 1980, the building slowly began to fall into disrepair. That was until retired British couple Miles and Gail Curley discovered the derelict building in 2015. Over the course of several years, they restored the classical architecture and ornate stucco, down to the hand-painted arabesque ceilings and azulejos (Portuguese tiles). Their attention to detail helped make the property into an award-winning boutique hotel, where historic glamour and contemporary craftsmanship meet.

Amid the grandeur, an unlikely, recurring motif throughout the hotel is the Indian runner duck – a nod to the small ecological farming business in Mallorca that the Curleys owned more than 20 years ago. Two Indian runner ducks, gifted by a friend, captivated the owners at the time, and are now suitably honoured.

At the heart of the hotel is a cascading stairway. Sunlight streams through a skylight, illuminating the pink walls. Up these stairs, are 25 restored rooms and suites. You might choose to sleep in the former family ballroom, or perhaps to soak up the views of a jacaranda tree from a window-side Drummonds roll-top bath.

Outside, the hotel opens up to a soothing oasis with a pool. The 1,400 sq m garden includes wisteria that climbs up the outside staircase, while deep-pink bougainvillea tumbles down the walls, and jasmine and lemon blossom add fragrance.

The residence’s Gatsby-esque grandeur nods to high-society parties past, but in its latest incarnation, this former palace has transitioned into a calming retreat where a more restrained elegance is the relaxing order of the day. Sip a glass of rosé in the grounds, peruse the neighbourhood shops (there are hilly, cobblestoned streets – pack comfortable shoes), or daydream beneath a jacaranda tree about the wild parties once hosted in the ballroom.

palacioprincipereal.com

Leading a wave of new international openings in Portugal’s ancient capital, to include this autumn, The Standard and next year the Six Senses, Andaz Lisbon, designed by Patricia Urquiola, is a triumph of colour and carefully curated art, perfectly reflecting the city’s vibrant cultural melting pot.

Wallpaper* checks in at Andaz Lisbon

What’s on your doorstep?

Everything you might want really, starting with Lisbon’s most impressive square, the Praça do Comércio. Open to the water, this was once the gateway to Lisbon, where the grand caravels arrived in the Golden Age of Discovery to unload the gold and exotic spices from their travels or visiting dignitaries alighted to meet the King. Between this square and the hotel is the imposing Rua Augusta Arch, built to commemorate the city’s reconstruction after the devastating 1755 earthquake. Several of the hotel’s rooms look directly onto the arch, topped with, among other figures, the great explorer, Vasco de Gama; a unique view to wake up to.

Opposite it, along one side, is Lisbon’s Design Museum, MUDA, which houses fashion and design from the 19th century to the present day. A little further afield, but visible from the hotel, is Lisbon’s 12th-century cathedral and the even older Castle of St. George, which dominates the city’s skyline.

Who is behind the design?

Patricia Urquiola, leading her acclaimed design studio, Studio Urquiola, was responsible for the entire interior design concept, which immediately immerses the visitor in colour, warmth and creative detail. Inspiration came from Lisbon’s rich heritage, where past influences from Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Goa, Brazil, Japan and Macau are all woven into today’s Portugal. This is writ large in rooftop restaurant Luzzi, where blue floors represent the Ocean which connects these countries, vibrant African designs clad the ceilings, and wall décor mixes rope masks from Japan with bold murals.

Over-layering the vivid colours and textures used, art, curated brilliantly by Federica Sala, grounds us closer to home with the traditional Portuguese materials of local Lioz stone, cork, textiles, ceramics and tiles, much in evidence. Vibrant cork artwork by Beatrice Bonafini decorates the walls in the Andaz Lounge, the hub of the hotel, where the bar is a contemporary reinterpretation of Lisbon’s famous street kiosks. In the rooms and suites, bespoke furniture from Studio Urquiola and contemporary art, such as a geometric textile work in yellow, blue and white by Rosarinho Andrade or colourful abstract dyptychs by Farinha Rosa hang on the tactile wood panelling, adding yet more depth to rooms which come with a strong sense of place.

The room to book

I loved my Arch Suite, one of only four in the hotel, from where, through the Rua Augusta Arch, I could watch the wonderful Lisbon light rise on the shimmering water. But all the 170 rooms are charming. Filled with light, many with views on a quintessential Lisbon landmark, they come in calming tones with art which reflects the surrounding Lisbon streets, their vivid colours, gleaming tiles, and pottery, such an integral part of Portugal’s culture. The capital’s red roofs might well have been the departure point for the glossy red walls in the bathrooms, where red and white tiles also feature, with Lioz stone square basins. Mine came with a tub to sink into and a generous double shower. Amenities are Eleventh Hour from Byredo.

Minibar high?

Championing the best of Portugal, the mini-bar offers white port from the north, Ginja, a sweet and sour cherry liqueur from Obidos, beer from Sagres in the Algarve and a Portuguese gin, Sharish. Elegant, ribbed bottles of tonic water and lemonade come from the Spanish Tribute brand, and there is, of course, water and Coke. There is a Nespresso machine, capsule coffee and a variety of teas. A nice touch is the coffee cups, which come from Vista Alegre and are an interpretation of the famous Lisbon pavement mosaics.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

You definitely should, for the concept in the rooftop restaurant, Luzzi is an interesting one, and the food here is a serious delight. The menu, created by Bruno Alves, is billed as ‘modern Lusitanian cuisine’ and draws on the countries that are part of Portugal’s culinary heritage but uses ingredients essential to these countries’ cuisines today. Goa, Macau, Mozambique, Japan, Cape Verde, Angola and Brazil are all represented with dishes like kibbeh, a Levantine dish popular in Brazil served here with bulgur and a citrus tahini sauce, or the tuna tartare, which nods to the simple tuna pie loved in Cape Verde. Reimagined anew here, it is elevated with fresh rather than canned tuna, cream from the Azores, spices from Japan and piri-piri from Angola. Guinea Fowl might come in a clay pot with cachupa, another Cape Verdean dish, while puddings include a traditional, conventional layered cake from Goa, with a roasted coconut sorbet and a Port glaze, from the vineyards of the Douro further north.

Drinks, at the Bar in Luzzi or across the rooftop in the terrace where live music and the warm Lisbon breeze blow, are equally creative as are cocktails at the Andaz Lounge, on the ground floor, where home-made pennyroyal (an herb much used in the Alentejo) soda is mixed into Mojitos. There, too, Portuguese wines can be explored from a list which represents the best female winemakers; a nice touch. Soak it all up with the ‘street food’ served here, the kind of popular snacks that can be found in the iconic kiosks which dot Lisbon’s squares and avenidas. Cod fritters, chicken empanadas and meaty croquettes. Save room, though, for the Basque cheesecake made with sheep’s cheese from Portugal’s mountain range, the Serra da Estrela. It is a triumph.

Where to switch off

As yet, the spa has not been opened, but there will be both a spa and a gym in the future. Currently, there is a room on the ground floor which has been equipped to serve as a temporary gym with weights and treadmills. Meanwhile, the rooftop overlooking the Rua Augusta Arch (there is a little niche with a table in it, which has a bird’s eye view) is as good as it gets for downtime.

The verdict

This is the first Andaz to open since it has been rebranded by Hyatt, after their acquisition of another lifestyle brand, The Standard, and its more upscale positioning is evident. Visually compelling, it dazzles with warmth, storytelling and respect for its location.

Andaz Lisbon is located at R. do Comércio 132, 1100-060 Lisbon, Portugal

There is something in the air this spring when it comes to exhibiting fashion. In London, the V&A hosts the UK’s first major retrospective of the work of Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli, framed in large part around her connection and complicity with the avant-garde art scene of the mid-20th century. The first Monday in May will see the opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s ‘Costume Art’, with a gala event themed ‘Fashion is Art’. And at Lisbon’s Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, a new exhibition, curated by Eloy Martínez de la Pera Celada and very much in this same spirit, opened its doors last week.

In the Portuguese capital, the simply titled ‘Art & Fashion’, takes some of the most notable items in the museum’s collection, acquired by its namesake during his lifetime, as its starting point, and positions them alongside garments ranging from a peplumed coat from 1740 to an embroidered wedding dress from Sarah Burton’s debut at Givenchy for the A/W 2025 season. The exhibition’s conceit is simple, too: that the boundaries between the disciplines of fashion design and fine art are, essentially, moot.

‘Art & Fashion’ at Lisbon’s Calouste Gulbenkian Museum

The show opens with an introduction to Calouste Gulbenkian himself, a dandyish Armenian oil tycoon with a penchant for bespoke Savile Row tailoring, and, metaphorically at least, very deep pockets. His insatiable, voracious appetite for beautiful things was founded upon Ruskian principles: of beauty as a moral imperative, something that purifies, that makes us better. Whether or not this vast collection of beautiful objects – some 6,000 pieces in total – was enough to purify a man whose wealth was built on the exploitation of Middle Eastern petroleum reserves is debatable, but what is without question is the quality of his taste. ‘Art & Fashion’ is almost singular in its scope, for the reason that at its fingertips is an unparalleled array of works, from the ancient world to the Impressionists. The opportunity to position a Lacroix A/W 1992 look next to a Rembrandt oil painting is one that very few institutions can easily capitalise on, and it is instances like this that make the exhibition particularly impressive.

Grouped largely by the artworks’ regional provenance, the exhibition route is conceived to honour the way the museum usually displays its permanent collection, which is temporarily closed to the public while renovation works to the purpose-built Brutalist building are underway. An ebony funerary statue from the Thebes region of Egypt, depicting a man dressed in a shendyt and sculpted sometime between 2000 and 1990 BCE, takes its place next to a Yohji Yamamoto menswear look of a poplin shirt and pleated wool taffeta wrap skirt. Three 14th-century plates painted in blue and white find their echo in an exquisitely embroidered, sleeveless Dries Van Noten gown. Carpaccio’s Holy Family with Donors (1505) hangs behind pieces from Charles Frederick Worth, Mariano Fortuny, and Balenciaga, which mirror the clothes worn by the painting’s four central figures.

These are some of the more literal examples of art’s influence on fashion, of which there are many, and it is these that lend the show its most joyful moments. It’s impossible not to smile at the cute comparison between the splayed body of a hunted swan in a 1708 still life by Jan Weenix, and Manuel Pertegaz’s voluminous 1960 goose feather dress. Or the Virgin and child scene reimagined in oils by Renaissance painter Jan Gossaert, and then again in hand-painted silk by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy. But its best and most thought-provoking moments are where the comparisons move beyond aesthetic to something more conceptual – most particularly in the pairing of Yves Saint Laurent’s 1968 Saharienne jacket with various works by the French Impressionists. Both defiantly transgressive. Both radically changed the course of history in their respective disciplines.

The exhibition makes a persuasive argument for treating fashion and art as equals, but it does so in part by purposefully neglecting to establish a rulebook for what it means by fashion, and what it means by art. One is dealt with in very narrow terms, the other in very broad. Fashion is represented almost wholly by luxury ready-to-wear or haute couture – Guo Pei, Romeo Gigli, Versace, Madame Grès, Alaïa – with only one small nod to what we might call ‘popular fashion’, in the form of a shawl with traditional Nisa embroidery. Conversely, one of the first large-scale pieces on show from the permanent collection is, fittingly, a wardrobe, an incredible wardrobe – one attributed to André-Charles Boulle circa 1700, and rich with tortoiseshell and bronze marquetry – but a wardrobe nonetheless. The fashion is fashion of the highest form, the art is not just fine art, but applied and decorative too – functional pieces, craftwork, textiles, furniture, a picnic set, a hat-stand. By this logic, all beauty is art.

So bold a statement is worthy of Ruskin himself. The exhibition ends with another of his disciples: Edward Burne-Jones, whose The Mirror of Venus (1875) is mirrored again by a series of draping neo-classical gowns hung on mannequins in a frieze-like composition. It’s a dazzling finale, and a convincing case for the defence, in a debate that will doubtless continue well past this 2026 slew of exhibitions on the matter are over.

‘Art & Fashion’ at Calouste Gulbenkian Museum runs until 21 June 2026.

gulbenkian.pt

Welcome to the latest instalment of 'How We Host,' our column devoted to all-things entertaining from those who know a thing or two about having a good time. Next to dissect the fine art of entertaining is Elad Yifrach, founder of the luxury homeware brand L’Objet.

Setting a table is second nature for L’Objet founder Elad Yifrach. Those who have ventured into L’Objet's boutiques in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighbourhood in Paris, or on London’s Sloane Street, will be well-acquainted with their museum-like jewel box interiors, which display elegant homeware, fragrances and decor inspired by history, travel and a love for beautiful things. ‘I love the gesture of traveling around and bringing back semi-precious stones or other curiosities, then making them into a functional object or just adding them to your collection. That always resonated with me,’ explains Yifrach.

It was in Rome five years ago where Yifrach found his inspiration for L’Objet’s newest tabletop collection, Grand Tour, a collection of dinnerware inspired by time-honoured craft techniques and semi-precious materials such as malachite, coral, lapis and tiger’s eye. ‘I saw these incredible giant tables, panels and urns that were all stone inlay. I thought: these are such old-world masterpieces, it would be fun to use that technique on something modern and functional,' he recalls.

Against the backdrop of his beautiful Lisbon home, where he relocated five years ago, Yifrach enjoys the surprising element of mixing different textures and eras in his tablescape, noting, ‘It’s not a "perfect match," but there is a perfect harmony between them,’ he says. Below, the designer shares his secrets to effortless hosting.

How We Host with L'Objet founder Elad Yifrach

Wallpaper*: Are you a relaxed host and pull it all together at the last minute, or is there careful planning?
Elad Yifrach : I try to do both. If it’s a Thursday or Friday night and I’m working, I have less time to plan, but on the weekend, I take it easier. I take more time to set the table, cook and buy everything. I like to set up more than just one area in the house, normally drinks will be had in the living room, so I’ll set up a bar there with wine or Champagne. Then you can take it easy until everyone is ready to sit at the dinner table.

W*: And can you cook?
EY: Oh, yeah, I love cooking. A lot.

W*: What was the first dish you perfected to feed a group of friends or family?
EY: A lemon chicken tagine. My grandparents are from Morocco, so I know the flavors, but I actually discovered this specific version in Paris. I serve it with either rice or couscous. Sometimes I just do a big table full of different salads and dishes such as eggplants, roasted vegetables or cauliflower, and then you don't even need the rice.

W*: Drinks on arrival – what’s on offer?
EY: Champagne. Always. And then wine. I’m not a bartender, but I’m good at picking good wine or Champagne. I like to make it easy by setting up a beautiful Champagne cooler so everybody can help themselves. I always serve it with a good mix of nuts, Spanish olives or pão de queijo (a Portuguese cheese bread). When guests start arriving, I put the cheese bread in the oven for 15 minutes so they are served hot. It’s very satisfying with wine.

W*: Go on and tempt us – what’s your go-to menu, from starters to afters, whether homemade or bought in?
EY: I like when I’m able to make many different dishes and put everything on the table with an abundance of options. In the winter, I might make an orange salad with liqueur and cinnamon. For dessert, I always like to have fruit, but one of my favourites is a very famous chocolate cake here in Portugal. It’s flourless, very rich and dense, but also fluffy. I love serving it with a lemon and rosemary sorbet from a guy here in town that I'm obsessed with. And because of my Moroccan heritage, I love serving Moroccan tea at the end. I actually have an antique set I bought in Morocco.

W*: What’s on your dinner party playlist?
EY: My Spotify is full of different moods. For me, music and lighting are the first layers of everything. I curate the music for the stores too, and every season I drop a new playlist, which I usually put together when I’m traveling on an airplane. Once you get into it, it’s easy — one song gives you another idea. I love Polo & Pan and Daft Punk, they’re just instant good moods. I also like to surprise people; all of a sudden there will be a Madonna song, or Jungle, or Charlotte Gainsbourg for some old French tunes.

W*: Who’s your dream dinner party guest?
EY: James Turrell, because the way he sees light and colour is my favourite. Salvador Dalí, because he would have incredible insights, and Yves Saint Laurent, although I think he would judge everything on the table!

W*: Dish the dirt: what should a host never do?
EY: Never clear the table at the end of the meal. Unless you want your guests to leave, that’s a cue that 'this is over.' If there’s good conversation, let it go as long as it can. Also, never be too precious about your house. If you serve wine, you take the risk that someone might spill it. Don't give off that nervous energy about your carpet or your table. It’s meant to be lived in.

W*: What should a guest never do?
EY: Be too late. A 'fashionable delay' is okay, but if you’re holding up the rest of the table, it’s not considerate to the person cooking. It adds unnecessary tension.

W*: What is your key to a successful evening?
EY: Set the tone from the beginning with music and light, and don't leave everything to the last minute so you aren't stressed. You need to enjoy it as much as the guests. If you don’t have time, just pare it down and do less, even if you just order pizza!

Bica is one of the first words that any caffeine-drinking visitor to Lisbon should learn, for it translates as ‘espresso’. Its origins aren’t clear: some say it stands for Beba Isto Com Açúcar, which means ‘Drink this with sugar’ and dates back to the early 20th century when coffee, a bitter drink, was first introduced to Portugal.

Others argue it means ‘spout’ as from a pot or a fountain, and that there was once one near here, which the restaurant drew on to name itself ‘the spout of the shoe’. One thing is certain, though, it is also the name for the tap used to pour a draught beer (imperial), and here, in this new incarnation of a legendary Lisbon spot, the taps are designed by Portuguese architect Manuel Aires Mateus.

Wallpaper* dines at Bica do Sapato, Lisbon

The mood: alluringly, unmistakably Lisbon

The newly opened Bica do Sapato is, quite simply, a homage to both its past and the soul of the city whose waterfront it graces. Launched originally in the early 2000s with John Malkovich as a partner (which inevitably raised its profile), it was then the place to go for a good night out. It offered an unusual level of sophistication, music and dancing, access to both politicians and creatives, good food and the scent of a promising future, one that Lisbon has indeed fulfilled.

In 2019, it closed for renovation and was almost lost to history, but a new group of investors have brought it back to the market. Where, in a much more competitive landscape, it not only holds its own, restaurant-wise, it delivers a slice of nostalgia to those who frequented it in their youth and a dazzling display of contemporary Portuguese design for those who are flocking to it now.

Although architect Francisco Tojal is the key player in this new reconfiguration of Bica do Sapato, ‘built by Portuguese matter, shaped by Portuguese hands’, he collaborated closely with Manuel Aires Mateus, honouring the soul of the original building while opening it up to new rhythms. Mateus designed the custom beer taps specifically for here, while the vast wine rack, an integral part of its first chapter and now taking centre stage in the main room, was created by one of the original owners, Manel Reis. The chairs, a legendary design by Daciano da Costa, are pulled up to tables, divided by curtains acting as permeable walls, designed by textile artist Maria Appleton.

Apart from the main restaurant, Bica do Sapato, which opens for breakfast and off where the Bar and dance floor run late into the night on a Friday and Saturday, there is also Trinca do Sapato, with more casual tapas fare on the Mezzanine and À Beira do Sapato, a takeaway counter, promising dishes which are ‘fast and flavourful, and grounded in local habits.’

The food: the best of Portugal’s culinary heritage

It is immediately evident that the chef, Milton Anes, at Bica do Sapato, cooks with real passion. Perhaps because he has come home to the food of his forefathers. Born in Paris, to a Portuguese family, these dishes are the flavours of his childhood, the aromas which coloured his memories. He ensures minimal food wastage, working with an in-house butcher and fishmonger to send prime cuts to one restaurant kitchen, but the flavourful bones and more humble cuts to the other.

Supplies are sourced locally, dishes dazzle, whether an unassuming plate of sautéed turnip greens with olive oil and garlic, a traditional seafood açorda (a kind of bread stew) or a roasted royal pigeon in rosemary butter and seeds, glazed with pomegranate molasses, truffled celeriac millefeuille, caramelised persimmons and kalamansi. Try his piri-piri quail, a twist on the classic chicken dish, here served with potato chips, chillies and lime or his Algarve prawn carpaccio with spinach salad and yuzu vinaigrette; fresh, zingy and more than memorable enough to pull you back through the door for more.

Bica do Sapato is located at Avenida Infante D. Henrique, Armazém B, Cais da Pedra, Santa Apolónia, Lisbon, 1950-376, Portugal

As 2025 draws to a close, Wallpaper* begins to plan next year’s adventures. From landmark restorations and adaptive re-use projects to remote wilderness lodges and long-awaited brand debuts, these are the new hotel openings that have caught our eye: places designed to relax, retreat and explore, and destinations around which to plan your next travels. Spanning Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia, the year ahead signals a particularly rich chapter for global hospitality, where thoughtful design, cultural context and a renewed emphasis on experience sit at the heart of the world’s most compelling new stays.

