MUDE

MUDE was created around the collection of Francisco Capelo - several thousand objects of twentieth and twenty-first century industrial design and haute couture, from Eames and Starck chairs to Dior, Balenciaga and Vivienne Westwood - and opened in 2009 in the former headquarters of the Banco Nacional Ultramarino on Rua Augusta. For its first years it occupied the building stripped back to raw concrete, marble fragments and exposed services mid-renovation, which became the museum's identity. It closed in 2016 for the works to be finished and stayed shut for eight years, reopening in 2024 with the building completed, including the bank's original vault and counters kept as part of the route. The collection covers design chronologically alongside changing exhibitions. Whether the finished interior is better than the ruin it replaced is a question Lisbon has opinions about.

The main sights

• The Capelo collection - twentieth-century industrial design and haute couture together.
• The bank building - the former Banco Nacional Ultramarino, with vault and counters kept.
• The 2024 reopening - a museum that spent eight years closed for completion.
• The chronology - design and fashion shown across the century in sequence.

When to go

Year-round. One to two hours. Closed Mondays. Check current exhibitions, since the temporary programme carries much of the interest.

Good to know

The raw unfinished interior that many people remember is gone. Rua Augusta outside is one of the busiest pedestrian streets in Lisbon. The permanent display is smaller than the collection. Ticketing and hours changed with the reopening.

Nearby

Praça do Comércio is at the foot of the street; Rossio is at the top.

Key facts