The hotel openings to know for 2026

Amanvari (Baja Peninsula, Mexico)

Next year, Aman will bring its laid-back lifestyle to the East Cape of Baja California, Mexico, with the opening of Amanvari: an 18-key retreat and collection of branded residences. Elastic Architects has designed thoughtfully considered villas that blur the boundary between indoors and out, showcasing Aman’s signature tranquil aesthetic through sandy-hued interiors, layers of natural stone and tropical woods, and bespoke Mexican ceramics and artworks. The Aman Spa will continue the brand’s focus on longevity, while multiple dining venues will celebrate Italian, Japanese and local cuisine.

aman.com

Black Sand Hotel (Ölfus, Iceland)

Sitting on a peninsula in the Ölfus region, Black Sand Hotel will be the first and only beachfront boutique hotel in Iceland, offering uninterrupted ocean views and interiors shaped by the country’s raw, elemental landscape. The 70 minimalist guest rooms and nine suites feature a restrained palette and layers of natural materials, with large windows framing sweeping views of the black volcanic beach, nearby mountains, and the North Atlantic, alongside the Ölfusá River. An expansive spa will share the same outlook across the black sands, while signature restaurant ÓMUR will celebrate seasonal Nordic cuisine.

blacksandhotel.is

Capella Kyoto (Japan)

Capella has tapped Kengo Kuma and Associates alongside Singapore-based Brewin Design Office to transform a former elementary school site into its next opening, Capella Kyoto. Located in Kyoto’s historic Miyagawa-chō district, the 89-room hotel draws its design cues from the city’s traditional wooden townhouses, known as machiya, unfolding as a series of inner courtyards and pared-back spaces that weave together classical Japanese elements such as shoji screens and tokonoma alcoves, anchored by a dramatic karahafu roof in the central courtyard. Three restaurants follow the rhythm of the seasons, while the spa is rooted in Japanese bathing rituals.

capellahotels.com

Chesa Marchetta (Sils Maria, Switzerland)

Chesa Marchetta will mark one of the first openings of 2026, and the second address from Swiss gallerists Iwan and Manuela Wirth, following the opening of Scotland’s much-loved Fife Arms. Formerly a celebrated restaurant in the heart of the Swiss cultural enclave of Sils Maria, the 13-key hotel has been reimagined by Argentinian, Paris-based architect Luis Laplace, while remaining firmly rooted in gastronomy through its seasonal restaurant. Next door, a three-bedroom house will be available for those seeking a more exclusive stay.

chesamarchetta.ch

Delano Miami Beach (USA)

An icon will be reborn next year with the reopening of the Delano Miami Beach. The South Beach landmark will emerge from an extensive renovation that restores its Art Deco glamour, preserving historic features while introducing a fresh, contemporary sensibility across the 171 rooms and suites. The hotel’s famed Delano Pool remains, joined by a new wellness studio and four new restaurants and bars, including a revival of Miami’s Rose Bar: the former epicentre of Hollywood royalty and the city’s high society.

delanohotels.com

Eha (Hiiumaa Island, Estonia)

Set within a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve on the remote Estonian island of Hiiumaa, Eha is a boutique wellness retreat nestled between verdant pine forests and the Baltic Sea. Eight suites and three forest cabins are designed to blend seamlessly into the surrounding landscape, featuring minimalist interiors in soothing neutral tones. The wellness programme follows the island’s unique five-season calendar, with activities, treatments and ancient Estonian healing rituals guided by sustainable practices and the energy of each season.

eharetreat.com

Hoshinoya Nara Prison (Japan)

A former prison is an unlikely setting for a hotel, yet Nara Prison is regarded as an architectural masterpiece in Nara Prefecture and is officially recognised as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Next year will see it reborn as Hoshinoya Nara Prison, following a sensitive restoration that respectfully fuses its Meiji-era architecture with contemporary interiors. The hotel will also house a Japanese tea salon, restaurant and dining lounge, while the neighbouring Nara Prison Museum will preserve the site’s history, bridging past and present.

hoshinoresorts.com

Nihi Rote (Rote Island, Indonesia)

The founders of Nihi Sumba will deepen their commitment to sustainable, community-led development in Indonesia next year with the opening of Nihi Rote, the brand’s second hotel, located on Rote Island in Indonesia’s Nusa Tenggara Timur province. The retreat will feature 21 handcrafted villas that blend traditional Rotenese architecture with modern comforts, continuing Nihi’s Wild Wellness philosophy through outdoor adventure programmes, organic gardens and children’s initiatives that encourage learning through discovery. The hotel will open alongside the Namo Beach Club, as well as an academy dedicated to training the next generation of hospitality professionals.

nihi.com

Orient Express Venezia (Italy)

After breathing new life into the landmark Roman hotel La Minerva, Orient Express will open its second hotel in Venice within a 15th-century noble palace. Architect Aline Asmar d’Amman has overseen the eight-year restoration, reviving the mansion’s Neo-Gothic and Baroque grandeur while creating 47 guestrooms and suites luxuriously dressed in marble, Murano glass, rich velvets and Art Deco-inspired furnishings. The most spectacular suites elevate the experience further, featuring 19th-century frescoes of the goddess Minerva, gilded salons and sweeping canal views.

orient-express.com

Public West Hollywood (USA)

After launching his latest hotel brand, Public Hotels, in New York, legendary hotelier Ian Schrager will head to the West Coast to open his second address, Public West Hollywood. Set within a landmark building on the famed Sunset Strip, the 137-key hotel has been conceived by Schrager in collaboration with British architect John Pawson. Guest rooms make a deliberately understated statement, dressed in neutral tones, while furnishings in saturated hues inject a vivid counterpoint into the all-white lobby. Facilities will include three food, beverage and entertainment destinations, a pool, and a 16,000-square-foot open-air rooftop terrace with 360-degree views across Los Angeles.

publichotels.com

Singita Elela (Okavango Delta, Botswana)

Singita will embark on a new adventure next year with its first venture into the pristine wilderness of Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Named Elela, from the Setswana word meaning ‘to flow’, the new safari retreat will comprise eight circular camps that open in all directions, blurring the boundary between indoors and out to form a respectful extension of the natural surroundings. Inside, organic materials and handcrafted furnishings celebrate local craftsmanship. Each camp will be supported by its own dedicated team – a guide, tracker and host – leading guests through the Delta and its extraordinary wildlife, including more than 400 species of birds.

singita.com

Six Senses London (UK)

Six Senses will make its UK debut next year within the former Art Deco department store The Whiteley, in the heart of London’s Bayswater. Interiors will draw on the building’s heritage, blending classical detailing and new age elements with a contemporary sensibility, including a curated collection of modern British artworks. The expansive Six Senses Spa will be a highlight, while the opening will also mark the launch of the brand’s new private members’ club, Six Senses Place.

sixsenses.com

The Standard, Lisbon (Portgual)

The Standard has tapped architect Samuel Torres de Carvalho to oversee the design of its next European address, set atop the historic College of St Francis Xavier, formerly home to the Portuguese Royal Navy Hospital for more than 200 years. The 170 guestrooms and 24 long-stay apartments are finished in a palette of calming, earthy tones, while the lobby lounge, bar and all-day dining restaurant are imbued with The Standard’s signature boldness through sculptural forms and saturated hues. Upstairs, a rooftop bar shaded by striped parasols will offer sweeping views across the terracotta rooftops of the surrounding Alfama neighbourhood.

standardhotels.com

Vestige Namibia

Vestige will venture beyond Spain for the first time next year with the launch of Xaudum, one of four planned lodges in northern Namibia. Perched atop a prehistoric sand dune within the untouched wilderness of Khaudum National Park, Xaudum’s minimalist architecture is set to make a striking impression, with daily safari drives offering sightings of elephants, antelopes and African wild dogs. Three additional lodges will follow in 2027, each conceived with an equally bold – at times futuristic – design inspired by its natural surroundings.

vestigecollection.com

Waldorf Astoria Admiralty Arch (London, UK)

Waldorf Astoria will make a grand entrance onto London’s hotel scene next year with the highly anticipated opening of Waldorf Astoria London Admiralty Arch, housed within the historic landmark originally commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of Queen Victoria. Positioned at the end of The Mall, directly opposite Buckingham Palace, the storied property has been sensitively restored and will offer 100 guest rooms and suites, restaurants overseen by celebrated chefs Clare Smyth MBE and Daniel Boulud, a state-of-the-art spa, and a presidential suite with views across Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square.

hilton.com

In the last 12 months, the most talked-about restaurants weren’t just about what was on the plate. Design took the lead, with new openings using architecture and interiors as part of the experience rather than polite scenery. Across cities and continents, former embassies, fortresses, office blocks and coastal sites were reworked into dining rooms with a clear point of view. The following Wallpaper* edit offers a snapshot of the spaces that redefined restaurant design this year.

The best restaurant design of 2025

Call Me Ten

Tucked within the refined, residential enclave of Vasant Vihar in New Delhi, Call Me Ten emerges as a 6,000 sq ft Japanese restaurant and bar. Designed by Renesa Architecture Design Interiors, the site is defined by a materially restrained but expressive language. Natural limestone plaster and stone aggregates anchor the space, while soft curves and muted tones create an interior that feels both serene and theatrical. Subtle nods to Japanese aesthetics run throughout, from Shoji-inspired partitions that diffuse light with gentle translucency to a layout informed by tatami logic, encouraging intimacy and order. Polished concrete floors lend contemporary clarity, offset by pockets of deep-toned, hand-crafted mosaic tiles. Complementing the design, the menu reinterprets Japanese tradition through a modern izakaya lens, pairing dishes such as miso black cod and pork belly with inventive, Asian-inflected cocktails.

Call Me Ten is located at 58, Market, Basant Lok, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi, Delhi 110057, India

Read our full review of Call Me Ten

Carbone London

Once Eero Saarinen’s modernist vision of American diplomacy, the former US Embassy reopened this year as The Chancery Rosewood. Appropriately, the Grade II-listed building now hosts Carbone, one of America’s most beloved restaurants, marking the brand’s first European outpost. Originating in New York’s Greenwich Village, Carbone is as renowned for its Italian-American classics as its A-list following. In London, designer Ken Fulk channels Rat Pack-era glamour across a two-level space rich in theatrical flourish: Carbone-blue panelling, hand-painted murals, burgundy velvet banquettes and marble mosaics set the scene. MoMA-calibre artworks, live music and an indulgent, ‘a piacere’, or ‘as you like it’ culinary approach complete an experience rooted in spectacle.

Carbone London is located at 30 Grosvenor Sq, London W1K 2LG, UK

Read our full review of Carbone London

Cento Raw Bar

Michelin-recognised Cento Pasta Bar has long been one of West Adams’ most elusive reservations; now, its sibling Cento Raw Bar opens next door, offering Angelenos a second, distinctly different experience from chef and co-owner Avner Levi. Designed by Brandon Miradi, also behind Somni, the space is defined by thickly plastered walls and ceilings, brushed into undulating waves that lend a quietly surreal, oceanic rhythm. The motif continues in curved ceilings, minimal metal barstools and custom tableware, while sculptural light fittings by Ukrainian studio ClayP add tactility overhead. At the centre, scallop-shaped seafood towers piled high with oysters, shrimp and lobster set the tone, alongside jewel-toned cocktails. Dessert leans playful, with mosaic cheesecake and a nostalgic chocolate cake finale.

Cento Raw Bar is located at 4919 W Adams Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90016, United States

Read our full review of Cento Raw Bar

Dévo Marseille

Designer Axel Chay’s totemic tubular steel forms have long embodied Marseille’s creative pulse; now, he and his wife Mélissa channel that energy into Dévo, a new restaurant and wine bar in the Préfecture neighbourhood. Named after the American new-wave band, it marks the duo’s first fully designed and art-directed space. Cocooning yet animated, the interior pairs contemporary lines with vintage patina: lime satin curtains sweep across concrete floors, offsetting a zinc bar and steel stools inspired by Italian cafés and Spanish vermuterias. Cinematic details abound: mirrored artworks by Aurélien Ciller, plaster seagulls in flight and bespoke lighting by Axel’s brother Aimeric. In the kitchen, chef Ferdinand Fravega serves relaxed Provençal dishes, paired with a 100-strong list of independent and natural wines.

Dévo Marseille is located at 22 Bd Paul Peytral, 13006 Marseille, France

Read our full review of Dévo Marseille

Elmina

In Washington DC, Elmina is the debut bricks-and-mortar venture of Ghanaian-American chef Eric Adjepong: a restaurant that celebrates modern Africa while acknowledging the complexities of its past. Its name carries weight, referencing the port that became the site of sub-Saharan Africa’s first European slave-trading post. Dreamt up by local studio Drummond Projects, the 3,720 sq ft, three-storey space reads as a fluid, immersive journey, with each space defined by material and colour references, unified by a sculptural curving stairwell and enriched with bespoke artworks, artisan textiles and warm, tactile finishes throughout. The food itself is deeply rooted in tradition, a love letter to Adjepong’s ancestors and recipes he grew up with. Experiences on offer span a five-course tasting menu, a chop bar selection and a hearty brunch, with standout dishes including the comfortingly smoky jollof duck pot.

Elmina is located at 2208 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20009, United States

Read our full review of Elmina

Restaurant Esperit Roca

Set within a 19th-century fortress on the hills outside Girona, Esperit Roca evokes the beauty of raw materials with a rugged yet refined touch. Part of a remote gastronomic complex by the Roca brothers, which also houses a 16-bedroom hotel, the restaurant overlooks the mountains, woodland and sea of northern Catalonia. Designed by Girona-based Andreu Carulla, the interiors are pared-back and elemental, shaped from stone, concrete and wood in muted greys and greens. Locally quarried piedra de Girona limestone forms sculptural counters, lamps and monolithic sinks, echoing the fortress itself. Midcentury-inspired furniture, agricultural textiles and pockets of greenery reinforce the connection to place. In the kitchen, Joan and Jordi Roca deliver concept-driven tasting menus that reinterpret local produce with rigour, poetry and surprise. Don’t miss the tasting menu that offers two main courses and six desserts.

Restaurant Esperit Roca is located at Carrer Major, Entrada 1, 17481 Sant Julià de Ramis, Girona, Spain

Read our full review of Restaurant Esperit Roca

Finlandia Bistro

Alvar Aalto’s modernist landmark, Finlandia Hall, now houses a new restaurant that allows guests to dine in surroundings that gently echo the architect’s enduring design language. In contrast to the hall’s light, open spaces, the bistro is warmly cocooned in deeper tones, soft fabrics and tactile textures. Designed by Fyra, the interior blends Finnish modernist classics with contemporary pieces from Finnish Design Shop, alongside bespoke built-ins. Deep blue curtains recall Finlandia Hall’s cobalt accents, while wood and brass details nod to Aalto’s modernism. Led by head chef Mikko Puuronen, the 64-seat restaurant serves Nordic-inspired dishes with subtle Mediterranean inflexions.

Finlandia Bistro is located at Mannerheimintie 13e, 00100 Helsinki, Finland

Read our full review of Finlandia Bistro

Jncquoi Fish

‘Where food meets fashion meets hospitality’ underpins Jncquoi, the Lisbon lifestyle hub launched in 2017 by Paula Amorim and Miguel Guedes de Sousa of the Amorim Luxury Group. While the brand’s first hotel, Jncquoi House (designed by Vincent Van Duysen), will open in 2026, its newest restaurant, Jncquoi Fish, already signals the next chapter. Beneath a neo-Moorish façade, the space unfolds in Van Duysen’s restrained language of marble, limestone and ceramics, with dark clay floors by Viúva Lamego and bespoke furnishings and lighting made in Portugal. Tables cluster around the open kitchen, where chefs António Bóia and Filipe Carvalho celebrate Atlantic seafood through refined Portuguese flavours, from caviar-topped cod fritters to blue lobster rice, complemented by an astute, terroir-driven wine programme and assured, indulgent desserts.

Jncquoi Fish is located at Av. da Liberdade 189 1, 1250-096 Lisboa, Portugal

Read our full review of Jncquoi Fish

Milló

On the ground floor of the ADNBA-designed Millo Offices in Bucharest’s business area, Milló explores how contemporary design can converse with history. Responding to the building’s art deco undertones, local studio AÉ02 shaped an interior defined by light, texture and material warmth. At its centre hangs a dramatic ‘volcano of light’: an illuminated feature suspended above the main dining table, shifting in tone throughout the day. LED strips trace the ceiling edges, sharpening geometry through light and shadow, while the bar counter pairs stainless steel with cherry Levanto marble, concealing a discreet DJ booth. The Mediterranean-leaning menu – think baked artichoke, saffron risotto and miso-marinated cod – completes the experience, encouraging guests to linger from midday through to midnight.

Milló is located at Strada Ion Câmpineanu 19, Bucharest 030167, Romania.

Read our full review of Milló

Rubra

Hotel restaurants rarely transcend the orbit of the properties they inhabit, but on the northern edge of Banderas Bay, Rubra decisively breaks that pattern. Part of W Punta de Mita, the restaurant is led by Daniela Soto-Innes, who was named World’s Best Female Chef in 2019. At just 28, she was the youngest chef to earn the accolade. Designed by Ignacio Urquiza with interiors by Ana Paula de Alba, Rubra takes the form of a sand-toned concrete monolith, its restrained architecture softened by creeping greenery and expansive views towards the Sierra Madre. A pergola of wooden lattices filters light across an open, fluid dining room, blurring indoors and out. Soto-Innes’ ‘tropical cooking’ draws from seasonal produce, much of it grown on site, shaping menus that favour citrus, herbs and vivid coastal flavours, from scallops dressed in kombu aguachile to flower-crowned tuna tostadas.

Rubra is located at Carr. Federal la Cruz de Huanacaxtle - Punta de Mita Km 8.5, Desarrollo Costa, 63734 Corral del Risco, Nay., Mexico

Read our full review of Rubra

At Wallpaper*, movement is second nature, and savouring it is an art. Whether on assignment or off-duty, our editorial team is perpetually combing the globe, visiting places that are mind-expanding and spirit-lifting. This year, we paused to gather the places that truly stayed with us. Consider this selection of travel highlights, handpicked by our staff, as a starting point for the year ahead, compiled to spark curiosity and fuel your future travel plans.

As such, follow the sun to Mexico, Greece, Spain and Italy, or embrace the stark beauty of Finland and Iceland. Looking for adventure? Uzbekistan, Egypt and Kenya deliver. For a spiritual reset, Japan and South Korea offer ritual and depth. From European mainstays such as Vienna and Lisbon to American icons including Miami and Joshua Tree, let’s get globetrotting.

Amanohashidate, Japan

‘Last April, adding a few days to a long-haul work trip felt like the responsible thing to do, particularly when long-haul now extends to a 16-hour dog-leg to Osaka via Doha, which is how I came to visit one of Japan’s most revered destinations, Amanohashidate, site of a 3.6km sidebar known as ‘the staircase to heaven’ that cuts across Miayazu Bay in Kyoto prefecture. Amanohashidate itself is a quiet village with a national landmark at its heart and a well-run ryokan (Monjusou) to relax in, but the surrounding area is blessed with no less significant points of interest. Ine is a ‘floating village’ of 230 fishing cottages, protected as a heritage site, that offers good walking with splendid sea views and great coffee in one of its repurposed properties. Sometimes all you need is sea air, the odd stroll and the chance to indulge in something as silly as matanozoki, or peering between your legs atop Kasamatsu Park, at which point the now-inverted sandbar appears as a bridge across the sky.’

– Bill Prince, editor-in-chief

Athens, Greece

‘This past autumn, I celebrated a milestone birthday in Athens. The city feels as though it was shaped by accumulation rather than careful urban planning, its layers of typeface, texture and attitude stacked across eras, politics and glitzy inconsistencies. Visually, Athens is unrelenting: everything speaks loudly and constantly, and nothing is treated as too precious. Even the Acropolis feels unresolved, its original fragments scattered between the exquisitely built Acropolis Museum and far beyond Greece’s borders. I enjoyed long lunches with generous pours of Assyrtiko from aluminium jugs, and late nights drifting into hot spots like SMUT, where Athens’ spontaneity really kicks in. I chose Athens as my favourite of the year because it thrives in chaos, offering moments of beauty and excitement, and rewarding those who stay longer, pay attention and arrive hungry.’

– Gabriel Annouka, senior designer

Brittany, France

‘On something of a nostalgia trip to the south coast of Brittany, France – the destination of my first-ever trip abroad – now with my own teenagers in tow, I was relieved to find it a still-lovely, laidback and low-key escape with none of the hussle or hassle a beach break during the summer holidays can entail. The sea was utterly clear – too freezing for me, even in July, for more than one cold plunge, but perfect for kayaking or admiring endlessly from coastal walking paths. Bike hire in this cycling-obsessed nation was ubiquitous and the paths plentiful and well sign-posted; they even continued across estuaries, courtesy of short ferry hops on which bikes were not just bienvenue but (bafflingly for a Brit used to transport-network shortfalls) positively encouraged. And a day’s hire extended through to the evening, allowing ample time for a thoroughly civilised French lunch break en route with (savoury) galettes and (sweet) crêpes galore. Pancakes for all courses is a concept close to my heart.’

– Bridget Downing, executive editor

Cairo, Egypt

‘In November, I visited Cairo and spent a few warm, autumnal days watching the light shift over the Art D’Égypte installations, set in the sand beneath the pyramids of Giza. I was particularly drawn to SolidNature and Studio PROBA’s organically shaped, naturally coloured stone sculptures. Seeing them positioned against the pyramids was both wondrous and surreal: two forms of stone, prehistoric in material yet composed millennia apart, held in quiet dialogue with one another. The experience was utterly mesmerising, leaving me feeling incredibly small in the face of such magnificence and scale. Other highlights across the city included losing track of time in the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) and wandering through the calming gardens of Adam Henein’s gallery house.’

– Olly Mason, head of interiors

Évora, Portugal

‘When my sister moved to Lisbon in 2024, I dreamily imagined endless weekends of wandering, but life got in the way and it never quite happened; until this summer, when we managed to bring both our families together for ten scorching days in Alentejo, a more off-the-beaten-path part of Portugal, around 90 minutes east of Lisbon. We stayed in gloriously serene countryside, awash with olive groves and vineyards, occasionally popping into the medieval, walled UNESCO city of Évora for ice cream (Pezagno, delicious!). On one visit, we explored the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones), a 16th-century chapel within the Church of St Francis, built by Franciscan monks as a memento mori to inspire reflection on the transience of life. Its walls and columns are clad with thousands of strikingly arranged human skulls and bones, previously buried in Évora’s medieval cemeteries. Above the door, an inscription reads: “We bones are here, waiting for yours.” At the entrance to this macabre chapel is a simple modern mural by Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira – a counterpoint to its meditation on mortality.’

– Anne Soward, production editor

Helsinki, Finland

‘While others escaped to hotter climes, last February, I decided to embrace the cold and wintry feel of Europe and headed further north, to Helsinki. It was one of the best travel decisions I ever made. The day was short, but the city was fun, and the cultural offerings were plentiful and welcoming. Helsinki was frozen – not that you would be bothered with the right clothes and shoes, especially in the city centre, where pavements are heated so that the snow doesn’t build up. A short ferry ride, breaking through the icy waters, took me to the magical Suomenlinna sea fortress - thank you, Laura Iloniemi, for the tip! I also explored the numerous art offerings the city has to offer, from the Amos Rex museum to the Temppeliaukio church of the rock. I stayed at a timber-framed hotel by the water, Solo Sokos Pier 4, paid a visit to the renovated Finlandia Hall, and enjoyed sticky Korvapuusti (Finnish cinnamon rolls) and warm and creamy salmon soup. As travel reviews often conclude, “would definitely recommend.”’

– Ellie Stathaki, architecture and environment director

Hydra, Greece

‘This year I’ve been lucky to visit great European capitals including Vienna, Paris and Athens, but somehow it’s my day on the small Greek island of Hydra that was most memorable. Big cities are filled with great things to do and see, but Hydra offers an escape from it all, with no cars, no museums, and practically no phone reception. And yet it still has everything you might possibly need on a nice autumn day: a lunch at a taverna followed by a dip in the sea, and a walk along the coastal path, suspended between the blue sky and the Mediterranean.’

– Léa Teuscher, sub-editor

Joshua Tree, USA

‘In May, I made the three-hour journey from Los Angeles into the Mojave Desert to Joshua Tree. It had long been on my list to visit, likely prompted by endless interviews with musicians who enthused about the desert’s mystical energy. There are no shortage of incredible architectural stays to book in the area, but after much deliberation, I settled on this geodesic dome, far enough away from civilisation to get the full experience (the drive back from dinner in the pitch black was a little hairy) but just twenty minutes from Joshua Tree National Park and the must-sees of the Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms. I loved every single thing about this trip. From the weird roadside stops along the route – a desert crochet museum? A shrine to fifties hairdressing? A park filled with many, many statues of Christ? – to dinner at The Copper Room, drinks at Mas o Menos and obligatory live music at Pioneertown institution, Pappy & Harriet’s (the nearby Red Dog Saloon was a little quieter when Pappy’s is packed). I can’t wait to return.’

– Charlotte Gunn, director of digital content

Kyoto, Japan

‘I loved visiting Kyoto this year, and discovering its rich history, gorgeous food and beautiful surroundings. The highlight, though, was being able to get to know some of the locals, who were as generous with their time as they are cultured, intelligent, and extremely kind.’

– Hannah Silver, art, culture, watches and jewellery editor

Lake Como, Italy

‘Until last year, I had never been to Italy; now, I can say I’ve been three times. A run of good fortune took me to Milan for Salone de Mobile, and Venice for an immersive exhibition hosted by Golden Goose. In addition, to mark the beginning of the summer season, I was invited to Lake Como to stay at Il Sereno’s new listening suite, designed by Patricia Urquiola. The lake in the foothills of the Alps took my breath away. It was scenery I had not seen before, and I was captivated by its beauty. There was an effortless air of Old Hollywood glamour and relaxed sophistication coupled with the calming nature of the lake, which makes the location entirely unique. I cannot wait to go back.’

– Tianna Williams, staff writer

Menorca, Spain

‘The Menorca Experimental hotel had been on my bucket list for years, and I finally made it there for a short break in September. Designed by Dorothée Meilichzon, the interiors strike a balance between playful colour and subtle Art Deco references, incorporating local designers and materials. It felt considered yet relaxed. The weather was still warm enough for sea swims in some of the clearest water I’ve seen in Europe, and it was easy to find quieter spots that felt untouched. There’s a quiet, understated rhythm to the island that encourages you to slow down, making it a perfect mid-season reset.’

– Cindy Parthonnaud, acting photography editor

Mérida, Mexico

‘I spent 10 days in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula this summer and enjoyed soaking up Mérida’s rich history, intense summer heat and xtabentún, the local firewater. The city is about 30 miles inland, meaning those craving a swim-up bar or large beach resort won’t find it here. Instead, they’ll discover a mix of unhurried streets, bustling markets, pretty boutiques and innovative cuisine that spotlights traditional Yucatec cooking. My husband and I checked in at Hotel Cigno, an elegant boutique property located in Mérida’s historic heart, before hiring a local guide to take us to Uxmal, one of the Mayan world’s most important sites, and an azure blue cenote, a naturally occurring limestone sinkhole that peppers the area. There was still an opportunity to hit the beach, though: an hour-ride taxi will take you straight to the coast, where you can take in tranquil waters, white sand beaches, bright-pink salt lakes and – my favourite – droves of flamingos.’

– Anna Fixsen, U.S. editor

Miami, USA

‘I came to Miami for the Grand Prix – where Lego had built ten fully drivable cars – but stayed for the art deco architecture, palm-lined boulevards and viscerally cinematic sunsets. Miami’s expansion in the 1920s and 30s left it with a remarkable concentration of art deco buildings, which I completely fell in love with. A stroll down Ocean Drive – one of the finest showcases of the style – took me hours, slowed by pastel façades and kitsch vintage cars that demanded to be photographed. Little Havana, shaped by Cuban émigrés after the 1959 revolution, is home to cigar shops, graffiti tributes to Celia Cruz and Old’s Havana Cuban Bar & Cocina, which, with its yellow walls and mojito production line, is an institution. So, too, is Delilah – swathed in pink velvet and favoured by A-listers – though in an entirely different vein. Miami is a place I’d return to in a heartbeat.’

– Anna Solomon, digital writer

Nesjavellir, Iceland

‘My yearly travel mainly comprises the movement between Milan, Paris and New York for fashion week (and the freneticism and overstimulation these trips bring), so when I’m not working I seem to be attracted towards the vast and the desolate – Lanzarote has become my go-to escape, and this spring I loved losing myself in its strange, moonlike landscapes once again. Though it was another otherworldly (and volcanic) island that was my favourite trip of 2025: Iceland, which I visited with 66 North last month (the outerwear brand was founded on the island a century ago). I have been a couple of times before, though each time it is surprising in its vastness and scale: speeding across the snow-covered mountain ridge Thórsmörk – named after the Norse god Thor – on off-roading buggies was a truly cinematic experience (and the perfect release). We spent the second night at the Ion Adventure Hotel, a Brutalist box on stilts that looks out over the geothermal fields of Nesjavellir – in the silence, it was my best night’s sleep of the year.’

– Jack Moss, fashion and beauty features director

Seoul, South Korea

‘About two hours from Seoul, in the mountains of Wonju, Museum SAN (Space Art Nature) heralds an architectural feat by Tadao Ando: a 25-metre-wide subterranean dome beneath the museum’s flower garden, topped with an oculus rising more than seven metres high. Titled Ground, it was commissioned to accompany Antony Gormley’s exhibition Drawing on Space.’

– Jason Hughes, creative director

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

‘I spend much of my year bouncing around beautiful design-led hotels. But at least once a year, I make it my mission to step out of this bubble as a reminder of why I love to travel in the first place. And this year, my trip to Uzbekistan was a welcome reset. It’s not a destination known for luxury, but with tourism on the rise, you can feel the energy in Tashkent’s creative pockets and across Samarkand and Bukhara, which just hosted its inaugural biennale. From the staggering detail of the Islamic architecture to the small, genuinely local boutique hotels, there’s an incredible history and a rawness that was not just compelling, but a reminder that stepping away from the familiar is not just refreshing, but important to keep your curiosity alive.’

– Lauren Ho, travel director

Tokyo, Japan

‘Tokyo had been calling for some time, and this October I was finally able to answer. Japan’s capital is an urban sprawl of ritual, contrast, beauty and tradition, where even the smallest details feel deliberate and meaningful. It was my first visit, and I tried to stay fully present, absorbing as much of the city’s energy as possible; yet I still feel I barely scratched the surface. There are countless moments I hold onto, but one stands out: waking to a bright, clear morning and, from my hotel room on the 34th floor of Fairmont Tokyo, spotting Mount Fuji in the distance. It appeared as a majestic presence on the horizon, wishing the city a good day.’

– Sofia de la Cruz, travel editor

Vienna, Austria

‘Vienna is a really great city for a short getaway, especially for those interested in design. The city is filled with hidden gems, such as the interiors and ambience of Café Prückel, located just across the street from the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK). Be sure to check out the numerous storefronts designed by Hans Hollein throughout the city, including the iconic façade of the Retti candle shop. One of the highlights for me was the Roman Catholic church depicted above, built in the late 1970s by architect Viktor Hufnagl.’

– Sebastian Jordahn, head of video

Watamu, Kenya

‘Earlier this year, I travelled to Kenya and spent time in Watamu, a coastal town known for stunning white-sand beaches, coral reefs, mangroves and a large marine life. I was there for a private yoga retreat with a yoga company called Pana and stayed in a one-of-a-kind treehouse, Watamu Tree House, near Watamu Beach. Our treehouse retreat, built by the family who runs it, rises through the landscape, from the ground to the top floor, with shimmering coloured glass mosaics. Each day in Watamu began with yoga in the studio at the top of the building, which offered quiet and perspective. Practising yoga above the ground, with the sea nearby and trees in the distance, felt grounding. Fresh vegetarian meals formed the core of each day, as each meal came with coconut water and juices made fresh each morning.’

– Jamilah Rose-Roberts, social media editor

‘Where Food meets Fashion meets Hospitality’ is the guiding principle behind Jncquoi, the multi-destination lifestyle hub created by Paula Amorim and Miguel Guedes de Sousa of the Amorim Luxury Group, which launched in Lisbon in 2017. At its core are a men’s and a women’s ‘Fashion Clinic’, glossy multi-brand stores where Lisbon’s well-heeled come for international labels, homeware, fragrances and jewellery.

Yet, the experience stretches far beyond retail. Customers might drift between the Deli Bar for a lobster roll, the Lázaro Rosa-Violán-designed Jncquoi Avenida restaurant for white prawn carpaccio beneath its signature dinosaur, or Jncquoi Asia for grilled wagyu with ponzu.

The next chapter will arrive in spring 2026 with Jncquoi House, the group’s first hotel, occupying a separate townhouse and designed by Vincent Van Duysen. In the interim, on the building’s ground floor, the doors to new restaurant Jncquoi Fish are already open.

Wallpaper* dines at Jncquoi Fish, Lisbon

The mood: sophisticated, sexy and sea-centric

At this new outpost of the Jncquoi empire, dishes pay homage to the bounty of the Atlantic, the food taking centre stage, with many tables clustered around the open kitchen. But it is the design that sets the tone. Step through the neo-Moorish façade and a world crafted by Vincent Van Duysen opens up: a play of mirrors and white marble, ceramic and limestone.

Dark clay flooring is produced by Viúva Lamego, one of Portugal’s most historic ceramic factories, forming a perfect counterpoint to Lisbon’s local Lioz limestone and the ceramic wall tiles, whose palette and pattern draw inspiration from the kitchens of the National Palace of Sintra. The lighting fixtures – handmade in Portugal by Fátima Neto to Van Duysen’s design – are sculpted from Carrara marble, while the furniture was custom-made locally by Room2Fit. Bespoke tableware comes from Vista Alegre, founded in 1824 and one of Portugal’s most respected brands. And, in a gentle nod to the owners, quintessentially Portuguese cork – sourced from founder Paula’s Amorim Cork – appears as a salt cellar encasing glittering white crystals.

The food: Atlantic soul

With Jncquoi’s executive chef António Bóia and chef Filipe Carvalho (who earned a Michelin star at Lisbon’s 50 Seconds) at the helm, good food is a given. Equally assured are the ingredients, freshly sourced from the cold Atlantic waters that lap Lisbon’s shoreline. Carvalho has a deft touch, skilfully balancing traditional Portuguese flavours with the luxurious notes that 21st-century fine dining demands. Think cod fritters crowned with a spoon of tartare sauce and a generous dollop of caviar, or a hot starter of scarlet shrimps from the Algarve, served with garlic and fried quail eggs.

Main courses include Portuguese blue lobster rice with coriander, or oven-baked octopus à lagareiro, richly drenched in local olive oil. Sommelier Filipe Wang may reach for a prized Burgundy to pair with your choice, or a particularly compelling Portuguese bottle – do hear him out; he knows precisely what he’s talking about. Do save room – the chocolate mousse with olive oil and fleur de sel is impeccable, while the oven-baked pão de leite (a sweet, yeasted milk bread) served warm with custard and cream cheese, already seems to have gained a cult following.

Jncquoi Fish is located at Av. da Liberdade 189 1, 1250-096 Lisbon, Portugal

Behind the delicate cobalt blue-tiled façade of one historic 19th-century Lisbon palacete, just off Avenida da Liberdade, is a home that reflects one young family’s laid-back tastes – an eclectic aesthetic showcasing more of their former Californian lifestyle than traditional European interior styling.

'In our studio, we always try to localise the design to a place,' explains Pamela Shamshiri, founder of Los Angeles-based design firm Studio Shamshiri and a former Wallpaper* Design Awards judge. 'And normally it would have been tied to Lisbon, but we had this really exquisite, beautiful [interior architecture] that makes you feel like you’re in a different world, so we embraced it.'

Having designed the family’s previous home in LA, Shamshiri decided to incorporate all the elements they loved from that property to ensure it was a very calming escape from life in Portugal’s busy capital city. 'We just tried to bring in colour and a collection that was really reflective of their interests and life in California,' she explains.

Once inside the five-storey revivalist Neo-Manueline-style manse, you’re struck every bit by the contemporary wood detailing, soft color palette and the incredible light flooding in from the countless windows and French doors that open onto the city’s beloved 17-acre Jardim Botânico and the home’s own lush private backyard (conceived by Spanish landscape designer Fernando Martos). 'My client is very much into meditation and leading a calm life, so the family loves being sort of immersed in beauty,' Shamshiri says.

The designer joined the project after UK-based architecture firm McLean Quinlan completed work on the interior of the 6,600 sq ft main house, but in time to provide input for the finishes and details of the 3,400 sq ft rooftop apartment – and the interior styling throughout both. 'All our rules were sort of turned upside down, which is totally great,' Shamshiri says. 'Upstairs, we designed the spaces with [the four classic elements] air, fire, water and earth in mind. With the main house, we really just made it as ethereal as possible as though you’re floating in this other reality.'

Entering the foyer, Anish Kapoor’s enigmatically reflective recent sculpture New Red to Dark greets you with an otherworldliness and, according to the designer, 'sets the tone'. Beyond the entryway, a living room bathed in soft green light diffused by drapery panels is enriched by a Studio Shamshiri green silk rug and a coffee table by John Williams that 'feels like a tree entered the room'.

Modern touches, such as a marble bookcase by Renato Polidori for Skipper, a high-back Alvar Aalto chair and a lamp by Luigi Caccia Dominioni offer a quintessential midcentury vibe. In a nearby lounge space, Shamshiri incorporated pink sheers for a similar diffusion of light that highlights a lavender rug from her forthcoming spring 2026 collection, a plush sofa from fashion brand Diesel’s collaboration with Italian furniture maker Moroso and two 18th-century Japanese Kano School screens depicting birds soaring over pine trees.

The primary bedroom has its own hue to set the mood. 'We coloured the light with a blue sheer, making everything else inside [the room] very calm,' the designer says. She selected a pale grey plaster for the wall serving as a headboard (and room divider). Adjacent is an ultra-zen massage room with plastered walls and a walnut screen that is perfectly matched to the homeowner’s ethos. Nearby is a minimalist home office grounded by soap-finished Douglas fir flooring brought in from Amsterdam. To complete the contemplative space, Shamshiri sourced an Erik Tinstrand pendant and covered a vintage Charles Eames office chair with an angora goatskin hide 'chair cosy' that snaps securely to the back.

Surprisingly, the couple and their two children prefer to spend the majority of their time together in the home’s top-level, three-bedroom, four-bathroom perch. 'I think there’s just a sense of freedom and play up there,' shares Shamshiri. 'It’s a smaller, cosy space that almost feels like going on vacation for them.'

It’s the living room in the rooftop pied-à-terre that evokes much of the 1960s California character they love, complete with a custom upholstered sofa stretched across a Vasco Fragoso Mendes wood base, a George Nakashima chair, a pair of Sergio Rodriques armchairs, a period Hans-Agne Jakonsson floor lamp and the pièce de résistance, Emmanuel Boos’ 'Comme un Lego' coffee table (composed of 98 modular porcelain bricks) that received special recognition in the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2024 exhibition. 'I’d worked with Emmanuel on something for their previous home and, when this came up after the show, we were able to acquire it – he’s such an incredible artist,' Shamshiri says.

The open floorplan in this part of the apartment includes the dining room, complete with a dining table by Pierre Chapo and a pair of his ‘S38A’ benches – all of which had to be pieced together on-site. Over the island in the kitchen, Shamshiri selected metal and opaline glass pendants that don’t obstruct the expansive garden vistas. And then there’s the built-in, wood-panelled breakfast nook. 'It’s completely custom in a dark walnut – it’s small, but everyone ends up there.'

All the bedrooms are equal parts minimal and high design to complement all of the unusual angles on that level. 'We embraced it all,' Shamshiri says with a laugh. That includes the 'family suite' with a window bench comprised of two twin beds and a shutter system worthy of a houseboat on the Douro River. 'It’s a great way to block out the light, create shade [in the space] and kind of force views,' the designer explains.

Shamshiri relishes her part in her client's 6,000-mile journey from the West Coast of the US to the Iberian Peninsula – not just the similarly sun-drenched destination. 'For me, [design] is about the people and being able to reconnect with them and be part of this new chapter was really special for me.'

Lisbon’s hospitality scene has evolved enormously over the last decade. Charming boutique palaces such as Palacio Principe Real, Verride Palacio de Santa Catarina, and the six-room gem, Santa Clara, have challenged the status quo of grand dames like the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz, built by dictator Salazar to show the world luxury, Portuguese-style, or even the capital’s first boutique hotel, the Bairro Alto. Chains such as the Six Senses and The Standard are poised to open on Lisbon’s cobbled streets, but the first hotel in a museum in Portugal has swung open its doors.

Wallpaper* checks in at MACAM Hotel, Lisbon

What’s on your doorstep?

The district of Alcântara, where MACAM is located, comprises a former industrial zone and a grander residential area with several palaces and museums. The old industrial zone is now home to a vibrant mix of bars and restaurants in the docks under the Ponte 25 de April, the longest suspension bridge in Europe. A few minutes’ walk will bring you to the B-MAD, Berardo Museum Art Deco, with works by René Lalique, among others. Even nearer is the Renaissance chapel, Capela de Santo Amoro, with 17th-century wall tiles, which offers beautiful views over the bridge. Elsewhere, a short stroll along Rua da Junqueira will bring you to Canalha, a beloved neighbourhood restaurant led by acclaimed chef João Rodrigues.

Who is behind the design?

The palace was commissioned in 1701 by the Marquis of Nisa but was acquired in 1752 by the Count of Ribeira Grande who renamed it in his honour, remaining a palace until the early 20th century when it became used as a school. At the time of its acquisition by collector and now owner Armando Martins, it was abandoned. Local architects Metro Urbe have renovated it to include 2,000 sq m of exhibition space, an auditorium, a restaurant, a café, a bar and a hotel.

Interior design comes courtesy of Martins and his daughter Sophia, alongside Portuguese firm Andrez Andrez and is contemporary in feel, with floors of oak and Perlina Bianca stone. Several of the lighting installations are from Bybeau, based in the south of Portugal. A colour-changing kaleidoscope greets visitors upon their arrival in the palace lobby. Meanwhile, a dimple hangs over the monumental double staircase twisting upwards to a library housing 5,000 books from Martins’ private collection. Then there is the art: 600 pieces of modern and contemporary collections. Highlights in the galleries include work by Amadeo de Sousa Cardozo, Paula Rego, Thomas Struth and Marina Abramović.

The room to book

There are 64 rooms in the hotel: 44 rooms and six studios in the old palace and 14 rooms in the new wing. The last, accessed through the gardens behind the palace, looks out onto them and the four sculptures displayed there – from the spacious bedrooms, which come with oval tubs in the bathrooms and separate showers behind elegant reeded glass doors. Amenities throughout are from the Portuguese brand, Benamôr 1925.

The rooms in the palace have high ceilings, original shutters and oak floors, with many in sage green tones. There are seven different types; some open onto a terrace, where a vertical composition of five polyhedrons by Canadian artist Angela Bulloch stretches up to a blue sky. Others are studios equipped with kitchenettes and easy access to the honesty bar with its frescoed ceiling of cherubs in the top gallery of the deconsecrated chapel.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Only hotel guests can access the chapel bar. Cocktails come with a side of art, namely, Spanish artist Carlos Aires’ mesmerising Trinity. In the niche behind the altar, a screen made up of images from Portuguese banknotes and amidst them, one of Armando Martins himself, can be slid back at the press of a button to reveal the body of Christ, suspended against a series of videos, from soaring flames to all-seeing eyes. Arts performances and concerts with bar service are held here regularly.

Dinner, across the gardens in Contemporâneo restaurant, highlights the wealth of Portugal’s culinary bounty courtesy of chef Tiago Valente. Vegetables come from the kitchen garden on site and at another of Martins’ palaces, outside Lisbon. Highlights include a caldeirada, a typical fish stew, featuring prawns from the Algarve, goose barnacles and cockles. My dinner was rounded off by young pastry chef Lara Figueiredo’s triumphant dish of textures of lemon and oranges, entitled ‘A Mulher da Laranja’ – an homage to the owner’s favourite painting in his collection, The Woman with the Orange, 1914, by Eduardo Viana.

The MACAM café serves light meals for gallery visitors and hotel residents, with a wide selection of breads and pastries available, including the much-loved Portuguese custard tarts, pasteis de nata.

Where to switch off

The rooftop hotel pool, set on top of the wing of new rooms, offers a swim with a view. A neighbouring bar will serve (hotel-only) guests. There is a small gym that looks onto the bell tower and the gardens beneath, and one treatment room, where massages can be had upon request. But the best place to switch off is the four galleries themselves. In the two temporary exhibitions and the two with Portuguese modern art and International and Portuguese contemporary art respectively, you can truly immerse yourself in another world.

The verdict

MACAM is an extraordinary achievement and the fulfilment of a lifetime dream for Armando Martins. While there are many hotels which house art, the opening of a hotel within a museum is certainly a first in Portugal. There is no doubt that the hotel, created with the same attention to detail and passion as the museum, will attract a number of guests in its own right and perhaps set one of them on their own path to collecting art.

MACAM Hotel is located at R. da Junqueira 66, 1300-343 Lisboa, Portugal; macam.pt

In Jeff Wall’s ‘Insomnia’ (1994), a man lies in a foetal position underneath a spindly kitchen table, his brow drenched in sweat as he stares intensely towards the photographer. ‘Event’ (2021) depicts one man jabbing another’s chest in the hallway of a theatrical building. Both images are included in the Canadian artist’s first survey show in Portugal. ‘Time Stands Still’ at MAAT brings together more than sixty works from the last four decades. These two pieces are shown alongside photographs of energetic figures dancing at gigs and tumbling in conflict in the street.

They beg to be read, their movements and tensions rich with narrative potential. But Wall holds back on providing a greater thematic meaning or throughline. These images, often printed to a vast scale, are inspired by fleeting moments he has witnessed in life, or that have come to his imagination. 'I sense an opportunity to make a picture I haven’t made before,' he tells me, when we speak ahead of the opening. 'I don’t define it any further than that. I’m not that interested in what I feel about the event or circumstance itself.'

While the artist takes a step back from defining his work, it frequently captures moods or events that resonate in the wider culture. He tells me that his iconic image ‘Dead Troops Talk (A Vision After an Ambush of a Red Army Patrol, Near Moqor, Afghanistan, Winter 1986)’ finds renewed interest whenever the subject of war is in the news. 'Once in a while my pictures do connect with what’s going on. Which is nice, but it’s never intended. Maybe somebody sees what I’ve done differently in that moment.' The image was created from his imagination, though it conveys a palpable, real horror, as a pile of zombie-like soldiers loll and glare at one another. 'It came out of my idyll thoughts, there was not anything ‘real’ there, in the sense of a witnessed occurrence. But the war was real, and like many people, I experienced it remotely.'

Reality and fiction are intricately intertwined in Wall’s pieces. Many are backlit, rendering his scenes with a rich depth. When printed at large scale, they feel like spaces that the viewer could walk into. His sets and compositions tend to be carefully considered, but moments of seemingly instinctive moment cut through them. 'I think my work is a bit misunderstood as being the outcome of very precise and controlled decisions, which is only partly true,' he says. 'Unexpected things happen all the time in the process of making something. All my pictures deal with accident, just as all of them are filled with fact.'

Wall’s images are taken using film, and the artist still prints his own works. 'I use a film camera as I think it’s better for what I do,' he says. 'I don’t think it’s behind the times in any way. The only thing that is not up to date about my photography is that it’s not circulating on the internet as its primary mode of appearance.' He has used the word ‘cinematography’ to describe his practice before, not to align it with the experience of watching cinema, but because it takes a more expanded form than the classical idea of photography. His work has also been compared with painting, with its dramatic compositions, awe-inspiring size, and focus on the in-person, original experience. 'Like many people, I have learned a lot from painting,' he says, noting the freedom of scale that comes with painted works, and its independence from the publishing industry. 'For a while, photography accepted that it was a reproduction medium. I have nothing against that, but that isn’t the whole story.'

Jeff Wall. Time Stands Still. Photographs, 1980-2023 is at MAAT, Portugal, until 1 September 2025

maat.pt

Ours is the most well-travelled generation in history. So much so that the industry is reported to be worth $11.1 trillion, with 790 million of us packing our suitcases to go galavanting in the first seven months of 2024 alone. More than 2.5 million people made their way up the Empire State Building, and the Peruvian authorities have increased Machu Picchu’s capacity by around 1,000 extra visitors per day for 2025.

While frantically dashing around a destination and ticking off a bucket list might appeal to some, many are now searching for meaningful adventures that minimise environmental impact and offer a deeper connection with themselves and the destination.

This is why wellness remains firmly on the travel agenda, with the Global Wellness Institute projecting spending to reach $8.5 trillion by 2027. In the coming year, expect to see hotels targeting leisure travellers and road warriors alike with sleep therapy and organic vegan meals. Hotels such as One & Only’s new Siro One Za’abeel in Dubai are the benchmark to watch.

Not surprisingly, slow travel is, if you’ll excuse the mixed metaphor, fast becoming the norm, whether extending our stay in select destinations or taking our time getting there. Operators are stepping up to meet the challenge, not least those in the cruising, train and yachting sectors. Meanwhile, savvy hoteliers like Locke are championing the rise of apartment hotels, such as its recently opened Locke de Santa Joana in Lisbon.

The Orient Express has just launched its first sailing yacht, the Corinthian, a precursor to next year’s relaunch of 17 original train cars dating from the 1920s. Nipping at its heels is Belmond’s new Britannic Explorer, the marque’s first luxury sleeper train in England and Wales. Airlines are also taking off with upgraded products, beginning with swankier lounges (thanks, Finnair) and refreshed upper cabins, such as British Airways’ first-class seat, Turkish Airlines’ Crystal business-class cabins, and the new Aria suite by Cathay Pacific.

Luxury travel has, of course, long been a touchstone, but, increasingly, how we capture the essence of ‘luxury’ is becoming more fractured. Sustainability is key at Wallpaper* HQ and we avoid destinations that are plagued by overtourism – preferring, say, Santa Monica Beach, where a soothing pastel-hued Regent has just landed, over Beverly Hills – and check into hotels that are not just ecologically conscious, but which also give back to the community.

All-inclusive hotels are on the rise, with luxury resorts revolutionising what was once considered a somewhat low-brow concept with an elevated offering that covers everything from exclusive wines to diverse excursions. Kudadoo in the Maldives, for example, prides itself on its triple-A concept, where ‘anything’ is available ‘anytime’ or ‘anywhere’, from massages and watersports to champagne on tap. The same goes for The Emory, London’s first all-suite hotel, where just about everything – including helicopter transfers – is available around the clock.

If there is a common thread to what 2025 has to offer the intrepid globetrotter, then it is that travelling well – with all the nuances that phrase encompasses – is the golden ticket to hold. Lauren Ho

Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025 travel winners

Judged by Wallpaper* travel director Lauren Ho, alongside travel editor Sofia de la Cruz, the travel winners of the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025 shed light on the industry’s need for ‘deeper connections’ and slower journeys. Read on to find out who is top of their game.

Best opening

Locke de Santa Joana, Lisbon

‘A much-loved Portuguese city welcomes Locke de Santa Joana, a new accommodation offering from a design-focused hotel group.’ Lauren Ho

Locke de Santa Joana is located at R. Camilo Castelo Branco 18, 1150-084 Lisboa, Portugal; lockeliving.com

Best suites

The Emory, London

‘Belgravia hotel The Emory showcases the creative aesthetic of a host of world-class designers.’ Lauren Ho

The Emory is located at Old Barrack Yard, London SW1X 7NP, UK; the-emory.co.uk

Best slow journey

L'Observatoire Suite by JR at the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express

‘L'Observatoire Suite is an artist’s vision for a famous train that encourages its passengers to be curious and adventurous.’ Sofia de la Cruz

belmond.com

Best social hub

The Wilde, Milan

‘The Wilde is a next-generation member’s club that perfectly reflects the cosmopolitan Milanese spirit.’ Sofia de la Cruz

The Wilde is located at Via dei Giardini, 16, 20121 Milano, Italy; thewilde.com

Best home away from home

Vipp Todos Santos

‘Vipp Todos Santos is a new guesthouse from the Danish design brand that brings a Scandinavian aesthetic to a desert location.’ Sofia de la Cruz

vipp.com

Find more Wallpaper* Design Awards winners in the February 2025 issue of Wallpaper* is available in print on newsstands from 9 January 2025, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

It’s not exactly easy to pinpoint where the Wallpaper* editors will be. From design festivals to fashion weeks and OOO adventures, there’s always something exciting on our team’s calendars. Keep reading to find out where the magazine’s staff members will be heading in the new year.

Wallpaper* editors’ 2025 getaway plans

LA: Charlotte Gunn, Director of Digital Content

‘I will look forward to my annual trip to Los Angeles to visit friends and family. I spend the year diligently plotting all the new openings I want to try on a Google Map so I am fully prepped by the time we arrive. I’m already itching to try Camelia, a French fusion restaurant which opened in Echo Park at the end of the summer. I’m also keen to see how the development of Melrose Hill has progressed since my last visit – a couple of notable galleries had moved into the area and there was a pledge to redevelop a disused retail block with new independent shops and restaurants. To get me through the long British winter, I shall be dreaming of fresh seafood at sundown from The Jolly Oyster on Ventura beach.’

Venice & Helsinki: Ellie Stathaki, Architecture & Environment Director

‘The Venice Architecture Biennale always causes a stir of excitement at the architecture desk, so my biannual visit to the Italian city in May for the vernissage is at the top of my list for 2025. I am also dreaming of a winter trip to Helsinki. I’ve always felt there’s lots to see and enjoy in the Nordic capital, and I have only scratched the surface. I have only ever been for work, so going on a long weekend in a private capacity is also on my list. The reopening of Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall in January just adds to the reasons why.’

Switzerland & Budapest: Hannah Tindle, Beauty & Grooming Editor

‘I’m hoping to travel to Clinique La Prairie in Switzerland in 2025, a spa and clinic that has been running since 1931. (Previous devotees to its ‘CLP method’ include Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo). I also want to visit the Omorovicza spa in Budapest, another institution with a storied past, built on the Rác Thermal Bath, which dates back to the 16th century.’

Naoshima: Jason Hughes, Creative Director

‘In 2025, I’m heading back to Japan, more specifically to visit the islands of Naoshima and Teshima, which sit in the Seto Inland Sea and are easily accessible by ferry from Osaka. Famous for their art and architecture, I look forward to exploring both islands on a bicycle and seeing the works of artists Yayoi Kusama, James Turrell, Walter De Maria and Lee Ufan. I’m planning to stay at Benesse House, a museum and hotel concept, designed by renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando.’

Australia, Uzbekistan and beyond: Lauren Ho, Travel Director

‘As I live my life constantly on the road, it’s important for me to plan my trips so that I make the most of each region or destination I am in. For 2025, I will be ringing in the new year in Sydney, followed by a few weeks of checking out new hotels in Australia. In late January, I will be heading to Beijing to see the newly opened Mandarin Oriental Qianmen, the group’s newest property, which unfolds within a 600-year-old hutong complex. This will be followed by a trip to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, which I am particularly excited about, and then, I will make my way to Europe, where I plan to explore Greece’s new hotel openings, and will head from Lisbon to the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe. While luxury hotels are my passion, at least once a year I like to visit a random destination I have never been to and that most people might not have access to. Finally, by June, I hope to make my annual pilgrimage to Africa to get my safari fix.’

Malaysia: Melina Keays, Entertaining Director

‘In February, I am travelling to The Datai beach resort in Langkawi - one of my favourite destinations in the world. Langkawi is the largest of a cluster of islands off the coast of northwestern Malaysia, separated from the mainland by the Strait of Malacca. I’ve been visiting this wonderful place for decades, and it never loses its allure. Langkawi is a proper tropical paradise; awarded Geopark status by UNESCO, it offers lush rainforests, stunning mountain ranges and white sand beaches.

There are fantastic things to see and do all over the island, which is rich in history and culture, but I could easily spend all my time at The Datai resort itself. It was designed by visionary architect Kerry Hill, who was determined to honour its environment, and set high over Datai Bay. The hotel is melded into its jungle setting, and its beautiful rooms and spaces float amidst the rainforest canopy, with breathtaking views of the Andaman Sea. The food at the Datai is superb, and I am particularly looking forward to the delicious Malaysian cuisine at The Gulai House, which is to be found at the end of a candle-lit jungle trail.’

Geneva: Tianna Williams, Editorial Executive

‘For the first week of spring, I will be heading to Geneva, Switzerland, to reunite with my cousin and sister. The location of this annual reunion varies from year to year, from the rolling hills of Shropshire, the coastline of the Gower Peninsula to London’s Hyde Park. I am excited to trade the London smog for crisp Mont Blanc mountain air, warm up with soothing mugs of hot chocolate, and, if feeling brave, take a plunge in Lake Geneva.’

Madrid, Rome, Paris: Sofia de la Cruz, Travel Editor

‘I tend to be quite spontaneous with the locations I travel to, often booking trips or accepting invitations at the last minute. That said, I will begin the new year in Madrid, and a few weeks later, I have a trip planned to Rome to explore the upcoming Hotel Romeo Roma, one of Zaha Hadid’s final projects before she died in 2016. I also have a weekend in Paris scheduled, which is something I make a point to do every year. As for the rest of the year, I hope to fulfil my lifelong dream of visiting Japan.’

Shanghai: Smilian Cibic, Editorial Assistant

‘I’m travelling to Shanghai to visit my dad, who has been working there for the past five years. I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s been up to. He’s designed his own micro home apartment, which has had quite a stir in the Chinese press. We will then travel together to Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of China and then Shenzhen, the tech capital of the world.’

For more Travel content, visit Wallpaper*’s dedicated channel

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s complex in Lisbon has been one of the city’s best-loved landmarks since it opened in the 1960s. The foundation aims to improve quality of life through art, charity, science and education, and its Lisbon campus encompasses a main office, library, the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, scientific research centre and contemporary art museum, Centro de Arte Moderna (CAM), which reopens this year following an extensive four-year renovation by Japanese studio Kengo Kuma & Associates. Designed in collaboration with landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic, the update cleverly reconfigures the space and extends the foundation’s gardens to craft a more cohesive relationship between the existing structures.

Explore Centro de Arte Moderna at Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon

The original CAM building was designed in 1983 by British architect Leslie Martin, who led the team behind London’s Royal Festival Hall. The museum already holds almost 12,000 artworks, spanning paintings, sculptures, installations, drawings, prints, photographs and films by some of the country’s most renowned artists, such as Helena Almeida, Joana Vasconcelos, Paula Rego and Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, as well as a significant collection of works by international and British artists, including Sonia and Robert Delaunay, David Hockney and Bridget Riley.

Keen to expand its growing collection, in 2019, the foundation held a competition in a bid to better integrate the museum with its garden setting, » which was originally designed by António Viana Barreto and Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles. Rather than create an extension that ate into the garden, Kuma’s suggested design added galleries underneath the building, while a new entrance at the rear would open it up on to a public plaza. In choosing this proposal, the foundation selected a design that put contemporary art at its heart, as well as allowing the venue to connect with its surrounding context.

The reimagined building has glass doors on either side of the new entrance, affording visitors views of both the old and new gardens. In the main exhibition hall, girders add an industrial feel, while on the lower ground floor, light is brought in through windows that look up on to the garden. In CAM’s main gallery, Nave, is an installation by Leonor Antunes, who also curated an exhibition by around 30 women artists for the museum’s reopening. The crowning glory, meanwhile, is the engawa, a 100m canopy that spans the entire width of the building. Featuring planks of ash covered with white Portuguese ceramic tiles, and flowing in a wave-like form that ripples out from the top down, the canopy is held up by twin pillars that Kuma describes as like pine needles.

‘There is much to consider when looking at art, and sometimes it is very stressful to process these powerful messages. The engawa serves as a meditative space in the shade,’ says Kuma. Providing shelter, seating and a spot for quiet contemplation, the engawa acts as a transitional zone between the museum and the garden. Connecting with the community and the landscape was a key concern during the project’s conception, and that extended to the use of local materials and the celebration of their natural variations through the design.

‘A building should be connected with us and with its location. Using local materials is necessary to make this kind of connection,’ says Kuma. For him, surface variations echo the diversity of the city. ‘In industrial materials, there is no variation. I chose materials for their natural roughness and variations. I was drawn to them because we, ourselves, are diverse, we are not industrial products and we feel a certain sympathy for these kinds of materials.’

The use of solely native plants in the gardens complements this approach. A year of research went into selecting the species that now include polypodium vulgare (a native fern), euphorbia characias and polygonatum odoratum. They were collected in the wild and grown in a nursery before being planted. Some of the larger trees, such as the quercus suber (cork oak), quercus rotundifolia (holm oak) and quercus faginea (Portuguese oak), were also transplanted from the wild, creating a garden that, when fully grown, will be completely self-sufficient.

‘We approached this project with a lot of humbleness and respect for what had already been done,’ says Djurovic. ‘We knew that if Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles had been here today and he had had to do that extension, he would have let nature talk – the garden would have been as natural as possible.’

This project has transformed the Gulbenkian campus, benefiting both the environment and the local community. Dramatic changes have been made to what was already there, but with a lightness of touch, as the new design updates the original to create a seamless transition between the site’s various spaces. Says Kuma, ‘In our vision for CAM, we crafted a new outdoor narrative, where architecture and nature converse in harmony, inviting visitors to slow down and make this space their own.’

kkaa.co.jp

gulbenkian.pt

Since the first Locke hotel opened in London nearly a decade ago, the design-led pioneer of short- and long-stay hospitality has grown to include 17 outposts across Europe, from Berlin to Paris. One of the latest to open is Locke de Santa Joana, housed in a 17th-century former convent in Lisbon, a city much-loved by digital nomads for its sunny disposition and lively street life. The design-savvy, urban resort offers spaces for co-working, play and rest right in the heart of the capital.

Locke de Santa Joana wins Best Opening at the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025

Following Locke’s commitment to using different designers for their projects to ‘keep the brand fresh’, 370 rooms in natural tones come courtesy of New York-based Post Company. Sense of place comes from using local fabrics, ceramics from Lisbon’s Grau Cerâmica and period elements from the convent, such as blue and yellow azulejos (tiles), which are woven throughout the property’s four blocks. All but thirty of the rooms come with a well-equipped kitchen, with tables to eat at, teas from the Lisbon Tea Company and Drip Coffee. Showers, rather than tubs, are housed in dusky plum-coloured bathrooms. Those in search of something different should book the rooms in the old convent, where beds are framed by marble columns.

A big draw is the courtyard swimming pool with a sun terrace, but there is also an on-site museum showcasing artefacts found during the building’s restoration, co-working spaces and event venues, a 24/7 gym, and five restaurants and bars, operated by London-based hospitality incubators White Rabbit Projects and Spiritland. Designed by Lázaro Rosa-Violán, these take their cues from the building’s heritage with quirky details, such as the cutlery once used by the nuns hanging on the wall of Mediterranean restaurant Santa Marta.

Other highlights include the Portuguese brasserie Santa Joana, alongside a Japanese whiskey bar and a basement cocktail club hosting late-night DJ sets by local and global residencies. As Paul Noble and Sophie Uddin of Spiritland said of Locke’s listening bar, The Kissaten, where their private vinyl collections will be available (as well as a range of whisky curated by Dave Broom), ‘this is something for creative, Bohemian aficionados’. The same could be said of Locke de Santa Joana itself.

Locke de Santa Joana is located at R. Camilo Castelo Branco 18, 1150-084 Lisbon; lockeliving.com

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At first, Lisbon’s new Jam Hotel looks too raw to be finished, but on closer inspection, it is the circularity-focused backdrop to an eclectic collection of upcycled art and design. The project is the brainchild of interior architect and Zaventem Ateliers founder Lionel Jadot, who was given carte blanche by Jam brand operator Jean-Paul Pütz to completely transform a drab and derelict Lisbon office block into a celebration of the city’s burgeoning art scene.

Jam Hotel is a showcase of circularity and craft

Jadot’s response was to handpick different design studios and local artists to contribute to a unique space, showcasing collectible designs compatible with the OpenStructures modular grid.

Among the locally sourced building materials are cork wall and ceiling cladding from near Barrosinha, a rural estate just south of Lisbon, where Romanian designer Mircea Anghel’s Cabana Studio is based. Anghel, a disciple of George Nakashima, set to work with 13 craftsmen, transforming burnt eucalyptus wood to build modular bunk beds that create four- and five-person options among the hotel’s 100 rooms. Meanwhile, Porto-based Flowco produced eco-tile headboards made from recycled shoe soles.

Jadot says that during the five years that the hotel was in the making, including through the pandemic, the property was like a stranded vessel on the banks of the Tagus, which he refitted with a ‘rolled-up-sleeves, hands-on approach’.

Around the hotel lobby, moulded concrete chairs and daybeds by Ivan Daniel Cova complement murals by Brazilian artist Ylana Yaari. Signature tiles, inside and out, by Pieter Van Bruysse (of Grond studio) deploy lime plaster, cork waste and terracotta clays.

Perhaps the hotel’s pièce de résistance is the Cabana rooftop lounge bar crowned with an elongated swimming pool lined with Bela Silva’s hand-painted tiles. The space is enhanced by handwoven plastic Tucurinca furniture by Omarcity, wooden ping-pong tables, and ceramic mask sculptures by artist duo Mon Colonel Spit.

Rising star chef Mauro Airosa heads up gourmet fusion at Mojjo restaurant, which is furnished with bespoke chairs by Emmanuel Babled studio in collaboration with Jisamwe, alongside solid-cut marble blocks rescued from a nearby quarry.

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These Lisbon apartments, available to rent short-term, are housed within a formerly dilapidated building in the city’s Baixa Pombalina, faithfully restored to its original glory by friends and business partners Maria Eugenia Ocantos and Pedro Ramos. The project preserves both the original structure and the frescoes and paintings uncovered during the renovation, after decades spent hidden.

Antiga Casa Pessoa Lisbon apartments

Architect José Adrião was at the helm of the ambitious project. ‘He had already rehabilitated a building in Baixa and, in addition to his technical experience, we loved his architecture,’ the duo say. ‘It was the right choice, as the project was developed based on the history and quality of the building. The respect that José has for the identity of the place and for the heritage, combined with the clarity of the desire to reconcile the past with the present, and also with the future, was very attractive to us.’

Begun in 2014 and completed in 2021, the sensitive restoration was recently recognised by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s Gulbenkian Heritage Prize, which bestowed an honourable mention, while the 2021 FAD Awards in Barcelona also named it a finalist. ‘The Gulbenkian architect jury members, such as Gonçalo Byrne, loved the connection between the architectural hardness of the Pombaline building and the proposal of placing the building in the 21st century,’ add Ocantos and Ramos. 

‘The building has spent half of its history vacant for various reasons and had not undergone any interventions. We added the bathrooms, elevator and kitchens without destroying walls or historic elements of the building. The frescoes on the old ceilings as well as the original floor were preserved under the new ones. All the apartments have paintings or frescoes.’

An otherwise minimalist interior decor allows visitors to interact with the space in their own way. ‘It is a pleasure for us to see people who stay in our apartments become interested in the history of the building and feel that they have become part of it. This is how we started to receive people on medium-term stays.’

Apartments available to rent for stays of three days to a year, antigacasapessoa.com

‘The Poetics of Reason’ was the rather lofty topic of the festival's 2019 edition, but for Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2022, the two-month-long architecture event takes on a theme that is, quite literally, more down to earth: ‘Terra’. Through four major exhibitions, three days’ worth of conferences, and an array of independent projects chief-curated by Cristina Veríssimo and Diogo Burnay, Terra explores how we can change the grim trajectory of our home planet which, according to triennial chairman José Mateus, has ‘reached a dead end that we can hardly get out of'.

‘In an ideal world, this would be an age with enormous potential, except human activities have been dictated by high levels of ignorance for a long time, together with extremely high degrees of negligence and greed,' Mateus added. ‘All of this is based on a belief which is irresponsible, to say the least: that the Earth absorbs everything.' 

Visitors are immediately confronted with the consequences of their environmental wrongdoings at the ‘Retroactive’ exhibition in Lisbon’s MAAT museum, which begins by projecting video footage of engorged landfills, extreme weather incidents and overcrowded infrastructures in what’s termed ‘broken cities' across the globe.

The projects presented throughout the following rooms do, however, prove that steps are being taken to bolster urban habitats and their outskirts; this includes Tapis Rouge by Eva Studio, a community amphitheatre built at the heart of Haiti’s Carrefour-Feuilles suburb that – thanks to an underground dry well – doubles up as a flood mitigation system. There’s also Estudio Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman’s El Santuario Frontera project, which sees metal storage racks repurposed to create the framework of housing for refugees at the Tijuana-San Diego border. 

The ‘Cycles’ exhibition over at Lisbon’s Garagem Sul cultural centre offers a look at the different ways architects and other creatives are making use of recovered construction materials, from concrete to cork – nearly 140 cubic metres of the latter (which was once used for building insulation) sits in a towering pile at the rear of the main gallery space as part of an installation titled Falca. It’s the work of conceptual artist Lara Almarcegui, who compels audiences to consider the startling volume of materials required to realise our sprawling built environment.

Visitors will also no doubt be inspired by the projects shown at the ‘Multiplicity’ exhibition in Lisbon’s National Museum of Contemporary Art; from a community fridge in New York, to friendship benches in Zimbabwe, and a modular reading pavilion in Mumbai, it's clear that even smaller-scale projects are capable of solving major social and eco challenges. 

While a majority of what’s showcased in the 2022 Lisbon Triennial acts as a rousing call to action in the fight against climate change, some of the works presented are interestingly more of a call-to-withdraw. In Culturgest’s ‘Visionaries’ exhibition, for example, Ensamble Studio makes a case for off-grid living with Ca’n Terra House – a family dwelling that occupies a cave-like Menorcan sandstone quarry. Then over at the independent projects show in Lisbon’s Palácio Sinel de Cordes, Plan B Architecture & Urbanism’s ‘Terra Infirma – Terra Incognita’ project proposes establishing universal no-fly zones and points of inaccessibility.

In the process, humans could ‘retire their status as a truly global species' and allow once-unknown parts of the Earth to recover from our harmful practices – and with the unquestionable urgency of the climate crisis, perhaps we should indeed ready ourselves to retreat.

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It began with a painting: a woman sits on a chair, legs crossed, caught in profile. Two others sit at her feet, one staring outwards, holding the viewer’s eye. ‘I stopped in my tracks when I came across it,’ says Max Mara creative director Ian Griffiths of the work, which is by midcentury Portuguese artist Nikias Skapinakis.

Yesterday evening (28 June 2022), Griffiths returned to the place of discovery: the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection in Lisbon, Portugal, hosting his Resort 2023 collection amid the gardens of the foundation’s modernist complex. Further research had revealed the subjects of the portrait: pianist Maria João Pires, novelist Fernanda Botelho and, most striking to the designer, Natália Correia, an author, intellectual and activist born in the Azores in 1923. 

‘You get an immediate sense of this woman’s stature,’ says Griffiths of Correia’s depiction. ‘She’s gazing straight ahead as if she’s looking into the future, and in fact the picture was painted in 1974, the year that the Carnation Revolution brought about the demise of the military government that Correia constantly campaigned against. There’s a sense of calm destiny and confidence that made me want to know more. And the more I found out, the more I was inspired. I was looking for a strong central figure around which to build the collection’s narrative – that just had to be Natália.’

Correia is the latest to be elevated into what Griffiths calls the ‘Max Mara pantheon of strong women’, spanning culture, politics and celebrity; last season (A/W 2022), it was Sophie Taeuber-Arp, a multidisciplinary artist closely associated with the Dada movement. Correia, Griffiths said, deserved her place for ‘her own brand of feminism with its emphasis on erotic liberalism [which allowed] her to express her sensuality. I think we’re all looking to live our lives in a way which satisfies the various facets of our personalities – the creative, intellectual and sensual. Here’s a woman who managed to achieve it, and here’s a collection that celebrates that achievement.’

An intellectual sensuality has long been embedded in Griffiths’ collections for the house, here also playing into the choice of location: the gardens of the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection, where lush vegetation and pools of water meet clean concrete lines and stepping stones (built in the 1960s, they are based on a project by landscape architects António Viana Barreto and Gonçalo Ribeiro). ‘It’s the best setting I can imagine for this collection,’ he says. ‘We will be showing just before the sun sets; I’m hoping we will capture the contented, sensual mood that you get at the end of a sun-baked day.’

Of the collection, Griffiths describes a ‘quasi-minimalist sense of rigour, a collection that’s both sexy and serious’. Drawing particular inspiration from Correia’s passionate defence of sexual freedom – epitomised best in Antologia da Poesia Portuguesa Erótica e Satírica, her anthology of erotic poetry that was seized by authorities for its content – Griffiths sought a ‘voluptuous, curvier silhouette’, expressed in or sheath dresses and pencil skirts, while cropped tops (revealing a slice of midriff beneath) and ‘a new look at the [off-the-shoulder] décolleté’ also captured a similar mood.

Elsewhere, Griffiths looked towards traditional Portuguese dress; notably, the figure of Amália Rodrigues, the ‘queen of Fado’ (a traditional form of music from the country that originated from Lisbon) and an attendee of parties at Correia’s home and bar, Bar Botequim. Looking at photographs of the artist on stage, the designer noticed a ‘passion for plissé’, here translated in pleated waistbands or slips that emerged from the hem of pencil skirts. A nod to the country’s craft traditions also ran throughout, referenced in vivid folk-inspired prints and a series of handkerchiefs, hand-embroidered by Portuguese craftspeople and stitched onto T-shirts (called ‘handkerchiefs of love’, they are traditionally gifted to prospective romantic partners). ‘It all adds up to a new feminine kind of modernity with a pinch of folk culture,’ says Griffiths. 

‘I didn’t know Portugal well before I started this project; it’s been a journey of discovery for me, but naturally I have followed avenues where there has been a personal resonance,’ he says of the location, which marks the final stop in a season of Cruise shows that has transported attendees around the world, from San Diego to Monaco. ‘I always look for a destination where not everyone has been, but everyone has ideas about. When you say Lisbon, an image of the city springs to mind, a city of romance, charm, and character, where new and old blend seamlessly’ – a spirit reflected in the era-spanning collection itself.

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Paulo Mendes da Rocha still channels the energy of a revolutionary. The 81-year-old architect's discourse, usually self-contradictory, is intense, much like the body of work that spans his 50-year career. Take his house in Butanta, for example, which he built in 1964. Even today, it's an architectural gesture against the culture of individualism. The banishing of circulation space, and the design of rooms with windows that open not externally but internally towards the common areas, represents a radical proposal of respectful co-existence.

Delicate paper models all around his office tell stories about his current projects; the Vitória Museum, already under construction; laboratories for Vale do Rio Doce in Belem do Pani; the Vigo University building in Spain; and the new Carriage Museum in Lisbon. The architect seems genuinely unconcerned about the current global economic difficulties. ‘How can Europe talk about crisis aft er having overcome two World Wars and having rebuilt entire countries from scratch? We should allow capitalism to be discussed as well as reinvented,' he says.

‘The best thing an architect can say is that he doesn’t know what architecture is’

Mendes de Rocha's long service as a lecturer at Sao Paulo University would have been longer had the military dictatorship not banned him from teaching for two decades. He suggests today's more benign political environment will allow Brazilian architects to again spark urban revitalisation, just as the country's modernists did.

‘I don't think there is a Brazilian architecture, there is just architecture in Brazil,' he says. He references Rio icons like the Museum of Modern Art by Affonso Eduardo Reidy and the Ministry of Education and Health, by a team that included Oscar Niemeyer and Lucio Costa. ‘These are works of architecture that transform nature,' he says, and by "nature" he explains that he does not mean the simple natural landscape, but the whole socio-geographic phenomena .

Though he seems nonchalant about awards, Mendes da Rocha considers the Pritzker Prize he received in 2006 as recognition of how Brazil's attitude to architecture has had a positive influence internationally. But he suggests there are many challenges that Latin American architecture has yet to overcome.

‘Latin America is still being discovered, but the biggest danger for Brazil would be to stand out before its time. lt would just lead to ephemeral fireworks.' But isn't contemporary architecture also, in a way, ephemeral? ‘The best thing an architect can say is that he doesn't know what architecture is,' comes the reply.

Globalisation, our pandemic world and issues of urbanity are a few of the subjects highlighted in a new exhibition opening at MAAT (Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology) in Lisbon this week. Titled ‘X is Not a Small Country – Unravelling the Post-Global Era' and curated by Aric Chen with Martina Muzi, the show spans various scales and settings, from urban hubs to infrastructure and human bodies.

Designed by architecture studio Bureau and featuring a visual identity by Joana Pestana and Max Ryan, this is an exhibition of nine large-scale installations touching upon anything from the refugee crisis to Brexit and the ongoing global pandemic. Participants include Wolfgang Tillmans, Bard Studio (Rupali Gupte and Prasad Shetty), Bricklab (Abdulrahman Hisham Gazzaz and Turki Hisham Gazzaz), and He Jing. Here, we catch up with curator Chen to discuss the show. 

Wallpaper*: What do you see the role of design and architecture being in this context of post-globalisation?

Aric Chen: In many ways, design and architecture are both the tangible manifestations of the post-global phenomena we're seeing and, by the same token, ways by which we can articulate, understand, speculate about, and respond to them. The projects in the show address this in very direct, immediate ways – as with Wolfgang Tillmans' pro-EU campaign posters, or Rael San Fratello's Teeter-Totter intervention at the US-Mexico border wall – but also through more investigative means that reveal how the post-global might, and is doing so already, act at the level of objects, bodies, spaces, cities and the planet.

W*: How did you choose the contributing studios that created the installations on site?

AC: A lot of research-based designers and architects are already looking at these questions, and so we were not short on options! It really became an issue of trying to include as many approaches and geographical perspectives as we could in order to, as succinctly as possible, convey the complexity of the post-global condition we're faced with.

W*: Why did you choose this format – physical, large-scale installations – for this particular show?

AC: We wanted to make these very abstract ideas and processes as tangible and visceral as possible by literally transforming the gallery space into a kind of post-global landscape. For example, one can enter into the main gallery either by descending a ramp or a stair; whichever way you choose, you'll wind up confronting Rael San Fratello's re-creation of the US-Mexico border wall, separating you head-on from visitors who took the other route.

W*: What would you like the visitor to take away from the exhibition?

AC: The era of globalisation as we've known it since the 1990s is over. That doesn't mean we're necessarily de-globalising; instead, things are unravelling and realigning simultaneously, often in contradictory ways, using different, overlapping and sometimes conflicting logics. If we're going to survive together on this planet, we're going to have to understand this and somehow make it work.

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A gaggle of excited children have descended onto a simple structure made of metal pipes, a new addition to their neighbourhood in Olaias, north Lisbon. Boxing gloves have been distributed and a handful of parents stand near by, as older children teach the younger ones techniques on the hanging bags. Plastic chairs and tables have been assembled, music plays and pots of stew are bubbling.

People are out to welcome a new permanent boxing gym, designed by Mexican studio Diseño Espacial and commissioned by the Lisbon Triennale as one of the eight ‘Associated Projects’ happening across the city. The boxing gym addresses the many of the central themes of the Triennale, particularly the theme of main curator Eric Lapierre’s exhibition ‘Economy of means’.

Yet the project didn’t start in Lisbon, it started in Diseño Espacial’s home town of Mexico City, where architect Daniel de León Languré started noticing the resourcefulness of local boxers who were setting up boxing gyms using minimal resources – and becoming world champions. Inspired by the use of salvaged materials such as tyres, metal poles and blankets of the gyms, he started researching the sport further. He became aware of the positive benefits of these gyms on young people’s physical and mental health and the knock-on effect on the communities.

With Aldo van Eyck’s Seventeen Playgrounds and Isamu Noguchi’s playscapes in mind, Diseño Espacial started thinking about how they could combine ideas into a project for Mexico City that could be an ‘instrument for civic activation in precarious urban areas’. De León Languré calls it ‘urban acupuncture’ – a small intervention designed to contribute to the social health of the city.

Two years and three boxing gyms in Mexico City later, and the Caixa’s de Boxe (Boxing Boxes) project has opened in Lisbon, marking the first international version of the project. After plenty of mediations and conversations, the Mexico City team paired up with local studio Ensaios e Diálogos Associação (EDA), who introduced them to the Associação de Moradores de Portugal Novo, a neighbours’ association for the Barrio Portugal Novo, a post-revolutionary housing estate built in 1974. The estate was built by a self-managed co-operative and considered ‘almost illegal’ and therefore ignored by the state for many years, lacking any investment into the communal spaces. Boxing Boxes was the first public intervention in the neighbourhood for three decades

While the work entailed hours of research to identify possible sites (using a tool that Starbuck’s uses to find coffee shop locations) and meetings with people at all layers of the process from the Triennale, the city, and community leaders, the most useful tool was ‘willingness’ says de León Languré – being open-minded, and not thinking in a ‘top-down’ way at any level. It was a process of constant mediation, he says. 

The pre-fabricated structure designed by Diseño Espacial and made of reclaimed metal pipes was assembled on site with the community. ‘Children now have a place to be children, before it was very limited. Everyone does everything outside and now there is more of a natural meeting place.’

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Joining the ever-growing Lisbon food scene, is Basque Michelin star chef Eneko Atxa with his newly launched  eponymous restaurant, Eneko, in a 600-year-old timber warehouse, once a printing factory, in the riverside district of Alcântara.

Considered a part of the capital’s heritage, the vintage space has retained its industrial architecture with copper-toned iron beams, high ceilings, fluted steel columns and bold red curtains reflected in the vast arched mirrors and multi-paned, mirrored walls. Classical sculptures bring a Baroque feel to the interiors which house both Eneko and the chef’s more casual dining outlet Basque.

The open kitchen in Eneko sits centre-stage offering a taste of the chef’s take on traditional Basque dining through two signature menus. One, Erroak, or roots, is a collection of iconic dishes from Eneko’s 3 star restaurant Azermundi, near Bilabo – think roasted and peeled lobster, juice, coffee butter and purple onion from Zalla or Iberian pork castañeta, idiazabal cheese bonbons and mushroom broth. The second, is  Adarrak, or branches, which showcases Eneko’s latest creations such as red mullet in two services: flame-roasted red mullet and grilled red mullet with red peppers juice on charcoal, and parsley.

And while the cuisine may be rooted in the Basque country, the plates it is served on come from the Lisbon-based, Brazilian duo, Studioneves and the tableware from the acclaimed Portuguese cutlery brand Cutipol.

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R. Maria Luísa Holstein 15

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One imaginatively conceived hotel at a time, Lisbon’s allure as a destination par excellence increases, with this 5-storey hideout, located between the more touristy Baixo Chiado and the historic Alfama quarter, catching our roving eye most recently.

The 35-room hotel – a sister property to the Esquina Urban Lodge over at rua dos Sapateiros – is the work of Inês Moura who has carved the interiors of the 100-year old building into a series of richly textured spaces for both guests and a lively community of local artists – the cultural programming skimming from cooking classes and art residencies to film screenings and poetry readings.

The Gastro & Cocktail Bar is a particular draw for the young Argentinian chef Nicolas López’s modern menu, the local seasonal produce treated lightly and with imagination – think, fresh oysters that spark with lemon, chilli and leek oil and brunoised onion, and tiger prawns sautéed with kimchi and white garlic.

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Lisbon's Bairro Alto Hotel has re-opened bigger and better, courtesy of Pritzker prize-winning architect Eduardo Souto de Moura and Atelier Bastir, also responsible for the interiors of the original hotel.

To the original, ochre-coloured, 18th century house, which stands on one of Lisbon prettiest squares, three adjoining buildings have been added to form a block. A new dark wood and leather cocktail bar, 18.68, spills out onto the square behind it and a Pastelaria, fragrant with pasteis de nata, is open to the side street. 

There are now 87 guestrooms, each drawing on Portuguese crafts from artisanal rugs to Costa Nova ceramics.  Throughout the hotel, furniture mixes bespoke with vintage and antique, while contemporary art from Pedro Cabrita Reis, photographs by José Pedro Cortes and sculptures by Rui Chafes have now been joined by a large tapestry with a macramé base by Oficina 166, its design a nod to the city’s seven hills.
This sense of place continues in the new BAHR Restaurant & Bar, whose informal design by thestudio pays homage to its Bohemian neighbourhood. Amongst the benches by Valentin Loellmann, the chairs by Brazilian designer Jader Almeida and the tables by Lloyd Powell is artisanal china from Estúdio Neves. It is on these, with dishes like smoked goose barnacles and hake with egg and coriander, that Chef Nuno Mendes delivers Portugal on a plate.

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Titled ‘The Poetics of Reason’ and curated by Éric Lapierre, the fifth edition of the Lisbon Triennale claims that while poetics and reason may seem paradoxical, architecture is the discipline that harnesses them both. ‘Architecture is the art of giving a relevant form to a building,’ says Lapierre, architect and teacher at École d'Architecture Marne-la-Vallée Paris Est and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.

Rather than starting with a kernel of an idea, and throwing the Triennale open to a selection of international architects to respond, Lapierre’s exhibition ‘The Economy of Means’ is more of a manifesto. ‘Form is highly serious,’ he says. ‘Architecture should be rational, logical and understandable by everyone. Form is not private – it has the possibility of transforming the work of architects into something collective.’ Architecture holds a responsibility to resources – but not just material resources, also cultural and social resources. How can architecture communicate precisely? How can architects make walls and ceilings talk? Here is the economy, he says.

What interests Lapierre is the history of architecture as a system of knowledge, and the origins of this. The exhibition is therefore designed as a matrix ‘from which we can create an infinity of solutions’. (Lapierre follows a mantra of ‘reinvention, but not from scratch.’) So to find the DNA of a good building, our curator starts with plans and types – from photographer Eric Tabuchi’s Atlas des Regions Naturelles, to Pierre le Muet’s 17th century manual on how to build on a small plot to a survey of regional Portuguese architecture.

Classification is a means to rationalising culture. Somewhat like walking through an architecture lesson, each room addresses a new area of architecture. In one room plans of collective spaces such as the Pantheon, Hagia Sophia and Crown Hall Chicago line the floors and float on panels above. While in another, a history of small spaces unfolds featuring Kazuyo Sejima’s House in a Plum Grove, John Soane’s Dairy for Lady Craven and Charlotte Perriand’s minimum dwelling plans.

From this opening manifesto, a series of four further exhibitions spiral. Another history lesson unfolds at Garagem Sul in Sébastien Marot’s exhibition on agriculture, architecture and urbanism. The professor at École d'Architecture Paris Est presents a timeline of environmental history, a deck of 42 cards showing important images and ideas of permaculture, and four possible future scenarios. Considering industrialisation of the 20th century, he says, urbanisation seems both inevitable and impossible. His statement strikes a powerful chord, and the exhibition, aims to provide some tools for rethinking.

Curators Tristan Chadney and Laurent Esmilaire consider a tighter, yet broader, edit of case studies – from Brunelleschi to Architecten De Vylder Vinck Taillieu – in their exhibition ‘Natural beauty’ that explores the harmony of construction. Their lens is a poetic one, framing buildings with drawing and photography, and a reproduction of a delicate string model that Gaudi used for measuring the load-bearing vaults of the Sagrada Familia.

Elsewhere in the city, at Culturgest, the foundation of Caixa Geral de Depósito, ‘ornament’ is collected and classified by Giovanni Piovene and Ambra Fabi of Pivene Fabi. This time, it’s in three dimensions. Within the context of modernism, excerpts of mouldings ‘the smallest atom of ornament’, columns and patterns from architecture are curated within a sweepingly minimal scenography by Richard Venlet. As part of the show, Sam Jacob and Priya Khanchandani commissioned contemporary responses to Owen Jones’ 1856 book The Grammar of Ornament, seeking to decolonise his theories on pattern. Another treat is the restoration of Aldo Rossi’s film Ornament and crime from 1973 – a film of many films showing monuments of his personal memory.

Mariabruna Fabrizi and Fosco Lucarelli of Microcities and Socks-studio enter another dimension altogether with their exhibition ‘Inner Space’, which explores imagination. Here you’ll find something new and something unexpected for sure – from Hokusai Katsushika’s volumes of themed illustrations; Julien Rodriguez’s spatial memory maps; Valerio Oligati’s collection of pictures ‘Autobiography Iconography’; Isabel Seliger’s architectural comic strips; or Cardboard Computer’s magical realist adventure game in five acts. Here, imagination is a territory to be ‘experienced, crossed and even inhabited’.

The power of a triennial, or biennial, is its ability to reflect on the present – the reoccurring format is stable enough to be responsive to contemporary practice. Some exhibitions are better than others at applying their historical enquiries to the enquiries of the present. The most successful exhibitions align diverse lenses in unexpected ways – historical, side by side with contemporary. (If the key to the future solutions is located in the past, then we certainly haven’t found it yet, but maybe there is a code there waiting to be discovered?) 

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‘We think the same. We never have to speak, she knows what I am thinking,’ says Cláudia Soares Pereira of the connection with her sister Catarina when designing interiors under their family brand, Casa do Passadiço. This powerful family spirit lays the foundations of their latest project, a glittering new Lisbon boutique.

The sisters grew up around great taste and keen eyes for design. ‘My grandfather was an industrialist but was also interested in antiques. He loved to go to auction houses and was very cultivated man. My mother inherited that, and so was my father. We are from a family that loves beautiful things.’

Casa do Passadiço was founded in 1992 by their mother Catarina Rosas in Northern Portugal, in the region of Braga, where their flagship atelier lives in an 18th century manor house. Here, strong female energy was embedded into the brand from the onset. ‘She was very brave, and we know that we owe her a lot,’ Cláudia says. ‘ Everything we know, it is from her.' While being proudly Portuguese, the duo scour flea markets to auction houses across the globe to bring to fruition their treasure trove inside the new Lisbon boutique, which of course, got the seal of approval from their mother.

Facing the Spanish Consulate on one of the most reputable fashion streets in Lisbon, Avenida da Liberdade, the building was realised by an Italian architect in the 1900s as the private home of a wealthy musician, before turning into bank later on in life. Now, original marble flooring and restored classical plaster frescos retain its era appearance, while a peppering of vintage, contemporary and midcentury comes together as the Casa’s eclectic aesthetic.

‘It is very important to make this mix,’ the duo says of the their decoration of the 200 sq m space. Venetian Chic, Eternally Ritz and Chateau Life are just come of the Assouline tomes found in the space – a nod to the grand aura that includes a Vittorio Dassi table in marble, Vladimir Kagan sofa, and a unique wooden bench from Africa that appears as a recliner, but that was a bed for malaria sufferers in the past.

Rich compositions in the showroom unravel as a playground of the sister’s stimulating experimentation and discovery. A large Julian Opie print brings playfulness to another room, while the back room is an Instagrammable meld of large mirrors, leopard print chairs and coral walls.

Casa do Passadiço are best known for forming the visual identify inside stores for fashion brand Aquazzura. From Moscow to Dubai, the duo immerse themselves in the culture and architecture of a city – ‘we get a lot of inspiration in cathedrals,’ they muse.

When discussing how Portuguese landscape design has evolved, Claudia understands it has been a rocky road. ‘We have always had the good manufacturing to make pieces, but we didn’t have good design, but now it is changing.’ With so much under their belt already, next in the Casa do Passadiço plan is to launch their own furniture, for which they will call upon their artisans in Northern Portugal to produce locally made products, ‘it is the right time to be present here.’

INFORMATION

casadopassadico.com

ADDRESS

Avenida da Liberdade, 166
1250-096 Lisboa, Portugal

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Casa do Monte is a house cloaked in romantic narratives. Designed by Leopold Banchini Architects, selected for the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2019, with architect Daniel Zamarbide, the family home is set on a site caught in the steep wake of the hilltop chapel Nossa Senhora do Monte, established by Augustinians in 1147. It was also a location for a Wallpaper* fashion shoot by photographer Julien T Hamon and styled by Wallpaper* fashion director Isabelle Kountoure for the September 2019 issue (W*246).

The nondescript doorway to the house is reached only by a passage of narrow steps, winding past venerable neighbours deferring to rubble. And while the historic façade has been quietly preserved, inside, the space was totally demolished and re-carved from scratch.

Re-materialised with concrete, the walls have been left raw and exposed, changing the atmosphere of the house from something domestic into a pure and stylistic architectural shell for living.

Simplicity and raw materials define the interior programme. Slabs of solid stone divide the space and open up storage solutions, while sweeping light fabric curtains glide over the architecture to add a warm intimacy to the exposed materials. The interventions in pink marble from the nearby Estremoz quarry, green azulejos tiles, and local carpentry sharpen the space with Banchini’s trademark eclecticism – also seen at the Casa CCFF in Geneva.

A blue metal staircase spirals through the layers up to the final chapter. On the rooftop a rectangular pool has been carved out of a flat plane of Portuguese white stone, punctured by three umbrella pines and wrapped up in the Lisbon panorama.

INFORMATION
leopoldbanchini.com

Joining The Lumiares as the sophomore property in hospitality group Bomporto Hotels' fledgling boutique collection, Lisbon's Vintage Hotel & Spa has just emerged from a top-to-toe makeover, courtesy of local outfit, Quiet Studios, together with creative consultants, Foster & Bloom.

Taking its cues from the property's namesake, the designers have created an updated vintage aesthetic, dressing the clean, curved and modernist lines of the building with a mix of original mid-century furnishings and bespoke specially commissioned reproductions, while flying the flag for all things Portuguese. 

In the 56 guestrooms, for example, chairs by Danish designers Kai Kristiansen, Poul Cadovius or Erik Buch, sit alongside offerings from long-established Portuguese brands such as crockery by Costa Nova; pencils from Viarco; Claus Porto bathroom amenities; retro toothpaste from Couto; and a stand out vintage bar trolley stocked with goodies curated by Foster & Bloom, as well as gin from local brand Sharish.

Plump for one of the top floor suites for impressive Lisbon views, or head to the V Rooftop Bar to sip on cocktails, like the Jungle Bird, against the city's skyline; also the ideal spot for a pre-dinner tipple, before heading to in-house restaurant, Blue. Here, chef João Silva churns out modern Portuguese dishes, like the crispy black swordfish with baked organic carrot puree and spinach, in a setting inspired by the Algarve coast in the 1950s.

Elsewhere, a bold portrait of a Portuguese Fadista (a female fado singer), by artist Margarida Fleming, takes pride of place behind the bar, and a glittering brass and silver Alexander Calder-inspired mobile by German studio Lappalainen hangs in the lobby. The subterranean spa, meanwhile, which features a glass sculpture by Lisbon artist Branca Cuvier, is the best spot to relax, after a day spent pounding the nearby Avenida da Liberdade.

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

R. Rodrigo da Fonseca 2

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PHOTOGRAPHY

Luis Ferraz

Following its debut in Barcelona, The One – the luxury brand from Spanish hotel group H10 – has launched its second outpost, this time in Lisbon.

Occupying a grand 16th-century palace, the property's original details like the multi-hued marble floors, coffered, stuccoed and gilded ceilings, and ornate frescoes, have been carefully overseen by heritage experts, with Barcelona-based Chilean designer Jaime Beriestain responsible for inserting contemporary luxury within the ancient walls.

The 83 guestrooms – many of which over look the lovely internal courtyard and gardens – are dressed in a base palette of soft feather greys that are highlighted with bold blue and white hand-painted bespoke ceramics that decorate the walls and clean-lined bathrooms clad in delicate pink marble that hales from Portugal's Alentejo region.

There is a sleek swimming pool overlooking Lisbon's quintessential red roofs and a spa with Natura Bisse products, but the jewel in the hotel's crown is certainly the dining room where, under the prettiest painted ceiling in Lisbon, you can dine on elegantly executed dishes of sea bass and scarlet prawns.

ADDRESS

R. das Portas de Santo Antão 112-134

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The elegantly curved 19th-century white façade, graced with a charming wrought iron balcony, belies the world of colour from inside Casa Fortunato, a nine-room retreat in Lisbon's upscale Amoreiras neighbourhood.

Previously the offices of architect António Costa Lopes, the property is a labour of love for him and his wife Filipa, who followed their dream to transform it not only into a family home for them, their four children and their black Labrador Cocoa, but into a place for like-minded visitors to rest their heads.

And so, across the bedrooms – Big, Bigger and Biggest – are a riotous blend of period architecture, like ornate mouldings and traditional architraves, and contemporary details such as the colourful handmade Moroccan rugs, that rest on stripped pine flooring; a mix of mid-century and modern furnishings; and, most notably, head-turning, geometric Jupiter 10 wallpapers that are boosted further by bold Farrow & Ball hues. Floor-to-ceiling windows bathe the spaces in natural light, while framing leafy street views, and indulgent bathrooms – some with large soaking tubs – come complete with Diptyque amenities.

In the kitchen, the in-house chef serves up a wholesome macrobiotic menu – think white miso soup and scrambled tofu for breakfast – which is best devoured in the huge, art-filled salon. Yoga is on offer daily as is the warmth of family life. 

ADDRESS

Rua Marquês de Subserra 10

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Santa Clara 1728

Housed inside an 18th-century pile on one of Lisbon’s most romantic squares is Santa Clara 1728. Set atop one of the city’s seven hills, overlooking the Pantheon and the Tagus River beyond, the hotel has been designed by local architect Manuel Aires Mateus, whose clean, modern interiors are refreshing trimmings to the building’s ancient walls. Downstairs, unwind under the warm glow from Davide Groppi’s ‘Simbiosi’ lights with a glass of Portuguese wine and comforting home-made meal, using the freshest market produce.

Campo de Santa Clara 128; tel: 35.1 934 418 316; www.santaclara1728.com; rates: from €300

Verride Palácio Santa Catarina

Located in Lisbon’s hipster Chiado quarter, the handsome four-storey Verride Palácio Santa Catarina was revitalised into a modern boutique hotel by architect Teresa Nunes da Ponte, who meticulously restored the intricate Pombalino interiors including the wrought iron staircase, ornamental ceilings, Portuguese and Greek marble and original blue and white Azulejo tiles. Return to one of the 18 spacious rooms wrapped in a muted palate of light browns after dining at either gastro bar Suba, which serves king crabs with a citrus and guacamole cream; or Criatura, a more formal dining room featuring the likes of cabidela and roasted sea-bass.

Rua de Santa Catarina No. 1; tel: 35.1 211 473 058; verridesc.pt/experience; rates: from €500

Memmo Alfama

The romantic Alfama neighbourhood is a maze of narrow cobbled streets lined with orange trees and trendy terrace bars, and crowned with an ancient cloistered cathedral. Though surrounded by history, Memmo Alfama has an uber-contemporary feel, from the exterior mural by conceptual artist Vhils (Alexandre Farto) to the clever minimalist design by local architect Samuel Torres de Carvalho. Views from the 42 rooms will not disappoint, whether you opt for patio, bairro or river vista. Egyptian-cotton bed linens make for a comfortable night’s sleep, while a well-stocked wine bar provides gourmet snacks and African, Brazilian and Portuguese dance tracks.

Travessa das Merceeiras 2; 35.1 210 495 660; www.memmohotels.com/alfama-hotel-overview.html; rates: from €228

AlmaLusa Baixa-Chiado

Tucked into a charming corner, AlmaLusa Baixa-Chiado is a boutique hotel offering a slice of history and rooms with a view from within its 18th-century frame. Once the city’s arsenal, it sits on the magnificent Praça de Munícipio, one of Lisbon’s most emblematic squares, which is paved with its characteristic, calçadas – or cobblestones – and is dominated by the neo-classical façade of the City Hall. The 28-room gem draws on all things Portuguese, where, from textiles to soaps, designer Giano Gonçalves has skilfully woven original flagstone floors and ancient fireplaces with 21st-century comfort and technology.

Praça do Munícipio 21; tel: 35.1 212 697 440; www.almalusahotels.com/en/hotel; rates: from €110

Memmo Príncipe Real

Lisbon’s increasingly vibrant Príncipe Real neighbourhood, where sleek concept stores now jostle with buzzy restaurants, sets the scene for Memmo group’s Lisbon iteration. Designed by architect Samuel Torres de Carvalho, Memmo Príncipe Real is decidedly 21st century, where interiors mix moss green fabrics with warm oak floors, and huge chandeliers from Santa & Cole cast their light on contemporary art. 41 bedrooms and suites are softly lit with hand blown glass from Marinha Grande, and bathrooms are clad in warm local limestone. Additionally, Café Colonial dazzles with offerings including slow cooked pork cheek with rosemary and caramelised vegetables.

Rua D. Pedro V, 56J; tel: 35.1 219 016 800; www.memmohotels.com/memmo-hotels.html; rates: from €226

The Lumiares

Located on one of Lisbon’s seven hills in the charming Bairro Alto district, The Lumiares skilfully blends the 18th and 21st centuries to feature 53 guestrooms, a spa, two restaurants and a bar, with dramatic effect. The original sweeping stone staircase takes centre position under a Beau McClellan-designed cubic brass lighting installation that echoes the geometric black and white flooring in the lobby and the bespoke hand-woven tapestries from rug brand Ferreira de Sá in every room. Food comes courtesy of chef Miguel Castro e Silva whose sea bass with orange and fennel is a must at the rooftop restaurant, Lumni.

Rua do Diário de Notícias 142; tel: 35.1 211 160 200; www.thelumiares.com; rates: from €190

MAAT

Opened in 2016 and designed by British architect Amanda Levete, the low-slung Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology has been built on the banks of the River Tagus in Belém alongside the Central Tejo Power Station, one of Portugal’s most prominent examples of industrial architecture from the first half of the 20th century as part of a re-imagined art campus. Exploring the connection between art, architecture and technology MAAT has been designed to blend structure into the landscape allowing visitors to walk under, through and on top of the building from where the Lisbon sunset has never looked so good.

Av. Brasília, 1300-598, T: 351 210 028 130, www.maat.pt

Memmo Alfama

Buried down a narrow cobbled street in the Moorish warren of Alfama, the capital’s oldest district, strains of fado, the soulful music that originated here. The hotel deck is an all year round delight with summer soaking in its red-lined swimming pool, a nod to the roofs that it looks onto, and an inviting fire pit for winter. Beneath you lie houses which have remained unchanged for centuries, washing still strung outside their windows, sardines grilling on their rooftops. Worth staying for the view alone.

Tv. Merceeiras 27; T:35.1 21049 5660, memmohotels.com

Verride Palacio Santa Catarina

From its 360 degree viewing platform those with a head for heights can see across the river to the outstretched arms of the iconic Christ the King, the long red suspension bridge, the 25th April, and in the other direction the many spires of Lisbon’s churches. But go down a few steps to where the infinity pool seems to disappear into the Tagus River and you have half the view in double the comfort. It is the perfect place to sit with an early morning coffee to see dawn break or a drink whilst dusk descends.

R. de Santa Catarina 1, T: 35.1 211 573 055, verridesc.pt

Four Seasons Hotel Ritz

This iconic hotel was built in 1959 by the Dictator Salazar to prove that Lisbon could do luxury as well as any other European capital and it still remains at the top of its game, now managed by the Four Seasons group. Try the best beef tartare in town at its buzzy bar, explore its impressive collection of modern Portuguese art which decorates the opulent marble-clad interiors, go for its famous Sunday brunch or dip into the lavish spa. Best of all though, is the private rooftop running track which lets you exercise while Lisbon wakes beneath you.

R. Rodrigo da Fonseca 88; T: 35.1 21381 1400, fourseasons.com

Altis Belém

Lying sleek and low beside the Tagus River, the cool, contemporary, interiors of the Altis Belém make an interesting contrast with the ancient monuments that neighbour it; from the 16th century, highly ornate, Manueline Monastery of Jerónimos to the Tower of Belem, which marked the departure point of those great navigators who were responsible for Portugal’s Golden Age. The hotel has a Michelin star restaurant, where Chef João Rodrigues skilfully weaves the spices that returned on the caravels into dazzling dishes, an excellent spa and a pool with a memorable view over the mighty river.

Doca do Bom Sucesso, T: 351 210 400 200, altishotels.com

Hotel Duque de Loulé

This gem of a hotel is tucked away behind Lisbon’s grandest boulevard. Its 18th century façade has been beautifully preserved and interiors, courtesy of the Spanish designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán are a pictorial essay in tiles of blue and white. Huge tiled panels with ancient scenes from Portuguese history fill the lobby whilst in Limão, one of Lisbon’s prettiest rooftop bars, the blues and whites are geometric in design. Try one of barman Alexis Sousa’s famous cocktails whilst soaking up the far reaching views over the city to the Tagus River beyond.

81-83, Avenue Duque de Loulé, T: 351 213 182 000, www.h10hotels.com

The Lumiares Hotel & Spa

In amongst tiled façades of pinks, and blues and ochre yellows, the beautifully renovated 18th century Lumiares looks across the capital’s red roofs up to the ancient castle of St. George which dominates the city skyline, and is best seen from its long and lovely rooftop terrace. Here you can enjoy a typical Portuguese steak sandwich or the moreish crispy croquettes of alheiro (Portuguese smoked sausage) and a wide selection of local wines. Beneath you are 53 suites surrounding a sweeping stone staircase which finishes in an elegant black and white chequer board lobby.

R. do Diário de Notícias 142; T: 35.1 21 116 0200, thelumiares.com

Memmo Principe Real

Making its debut as the group’s first five star offering, this 41 roomed hotel has a superb location in vibrant Principe Real, currently Lisbon’s most fashionable district. Open plan, warm interiors mix moss greens with pale oak, contemporary local art adorns the walls and the whole manages to reference Portuguese heritage whilst setting new levels of luxury for the 21st century. In front of their Cafe Colonial lies a long, gorgeously green swimming pool, surrounded by a deck and the outside Bar. From here you are rewarded by unimpeded views across Lisbon.

Rua D. pedro V, 56 J; T: 35.1 21 901 6800, memmohotels.com

Entrentanto Bar

More than any other city, Lisbon is all about the light, and here at Enretanto, the rooftop bar on the seventh floor of the Hotel do Chiado, you can bathe in it, with wide open skies before you, the chic, cobbled, district of Chiado beneath you and the Tagus River framing the horizon. The hotel itself was restored some years ago by Pritzker prize winning architect Siza Vieira. The Pink Affair is the cocktail to try – an intoxicating concoction of red fruit juice, cointreau and prosecco which is Lisbon’s answer to Venice’s Bellini.

R. Nova do Almada 114, T: 35.1 21 325 6100, hoteldochiado.pt

Ned’s Club Upstairs, The Ned
London

Many hotel bars employ strategies to keep outsider to a minimum, from wait-lists and limited places, to reservations only. The Ned, which is a Soho House in partnership with the Sydell Group makes it simpler. Unless you are a member (or staying in a higher-priced room), Ned’s Club Upstairs, which is adults only and has indoor seating for less clement weather, is off-limits. The building is a Lutyens and its lovingly restored interiors, many of the 1920’s period pieces, are the work of the group’s in-house team. The exterior is sharp too, with epic views of St. Paul’s and the City. Your options for enjoying it, Pimms Cup or Balvenie in hand? Cough up a kidney for the annual fee or make nice with a member. They get to invite guests.

27 Poultry, T 44. 020 3828 2000, www.thened.com

Baba Nest, Sri Panwa
Phuket

A blue tiled podium, strewn with low tables and sumptuous scatter cushions, surrounded by the ultimate infinity pool, Baba Nest, the rooftop bar at the Sri Panwa on the southeast tip of Phuket is all about the views – in this case, 360° panoramas over nearby Ko Lon and the islands dotting the Andaman Sea. Part of the drive to reclaim Phuket from mass tourism, the 52-villa property is one of the island’s finest, a Tropical Contemporary confection Geoffrey Bawa would surely admire. For the four hours it opens each day – this bar is a five-to-nine affair – it’s worth noting that Baba Nest is also all about the reservations. Without one, even hotel guests can expect to be turned politely, but firmly away.

88/5 Sakdidej Rd, Tambon Wichit, Amphoe Mueang Phuket, T 66. 76 371 000, www.babaphuket.com

Upstairs, Ace Hotel
Los Angeles

Up on the 13th floor of the Spanish gothic tower built in 1927 to house United Artists (the studio’s flagship cinema downstairs is still intact), Upstairs is a sleek Moroccan Bunker-meets-Griffith Park affair – think wicker furniture, tree-trunk tables, scatter cushions and geometric lamps. Catering to LA’s Downtown crowd, it’s known for top-class cocktails with suitably ironic names, so if a Ramalama Bang Bang sounds too risqué, a Commitment Issues is guaranteed to go down smoothly. Relaxed by day, Upstairs picks up after dark, with DJs, live music, film screenings and pool parties nearly every night. The draw? Sweeping views over Los Angeles, a backdrop that resembles Chartres Cathedral and a menu of finger food designed for poolside grazing, including a de riguer (but delicious) avocado toast.

929 S. Broadway, T 1.213 623 3233, www.acehotel.com

Terraza del Central, Grand Hotel Central
Barcelona

So here’s the deal. Ignore the gin menu (even though Spain is in the grip of its own gin revolution and the menu features both Mare and Xoriguer, two of its best brands) and go for a signature drink such as the Bubble Plane or Volcano, and enjoy a secret view of the incredibly rare maritime sgraffito mural by Oleguer Junyent. Settle into a sofa, stand at the bar or trail fingers in the infinity pool, wherever you choose to settle, you be rewarded with spectacular sea and city views.

Via Laietana, 30, T 34. 932 95 77 90, www.grandhotelcentral.com

Wine Bar & Terrace, Memmo Alfama
Lisbon

These days, Lisbon is so hot, it hurts. Pulling in admirers from all over the world, drawn to this long-underrated city by its faded colonial charm, riverfront beauty and abundance of cutting-edge design, it’s naturally come up with some equally enchanting places for them to stay. Enter Memmo, which has two properties in town, including one in the historic Alfama. A medley of white marble and dark decking, and with uninterrupted views across the jumbled roofscape to the Pantheon and out over the Tagus, the rooftop Wine Bar is all about lounging – though there’s also a pool, if you fancy a dip – and focuses on pairing traditional Portuguese nibbles, like breaded green beans and selections of smoked hams, with some of the country’s finest wines.

Tv. Merceeiras 27, T 351. 21 049 5660, www.memmohotels.com

Le Rooftop, The Peninsula
Paris

Take an intimate arrangement of chic sectional sofas and sun-shaded tables, screened by shrubs painstakingly clipped to within an inch of their lives, add views across the rooftops to the Eiffel Tower, which glitters into the night, and you’ll agree that it may be possible to find a more perfect Parisian setting than Le Rooftop, but you’ll be hard pressed to find it. Occupying the same space as the L’Oiseau Blanc, the Peninsula’s French restaurant, which is headed by Meilleur Ouvrier-awardee, Christopher Raoux, the bar attracts a well-dressed, well-heeled crowd, especially during Fashion Week. An art nouveau belle époque beauty below – the city-block-sized building was originally built to be a hotel – the cosy rooftop presents a more contemporary face, though the service remains reassuringly classical.

19 Avenue Kléber, T 33. 1 5812 2888, www.peninsula.com

High Note SkyBar, Aria Hotel
Budapest

In the shadow of the neoclassical splendour of St Stephen’s Basilica, one of the tallest buildings in Budapest, the High Note SkyBar at the equally neoclassical Aria (yes, the hotel’s theme is music) specialises in panoramas that will have you singing a medley of your own. The landscaped, split-level terrace overlooks a garden courtyard on one side and the tiled roofs of the Inner City on the other. Perfect for sundowners or even a bite to eat, it’s just as much the place to pair some Gougeres, cheesy puff pastries, with a crisp glass of Tokaji as it is to sip seductively on a chocolate-infused Chocoladier. Popular with visitors and locals alike, book ahead.

Hercegprimás Utca 5, T 36. 20 438 8648, www.highnoteskybar.hu

Silo Rooftop, The Silo Hotel
Cape Town

Perched atop Cape Town’s stunning Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, which was carved out of the old Grain Silo on the V&A Waterfront by Thomas Heatherwick, this hotel looks like a series of multifaceted, bezelled glass jewel boxes stacked neatly in a brutalist concrete grid. Occupying the former grain elevator, no trace of which remains, its astroturfed industrial chic rooftop, which has a guests-only pool, is open to non-residents on a reservation basis. Once through the doors, a menu of pool treats ranging from pulled pork and Vietnamese rolls to tempura bites and fresh oysters is accompanied by a comprehensive selection of wines. The Rooftop doesn’t come cheap, with some of the most jaw-dropping city, mountain and sea views in town, it’s worth every penny.

Silo Square, V&A Waterfront, T 27. 21 670 0500, www.theroyalportfolio.com

Observatory Bar, Anantara Kihavah
Maldives

In a resort that barely grazes the treeline, the thrill of a ‘rooftop’ bar might seem limited. That’s why the Observatory Bar is located on a pillared podium over the sea. Downstairs, the crystal-clear seas permit the perusal of brightly coloured fishes and apex predators swimming circles, perhaps in the hope that an inebriated guest might take a swim. The real thrills happen after dark, when the ceiling above the bar becomes emblazoned with a glowing starmap, an invitation to the rooftop and its sprawl-friendly sofas, where on clear nights, the universe puts on the lightshow. More than some clever name, a fully functioning observatory, complete with a 16” telescope and resident astronomer, occupies an adjacent podium where guide guests are invited to journey across the skies.

Kihavah Huravalhi Island Baa Atoll, T 960. 660 1020, www.anantara.com

The Roof, PUBLIC
New York

Sexy and sophisticated, the buzzy rooftop bar at PUBLIC is exactly what you’d expect from Ian Schrager. Outdoors, it’s low-slung sofas, block-like tables and stylish communal benches, ideal for enjoying the hotel’s weekend barbeques. Indoors, the dimly-lit interior encourages gazes to focus on the stunning views through the floor-to-ceiling windows, while the electric blue LED floorstrips and downlighting offset the golden glow of the bar, adding Studio 54 flair. Reservations are essential after 8pm as current policy is to keep the terrace from becoming crowded, allowing you to concentrate on your conversation and your cocktail. Like the rest of this stylish Herzog & DeMeuron-designed property, The Roof is a place to be seen.

215 Chrystie Street, T 212. 735 6000, www.publichotels.com

Flair Bar, Ritz Carlton
Shanghai

It’s hard to think of a skyline more electrifying than Shanghai’s Pudong, and while the Ritz Carlton stands in the middle of the neon glow, its view of the surrounding area, especially of Ji Huan Chen’s retro-modernist Pearl Tower, is impressive for after all, this is the highest rooftop bar in an increasingly vertical city. Flair’s split-level, prow-like terrace points across the Huangpu River towards the mini-Manhattan rising behind the Bund. Shanghai’s art deco heritage is reflected in the hotel’s design but Flair is the work of Tokyo’s Super Potato. Their Jenga-esaque walls, concrete tabletops, rainshower light chandelier and lush red furnishings may not conjure the 1930’s but do make sampling a little Golden Happiness or Eternal Peace – in their cocktail form, at least – a genuine pleasure.

Shanghai ifc, 8 Century Avenue, T 86. 21 2020 1778, www.ritzcarlton.com

Sirocco, Lebua
Bangkok

The Lebua’s rooftop bar has been a roundup staple since the hotel opened in 2006. The glowing backlit circular bar is probably one reason, as are the godlike views, but most likely this is because the only other place on earth where you can drink outdoors on the 63rd floor is at SkyBar – and that’s on the same terrace, next door. Sirocco does Mediterranean cuisine but for those determined to keep dinner liquid – the Forgotten, a whiskey cocktail, is most memorable – the bar is just separate enough to feel distinct, and occupies a circular podium that juts vertiginously into the ether. From here, the only way is down (by lift, we mean) but as locations go, this one barely requires spirits to leave you lifted higher.

63rd Floor, Lebua at State Tower, 1055 Silom Road, T 66. 2624 9555, www.lebua.com/sirocco

Azulejos, or patterned tiles, have adorned Lisbon’s churches, palaces and houses since the 16th century. They are as central to the Portuguese capital as salted cod and custard tarts, and provide a visual guide to its history, each decorative style indicative of a particular decade. Businesses small and large, from side-street ateliers and stall holders at the Feira da Ladra flea market to established dealers such as Cortiço & Netos (which has more than 900 vintage styles in its collection), trade in the celebrated ceramics.

On the crest of a hill in the salubrious district of Lapa, one particular tiled façade shines brighter than the rest. It’s covered in striped tiles that, when their corners are put together, form multicoloured squares and stars. They are from the 1930s, and the same designs appear on the Elevador da Bica, the funicular station in downtown Lisbon. These, though, look as good as new thanks to a renovation last year that transformed what was a shabby apartment block into a family home.

In many districts of Lisbon, word of mouth or a plain white sheet of paper in the window indicate when a property is up for grabs. Local architect Inês Lobo heard the block was for sale and she took her clients, a Portuguese couple with three children, to view it. They fell in love with its splendid views and with Lapa’s sleepy feel and bought it straight away.

The renovation was set to begin when a chance meeting changed everything. The owner, on a work trip to São Paulo, stopped by Galeria Leme to see some art. There he was introduced to the gallery’s owner Eduardo Leme and its architect, Paulo Mendes da Rocha. When he heard Lobo was involved in remodeling a house in Lisbon, Mendes da Rocha agreed to collaborate. The pair have been friends for 20 years; he was familiar with the schools and civic buildings that Lobo has won prizes for, and was keen to work on a Lisbon project together. (His last there, in 2015, was the National Coach Museum in Belém, which houses a vast collection of historical carriages, a stone’s throw from Amanda Levete’s Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology.)

‘The owners asked me if I would mind working with Paulo,’ says Lobo. ‘I said, “What? Mind? Of course I don’t mind! It will be incredible. I know all his projects and he’s a real gentleman”.’

They stuck to the classical Portuguese apartment block blueprint, where quality and height are interlinked. ‘The best, most expensive apartments are always on the top and have higher ceilings,’ says Lobo. They used local materials: concrete, tiles and limestone with a pinkish hue, which is found all over Lisbon. The only wrangle they had was over the position of the pool. ‘Paulo wanted it on the top floor, but I said no because there are lots of buildings with pools on the roof. It’s the third floor, not the fourth, that feels most connected to the Tagus River.’

As such, the house is upside down: the living room and its sweeping east-facing terrace are on the top floor; the kitchen and pool terrace are on the floor below; the second floor houses the parents’ study and bedroom; and the first floor belongs to the children. On the top floor is an origami-style corner window, created specifically to offer views over Mar da Palha, the Sea of Hay. With its shallow waters and shimmering yellow sands, this particular spot in the Tagus estuary holds a special place in the hearts of Lisboetas.

At a recent lecture in São Paulo, Lobo compared the house to a Brazilian SESC. The non-profit Serviço Social do Comércio, or community centre, is a wholly Brazilian concept, created in the 1940s by a guild of businessmen to provide their workers with health services, sporting and cultural activities. ‘SESCs are very important in Brazil,’ says Lobo, ‘and like this house, each level offers a different programme.’ (Last year, Mendes da Rocha and Brazilian architects MMBB completed the 14-storey SESC 24 de Maio in a disused department store in the centre of São Paulo.)

To complement the work of the 89-year-old master architect, the owners sourced much of their furniture from Brazil. There are stools by the late Joaquim Tenreiro, a ‘Multidão’ chair by the Campana brothers, a ‘Petalas’ coffee table by Jorge Zalszupin, Carlos Motta’s ‘Astúrias’ armchairs and a ‘Paulistano’ armchair by Mendes da Rocha himself, as well as a work by local artist Miguel Ângelo Rocha, and a chandelier by Italian designer Mario Nanni.

With its architectural pedigree, the house could feel like a show home, but each space is created on a deliberately domestic scale. ‘The family live together in a very informal way,’ says Lobo. ‘It’s a functioning home, not a site of architectural pilgrimage.’

Taking in the views from the terrace, it’s impossible not to notice the hundreds of cranes punctuating the rooftops of Lisbon’s pastel townhouses. Thanks to an injection of EU money and a property boom fuelled by a preferential tax regime, huge areas of Lisbon are under construction or renovation. But not all projects will be as striking or successful as this house, a future-facing space in an old-fashioned shell. ‘We preserved the patrimony of the building and its façade, while modernising the interiors,’ says Mendes da Rocha. ‘Finding new uses for buildings in ancient, historical cities around the world is something architecture students should be taking a great interest in today.§

As originally featured in the July 2018 issue of Wallpaper* (W*232)

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Lobo Architects website

The previous Lisbon Architecture Triennale in 2016 was curated by André Tavares and the late Diogo Seixas Lopes. 

Biennale time means a rush of announcements, big and small, as other, smaller, events try and get into the spotlight and exploit the unmissable opportunity of having the world’s design media crammed into one place. Founded in 2007, the Triennale makes the most of Portugal’s ability to punch well above its weight on the international architecture scene. And so for many scribes, Venice kicked off in a small room up the steep, winding staircases of the Fondamenta Zattere ai Saloni in Dorsoduro.

The Triennale’s curatorial team, headed up by Éric Lapierre, announced the theme for the fifth exhibition, ‘The Poetics of Reason.’ Drawing on Aristotle’s pioneering piece of literary theory – that of all literature being assembled from a kit of elements that drive narrative forward – the Triennale examines how this might be applied to architecture. Lapierre described Lisbon as a ‘great urban operating theatre’, a ‘laboratory for the dissection of architecture’s component parts’. 

There will five central shows, including ‘The Economy of Means’, ‘Permaculture for Architects,’ ‘Inner Space’, ‘What is Ornament?’ and ‘Natural Beauty,’ and the curatorial team has all bases covered, from exploring virtual worlds to looking at ways in which architecture could re-shape the agriculture industry.

‘We’ve built more since the beginning of the 20th century than since the beginning of humanity,’ Lapierre notes. Lisbon 2019 will hopefully open up new debates about the ever-changing perception of architecture. Above all, can the historic values of architecture be diverted and directed into ever more socially and environmentally conscious ways?

Those demanding an annual architecture fix received a new date for their diaries, and the event ended with an improvised performance by Thurston Moore, smashing merry hell out of his Fender on the palazzo’s rooftop as he blended the sound of 12 distorted strings with the bells of Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute.

See all the latest news and stories from Venice Architecture Biennale here

INFORMATION

The Lisbon Architecture Triennale will run 3 October - 2 December 2019. For more information visit the website

Quite without anyone noticing it, Lisbon has stealthily stolen the march on its European compatriots as a compulsory destination. These days, it is literally sitting pretty on a hilly rise enclosed by the Tagus River’s ludicrously scenic bay. Specifically, the city’s attractive mix of Baroque and 19th-century piles are being repurposed by savvy property developers and house-proud millennials into imaginative concept stores, buzzy restaurants and, in the case of the grand Verride Palácio Santa Catarina, soigné hotel.

Located in Lisbon’s hipster Chiado quarter, the handsome four-storey building with views of the Tagus had, since it was built in 1750, changed hands several times until a few years ago when a consortium of private and public sector parties agreed to settle a messy and protracted legal battle by turning it into a modern boutique hotel.

In restoring the Pombalino interiors, architect Teresa Nunes da Ponte walked a fine line between keeping the ancient but still beautiful bones, whilst injecting a sophisticated modernity. 

In the main, this has meant meticulously restoring the intricate mouldings, the wrought iron internal staircase, ornamental ceilings, the Portuguese and Greek marble in the public spaces and, in some of the suites, the original blue and white Azulejo tiles. The timber floors were salvaged and repurposed as dining tables in the restaurants. The hotel’s 18 spacious rooms, meanwhile, are wrapped in a muted palate of light browns, low-slung grey sofas, slender AJ floor lamps and de Gournay silk wall panels. 

A number of parterres are scattered throughout the property, though the best seat in the house is probably right outside the breakfast room, a shaded nook that opens into a bijou glass-encased lap-pool with peekaboo views of the neighbourhood rooftops. 

At sunset, the miradouro just next to the Verride’s cobblestoned forecourt turns into a lively honeypot of beautiful young things who dance day into night to the soulful jangle of a regular Portuguese band. It’s a perfect pre-prandial treat especially since executive chef Bruno Carvalho, unusually for a hotel of this size, presides over two restaurants: Suba, a gastro bar that serves up king crabs with a citrus and guacamole cream, and crisp chilli shrimp aguachile; and Criatura, a more formal dining room featuring the likes of cabidela and roasted sea-bass.

ADDRESS

Rua de Santa Catarina No. 1

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Perched on one of Lisbon’s seven hills in the charming Bairro Alto district, where cobbled streets are framed by tiled façades of pinks, blues and ochre yellows, The Lumiares looks across the capital’s red roofs up to the ancient castle of St George, which dominates the city’s skyline.

Within the old walls of the palace, local architects Metro Urbe have skilfully blended the 18th and 21st centuries to feature 53 guestrooms, a spa, two restaurants and a bar, with dramatic effect. The original sweeping stone staircase takes centre position under a Beau McClellan-designed cubic brass lighting installation that echoes the geometric black and white flooring in the lobby and the bespoke hand-woven tapestries from rug brand Ferreira de Sá in every room.

Food comes courtesy of chef Miguel Castro e Silva whose sea bass with orange and fennel is a must at the rooftop restaurant, Lumni. 

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

Rua do Diário de Notícias 142

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Lisbon is building a very strong case for getting on the list of global contemporary art hubs. After a deep economic recession, Portugal is finally emerging from the doldrums; the coastal country is not only opening up towards southern Europe, but is also reaching out again across the globe. Investors from Western Europe and new businesses are taking advantage of the low property prices and lenient tax regime (and surely the sun and sea, too), helping to kickstart the economic recovery. And this is not simply financial good news: the art scene in Lisbon – Best City in this year’s Wallpaper* Design Awards – has emerged in the wake of the country’s economic crisis.

The MAAT (Museum for Art, Architecture and Technology) opened its doors ten months ago as a public platform for local and international artists and curators; new galleries are being established; international dealers are opening branches in the capital and the affordable property is also a magnet to artists setting up homes and studios; in addition, the Spanish art fair brand ARCO strategically launched a Lisbon edition last year to take advantage of the country’s financial recovery.

In only a year, the boutique fair has already become a fixture on the international arts calendar, bringing galleries and collectors from different backgrounds to Lisbon and helping to globalise its market. This year’s ARCOlisboa, held again in the Cordoaria Nacional in May, showcased 58 galleries from 13 countries. ‘I think what ARCO brought to the local art scene, is visibility – here they have a very interesting group of artists, curators and galleries, but we brought visibility and opening up a more international perspective for the local community.’ Carlos Urroz Arancibia, the fair director says. 

Among the recent gallery openings, Madrid’s Galería Maisterravalbuena made its recent Lisbon debut in the post-war, modernist district, Alvalade. Its inaugural group show, curated by João Mourão and Luís Silva of the renowned non-profit Kunsthalle Lissabon, included works by Magdalena Jitrik and Haris Epaminonda and Christodoulos Panayiotou. Last December, native Galeria Vera Cortês relocated to an industrial space in the area too. ‘I believe that Lisbon’s art scene is booming but it has been for a long time. The difference is that now, for different reasons, we have the spotlight on us and finally people are starting to get to know Portugal better,’ says gallerist Vera Cortês.

In the city centre, the edgy, one-year-old Madragoa founded by Matteo Consonni, the former director of Galleria Franco Noero in Turin, is currently hosting Plasma, a solo show by Mexican artist Rodrigo Hernández, one of the city’s new residents. After lodging for two years in a temporary space in New York City, Monitor Gallery has found a new address in the heart of Lisbon’s historical quarter of Rato, and greeted the neighbourhood with British artist Graham Hudson’s solo show, ‘Major Trauma’. 

Galeria Francisco Fino joined key players Galeria Filomena Soares, Galeria Baginski and Galeria Múrias Centeno in Marvila, an entrenched gallery district in the city. The gallery, housed in a former warehouse, presented its inaugural exhibition ‘Morphogenesis’, curated by the young João Laia, which included works by established artists such as Tris Vonna-Michell and Maria Loboda, together with emerging names like Debora Delmar and Karlos Gil.

‘Portuguese art and artists are getting more attention and that's translating into a strong collective energy,’ Miguel Mesquita, artistic director of Galeria Baginski, says. ‘I think that the situation at the gallery is essentially the result of an improvement from the former state of the economic crisis in Portugal. Nevertheless the new wave of tourism and immigration has had an impact in the affluence of visitors to the gallery, and naturally that has a parallel in sales.’

Lisbon’s hospitality scene is so hot right now, that hoteliers have begun to crawl out of major tourist haunts such as Alfama, Chiado, Principe Real and Belem, into historically less-trodden areas. Case in point: Intendente, previously considered part of the capital’s red light district has, over the past few years, started to sprout plenty of new bars, restaurants and shops and now, 1908 Lisboa Hotel has just celebrated its opening, right in the heart of the neighbourhood.

Named after the year the Art Nouveau pile was originally built, the hotel’s restoration and interiors, which were overseen by it’s owner, family-owned company Villa de Santa Ana and local firm Sizz Design, opts for a more eclectic modern style that combines fiercely industrial settings with some mid-century decor. There are also commissioned pieces from Portuguese artists like  Bordalo II, Irmãos Marques, and SuperVan, who created a three-floor mostly black-and-white mural depicting various characters that have lived in this part of Lisbon throughout its history.

The guestrooms feature the sleekest aesthetic thanks to subtle tones meant to relax guests. Stripe carpet, age-worn leather chairs, coral love seats, and throw pillows swathed in butterfly patterns, add soft whimsy to the overall style. And there’s a strong made-in-Portugal theme here, too: furniture by We Wood, thick wool throws by Burel Factory, and bathrooms made with Lioz, a stone widely used in the country. 

The restaurant, Infame, is another design narrative entirely, with its industrial infrastructure. The bright tile floor, steampunk light fixtures, supple leather club couches, red-brick walls and ceiling, and oversized insect murals create a dynamic visual storyline that turns heads. There’s a lot going on inside, for sure, but architecture enthusiasts should definitely take time admiring its exterior. With its beautifully carved busts, colourful floral trimmings, and the curvy lines that make up the window frames, this building is one of the best examples of the Art Nouveau in Portugal. 

ADDRESS

Largo do Intendente Pina Manique 6

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Behind the façade of the former 1920s Tivoli theatre on Lisbon’s grand Avenida da Liberade, JNĉQUOI – or je ne sais quoi – is the latest venture from the luxury goods arm of Portugal’s Amorim Group.

Building on the company’s multi-brand Fashion Clinic stores, the concept adds food and lifestyle to the mix to form a humming emporium, set over three floors. Barcelona-based designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán has dressed the spaces with muted furnishings in low-level hues that accent the detailed cornicing and elaborate frescoes that have carefully been brought back to life.

At entry level, Ladurée and Assouline outlets flank the central grocery store and DeliBar, which serves up a menu of light meals including oysters and caviar, while downstairs Fashion Clinic Man is a menswear haven showcasing brands from Tom Ford to Christian Louboutin.

The real highlight is the top floor restaurant, where dishes such as sea bass ceviche or melt-in-the-mouth Iberian pork, are served in a light-filled room with a central dinosaur skeleton that is certainly a conversation starter if nothing else.

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

Avenida Liberdade 182-184

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Lisbon’s new Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) seems like ideal location to consider the current mood of urban civilisation. The smooth, naturalistic yet futuristic building designed by Amanda Levete rises up out of the bank of the river Tagus, in a city which, even after the crippling nationwide financial crisis of 2010, received Wallpaper’s Best City award for 2017. The inaugural exhibition titled ‘Utopia/Dystopia: A paradigm shift in art and architecture’ – sparked by the 500th anniversary of Thomas More’s seminal text Utopia – presents over 60 works by artist and architects who examine shifts in political structures through physical manifestations of constructed and envisioned urban designs.

Curators Pedro Gadanho, João Laia and Susana Ventura, whose backgrounds vary across architectural and artistic expertise, do not distinguish in the exhibition between artists and architects, presenting conceptual ideas across the two disciplines side by side, and selecting practitioners with diverse background. To name a few from the group show: Didier Faustino, Kader Attia, Tacita Dean, Cao Fei, OMA, and Wolfgang Tillmans.

The exhibition charts the gathering skepticism of idealistic modernist designs of the late 20th century, moving towards the contemporary obsession with dystopia, fuelled by science fiction and the internet, which has turned into somewhat of a dark fantasy, directly associated with post-internet culture, digital and nomadic values of freedom, a free (and black) market, spiraling lawlessness and statelessness. These concepts present interesting alternatives to post-capitalist, nationalist and neo-facist structures that are gaining power, yet losing control, across the globe today.

While showing a gradual progression from modern to contemporary movements, the exhibition communicates across sections, curated in a ‘layered chaos’, spatially combining drawings, photography, sound and video. ‘The layered configuration echoes the conceptual layered universe we are trying to explore,’ says Laia. Described by MAAT director and curator Gadanho as a ‘media happy’ show, the exhibition journey integrates smaller spaces for video works fluidly through the gallery, which flows around the central oval-shaped arena for performance art – where Mexican artist Héctor Zamora’s incredible piece Order and Progress played out on the night of the public opening.

Defining the period of modernity from the end of Enlightenment to Hiroshima, the curators present optimistic and pessimistic approaches to modernist urban plans, real and imagined. ‘How ideal can a city be? And how do you create a city that is perfect?’ questioned Gadanho to himself when curating the show. 

Imagining the future, Alexander Brodsky & Ilya Utkin’s etching on paper of the urban landscape of 2001, titled Wandering Turtle, made in 1955, shows endlessly multiplying Manhattan-style blocks, while Archizoom’s ‘No stop city’ a model or sculpture made between 1969-2001 shows an ever-expanding suburban town. These saturated vistas with their endlessly multiplying buildings echo the over-stimulated urban ecology that we begin to face. In Michael MacGarry’s work Luanda, Angola, 2019 (100 Suns series), 2010, an archival inkjet print on cotton paper, the artists envisions a Dubai-like landscape with hundreds of Burj Khalifa-style towers multiplying across the horizon. Instead of the blocky skyscrapers or the detached houses for families of four, collective cities have been replaced by the ambitions of the individual.

Now, buildings act alone in competition for daylight, views and the title of the tallest and soon, darkness will prevail for the best of us. Inci Eviner’s video installation Nursing Modern Fall, 2012, plays out during this realisation – here humans are working out, training and building, all set on a globe map on which Auschwitz is marked. Other works in the exhibition present dystopia as a form of beauty, or a sickly fantasy at least. Tabor Robak’s HD video work is a rolling screen-saver style video evolving slowly through futuristic neon skyscrapers – a four-dimensional style of pop art and an immersive sphere of amusement that echoes an endless digital scroll.

The end of the exhibition takes a post-internet turn, and how could it not. The internet is the space where this fascination with dystopia plays out. Curators of the previous, post-internet heavy Berlin Biennale, DIS Collective are included in the exhibition along with other BB9 featured artists including åyr, Jonas Staal and Ryan Trecartin who present the communities who exist in these dystopian worlds. Mixing up a sour cocktail of human traits/flaws and technological hybridity, the artists in this section of the exhibition are an acquired taste. While they are products of capitalism, they revel in the destruction of it, looking to create, like the digital landscape, a free zone where people are free to destruct as much as they construct.

Nasan Tur’s work, Comunism, Capihtalism, Sociallism, 2016, misspells political ideologies in neon lights, referencing our current crisis of terminology to describe the political state of affairs. ‘The problem is that now these political concatenations have lost their potency and their effectiveness’ writes Franco Berardi in his catalogue essay for the exhibition, ‘Futurability Map’. We are in freefall. And while the diagnoses of depression and anxiety are rising across the world, especially in young people – and how soon will it be until narcissism epidemic eschews – perhaps, like this post-internet generation of artists, we too need to learn to delight in instability, if we have the privilege to remain critical that is, to understand the freedom that it gives us.

Looking at the works of Yona Friedman, founder of the ‘mobile architecture’ theory which argued for the idea of a non-community, and Jonas Staal, who examines ideas of co-existence in specific urban situations and the idea of democracy without a state, featured towards the end of the show, the viewer does not give up hope altogether, yet leaves with a better understanding of how utopia and dystopia could collaborate, and how idealism and realism might too.

INFORMATION

The exhibition ‘Utopia/Dystopia: A Paradigm Shift’ is on view until 21 August 2017. For more information visit the MAAT website

ADDRESS

MAAT
Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology
Av. Brasília, Central Tejo
1300-598
Lisbon
Portugal

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The Lisbon architecture studio, DC.AD, have transformed a 1960s pile in the city’s old Principe Real neighborhood into a light-filled, pastel-hued café and deli.

Dark, but high-ceilinged, rooms that once sold needle work rugs from Arraiolos have been gutted and reconfigured for a decidedly playful Millennial mood of a white metal screen, polished cement floor, see-through shelving, low tripod wooden stools, and a leather-padded bench that runs down the length of the room.

Already, Deli is drawing an appreciative neighborhood crowd that has found itself completely enamoured by its health-conscious menu of house baked goodies like the pastel de nata, fresh fruit, and takeaways. Especially popular are the roasted vegetable cous-cous, and baked cheese with coriander olive oil, though we’re particularly fond of the gluten-free tapioca crepes. These are cooked to order and filled with sweet dulce de leche, chocolate crumble, and roasted peanuts.

ADDRESS

Rua da Imprensa Nacional, 116 

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Housed inside an 18th century pile on one of Lisbon’s most romantic squares, Santa Clara 1728 is the fourth in a string of slick design-led properties from hotelier João Rodrigues.

Perched atop one of the city’s seven hills, overlooking the Pantheon and the Tagus River beyond, the hotel has been designed by local architect Manuel Aires Mateus, whose clean, modern interiors are refreshing trimmings to the building’s ancient walls; worn, limestone stairs lead to the guestrooms, where coarse linens, pale woods and furnishings by designer Antonio Citterio come together in a neutral palette boosted by a graceful duck egg blue.

Downstairs, unwind under the warm glow from Davide Groppi’s ‘Simbiosi’ lights with a glass of Portuguese wine and comforting home-made meal, using the freshest market produce, while planning the best to see and do in Lisbon, with Rodrigues himself. 

ADDRESS

Campo de Santa Clara 128

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Wallpaper’s Best City for 2017, Lisbon is a gift that keeps on giving. Celebrations for Amanda Levete’s MAAT museum have barely cooled off, yet the city has already launched another cultural destination to send tongues wagging: Second Home.

The co-working concept already existed in East London before this new incarnation was opened in a refurbished market hall. But like our W* Design Award judges, founders Sam Aldenton and Rohan Silva obviously saw huge potential in the coastal capital's disused spaces. ‘I was standing right behind this building one late night with a drink in my hand on the street and thought, "You can't do this in London anymore,"' says Silva from the brightly hued space on the first floor of Mercado da Ribeira.

The space is imbued with SelgasCano’s colourful aesthetic

They brought in long-time collaborators SelgasCano to modernise the interior while maintaining the building’s original 19th-century architectural features. Architects José Selgas and Lucía Cano, responsible for Second Home’s workspace in London Spitalfieds and its bookshop Libreria, which opened in London last year, commuted from their Madrid studio, only a hop, skip and six-hour drive away.

In Lisbon, SelgasCano pay homage to the Portuguese countryside, infusing its colourful style into an urban jungle of more than a thousand plants. ‘The plants are architectural dividers,’ Aldenton explains. ‘The plants are the walls, sound barriers and for the creative psychological environment. They clean the air and take away dust.’

Over 1,000 plants divide the workspace

The walls and ceiling of the foyer are coated in a good dose of Yves Klein blue, while inside the workspaces midcentury chairs are mismatched. The designers brought in locally sourced vintage lighting and created bespoke jigsaw tables on casters to enhance the homely feel of the place. ‘The character comes from the large, open space and in the nice column-shaped iron windows,’ says Cano ‘We tried to preserve them all.’ The space can also boast being one of the greenest in Europe, with low-energy LED lighting and advanced radiant heating and cooling systems.

When asked why the pair chose to launch in Lisbon, Aldenton told Wallpaper*, ‘We saw opportunity to support a creative ecosystem because the cost of living is still lower here.’ He and Silva designed a cultural program that includes yoga and live music.

Still to come for Second Home are two more London spaces: one in Holland Park, plus a child-friendly space in London Fields. Aldenton and Silva hope to conquer LA in the future.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Second Home website and the SelgasCano website

Lisbon’s increasingly vibrant Príncipe Real neighbourhood, where sleek concept stores now jostle with buzzy restaurants, is the setting for the latest hotel in the Portuguese Memmo group.

Designed once again by architect Samuel Torres de Carvalho, the Lisbon iteration is decidedly 21st century. Approached via a narrow passageway between the faded 19th century palaces typical of the area, it stands brazenly in a clearing behind the street, its four stark white storeys geometric in shape giving views over the city’s characteristic red roof tops.

Interiors mix moss green fabrics with warm oak floors, while huge chandeliers from Santa & Cole cast their light on contemporary art from a hand carved stucco wall – a nod to the regal heritage of the neighbourhood – by stucco sculptress  Iva Viana, to a cheeky take on Winterhalter’s original portrait of the Eternal Royal Prince by Portuguese artist Barahona Possolo.

41 bedrooms and suites are softly lit with hand blown glass from Marinha Grande, and bathrooms are clad in warm local limestone, cleverly designed to maximise the space with sliding screens. The Café Colonial dazzles with sharp green velvet sofas and glossy black marble tables from where you can enjoy slow cooked pork cheek with rosemary and caramelised vegetables whilst soaking up a local wine and the tempting view of the long, green swimming pool sparkling before you.

ADDRESS

Rua D. Pedro V, 56J 

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One of the most rewarding moments of the fourth edition of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale is an exhibition quite simply called 'Building Site'. Curated by André Tavares, who is also the Triennale’s co-curator along with the late Diogo Seixas Lopes, the show explores the politics, economics and labour of making buildings, as well as often neglected aspects of the construction process, such as well-being and time.

The building site is the ‘crucial moment’ when architectural design becomes form, the exhibition argues. For months and sometimes years it is a ‘public performance’, a place teeming with hundreds and thousands of workers, huge cranes and awe-inspiring scaffolding, as well as a place where massive sums of money are invested. All this requires huge human and intellectual effort, and the smallest details can have enormous ramifications.

Stills from a short film entitled 'Choreographies' by Pedro Alonso and Hugo Palmarola, in which US and Soviet cartoons are shown side-by-side

In a section devoted to time, the show looks at how OMA’s famed Casa da Música in Porto was the result of both a hugely ambitious deadline for the concrete outer shell (designed to coincide with Porto’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2001) and major delays. The former was completed in record time, based on an existing design for a single-family home that the architects repurposed. When various bureaucratic and political delays hit the construction programme, architects were able to devise the interiors with the benefit of time. The richer palette of ideas and materials inside the building is the tangible result.

The show persuasively demonstrates that at every stage of the construction process human input is fundamental, even in an age of digital tools and machinery. In a section called 'Communication', a fascinating drawing by David Chipperfield Architects maps out the restoration of the ceiling of the Roman room at the Neues Museum in Berlin. The printed drawing instructs conservators as to how to deal with the building surfaces, but a series of pencil markings added on-site record when the work has actually been carried out.

One of the lighter moments of the show is provided by a film called Choreographies, showing a host of American and Soviet cartoons side-by-side. These feature a panoply of hair-raising construction scenes, where steel cranes whizz various characters on steel beams and concrete panels into the sky. It’s amusing, beautifully timed and set to music, but there is a more serious point being made here, as across the exhibition in general – that building sites are a choreography of moments that come together to make a greater whole. All the various interests at play – commercial, political, social and architectural – require human negotiation, and a delicate dance and equilibrium.

INFORMATION

The Lisbon Architecture Triennale is on view until 11 December 2016. For more information, visit the website

'Architecture is a complex and articulated process but if you lose the process and only keep the form you lose the core of architectural practice,' says André Tavares, co-curator of the fourth Lisbon Architecture Triennale, entitled 'The Form of Form'. So many decisions are taken by engineers, specialists in planning and fire regulations, he continues, 'that when the architect arrives on the scene the building is often pre-designed and he may be doomed to just building a beautiful façade'. 

The Triennale, curated by Tavares and the late Diogo Seixas Lopes, opened last week with the aim of exploring all the strands that make up architecture, many of them invisible. Themes rarely considered – but of fundamental importance – include the relationship between client and architect or contractor and developer, changing social contexts, labour conditions on building sites and the economic impact of the construction industry.

The central exhibition, also called 'The Form of Form' and curated by Lopes, is located on the patio outside the newly inaugurated MAAT (Architecture, Art and Technology) Museum. This installation saw three architecture practices – Belgium's Office KGDVS, Johnston Marklee from the US and Porto-based Nuno Brandão Costa – choose elements and spaces from each other’s designs and put them together in a new structure composed of 12 interlinked ‘rooms’. Some are several storeys high, others low-slung with domed ceilings. Some are covered, others open to the elements. 'You can read each space individually,' says Costa, 'or you can go through the spaces in a fluid way and experience this as a total space.'

On the walls of the different rooms are a compendium of architectural forms selected by Paris-based studio Socks that range from drawings of Rome by Piranesi to plans of a millennia-old Neolithic settlement in southern Anatolia or a model of an agricultural city design concept by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa.

Arguably the most interesting element is the structure itself, which offers a jarring yet strangely harmonious juxtaposition of spaces. By putting spaces together that were never intended to co-habit, new relations and typographies of space are forged. Minimalist white interiors are contrasted with raw steel frame exteriors, and arched doorways bleed into rectilinear open-air courtyards.

Seen against the red brick backdrop of the Tejo Power Station (also part of MAAT) and the endless blue Lisbon skies, the result is surprising, layered, mesmerising and provocative. It poses difficult questions about authorship and looks at how form can be a universal language that brings together architects from around the world. 'It works very much also as a grammar of architecture,' says Kersten Geers of Office KGDVS. 'You realise that despite superficial differences as practices, the way you think about form has an enormous amount of parallels.'

INFORMATION

’The Form of Form’ is on view until 12 December. For more information, visit the Lisbon Architecture Triennale website

Photography: Tiago Casanova

ADDRESS

MAAT
Av Brasília
1300-598 Lisbon

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