Five places providing a serene, holistic experience in the Portuguese capital

The oceanfront walk along the marina from Praça do Comércio to the Ponte 25 de Abril is like a dose of euphoria in the morning, passing runners, leisurely strollers and small fisherman boats jetting out early. Lisbon is dynamic and besides offering the regular, renowned tourist sites, it provides pathways into the slower, Portuguese pace of life. From waking up with a soothing view of the Tejo river to taking a vinyasa flow to kickstart your day, or brunch in a bookstore and dining at a zero waste restaurant, here are five things to do in Lisbon for those seeking a serene, holistic experience.

Santa Clara 1728

Santa Clara 1728 is the only city property of Silent Living, a collection of family homes lovingly restored and opened to guests by João Rodrigues. He, together with architect Manuel Aires Mateus, created five sanctuaries, each with their own stories and memories, where guests can live in sublime simplicity within a familiar environment. This particular property, which overlooks the Tejo River and the Santa Engrácia church, is located within an elegant 18th century mansion converted into a six-room guesthouse that breathes quietude. Inside, the design is centered around the use of natural materials such as wood, stone and linen, and highlights the savoir-faire of local artisans, such as the sleek cream colored bathtubs made with limestone from Sintra. The ground floor houses the newly launched Ceia, a convivial dining concept where the chef curates a daily menu with the seasonal fruits and vegetables picked at the sister property Casa no Tiempo in the outskirts of Lisbon. 

Restaurant Sem

Lara and George met while working at East London’s Silo, the first zero-waste restaurant in the world. When the pandemic hit, the couple moved to Lisbon with a clear objective in mind: use their background in sustainable development, inspiration from their recent work experience and passion for the culinary arts to open Restaurant Sem. Here, zero waste and regenerative agriculture are the core pillars of this conscious-dining model which, in turn, creates an interesting culinary experience. The menu, drawn up by George, is dependent upon their local producer’s availability as well as use of waste ingredients from past menus that have either been fermented or preserved in some interesting way. This attention to reuse has been implemented across the design of the restaurant as well—floors are made by Portuguese company Goma, which produces tiles made from recycled rubber from tennis shoes; the light shades are created by artist Salvador Salazar, who used excess paper from fast food industries.

Fable

One of the city’s most recent additions, Fable is more than just a cafe; it’s a sociable space where you can taste healthy, nourishing meals among the comforting scent of well-loved books. It was opened by Melyssa Griffin with the intent to bring something new to the table. Come along for a freshly brewed coffee and a slice of plant-based sticky toffee banana bread or stay for a lengthy lunch, selecting from a wide range of nutritious, wholesome savory bowls surrounded by like-minded, friendly humans. 

Little Yoga Space

For all the yogis out there, Little Yoga Space is within a traditional Lisbon palaço in the heart of the city center, with gracious windows and the curtains flowing away in the breeze. The studio was set up back in 2012 by Arina Holm Joensen as a safe space in which she could share her yoga teachings with her community; a few years later she was joined by Katrin who helped to evolve the studio and open an additional space dedicated to therapies and treatments. The Little Yoga Space continues to thrive, offering yoga (yin/vinyasa/hatha and power flows), breath work and meditation classes as well as sound healing workshops on a daily basis, all in English. You can book a single class, week pass, collective class passes as well as monthly memberships.

Amplify

The ultimate sports club in Lisbon situated in two parts of the city: Santos and Marques de Pombal. Amplify offers four classes—indoor-cycling, bootcamp, yoga and barre—and provides a mix and match of exercises to suit many. The studio is very modern, with spacious changing rooms featuring electronic lockers as well as all your post-shower amenities: GHDs, deodorant and cosmetic products. After class you can refuel with juice or a protein shake at the Boost Bar before setting out for the day on a high.

International studio Snøhetta has completed Beijing City Library in China, a glass-lined building filled with towering tree-like columns and rooms disguised as hills.

Located in Beijing’s Tongzhou district, the library was designed by Snøhetta to “reinstate the library’s relevance in the 21st century” and aims to offer a “new vision” for the typology.

Its design is based on natural landscapes and prioritises helping visitors to connect to the outside, enticing them away from their screens.

“The terraced landscape and tree-like columns invite visitors to lift their gaze and focus at a distance, taking in the bigger picture,” said Snøhetta partner Robert Greenwood.

“This is a place where you can be sitting under a tree, reading your favorite book”, says he continued.

“The Beijing City Library has an intergenerational quality about it, where you would pass on your stories to children and introduce them to the titles you’ve loved.”

Beijing City Library was publicly revealed in 2022 after being selected as the winner of an international competition in 2018. It has been completed by Snøhetta in collaboration with local studio ECADI.

According to the Snøhetta, it is one of three new major cultural buildings in Tongzhou that are hoped to transform the district into “a lively arts and cultural destination”.

The heart of Beijing City Library is Valley, a 16-metre-tall atrium filled with a series of hill-like mounds that are lined with tiered seating, stairs and bookshelves. A winding walkway runs through its centre.

It is intended to evoke the nearby Tonghui river and serves as the library’s main circulation space, linking its north and south entrances.

“The terraced hills rising from the Valley are designed to create a sculpted interior landform that serves as the ground, seating, and shelving – an informal zone with opportunities to relax, talk, or read quietly, all while staying connected to the larger space,” said Snøhetta.

Beneath the hilly mounds are a series of private areas for reading and conferences, and parts of the mounds are flattened to house tables. Beijing City Library also incorporates spaces for performances and book restoration.

One of the library’s most notable details is its tall, slender columns that “mushroom into flat panels” at their peak to support the roof.

Snøhetta modelled these on the leaves of a ginkgo tree – a 290-million-year-old species that is native to China – to form a ceiling that resembles a canopy.

The columns have a modular design, developed to reduce material waste and integrate technologies such as lighting, acoustics, and rainwater collection.

Outside, real ginkgo trees have been planted at the entry points, framed by the glass walls that aim to “further enhance the connection with nature”.

Completing the project are roof overhangs to reduce solar gain on the glass walls, which Snøhetta said are “currently the largest load-bearing glass system in China”.

Meanwhile, the roof has integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) construction elements to generate renewable energy. The overall design has achieved China’s GBEL Three Star – the highest rating in the green building certification.

The studio concluded that it hopes the project can help restore the importance of libraries as community spaces, rather than “a mere repository of books”.

“It is the love people have for books that has made libraries survive the digital age and hold new potential to give back more to the city and its public,” said the studio’s co-founder Kjetil Trædal Thorsen.

“It is up to us to reinterpret the relationship between body, mind, and the surroundings to rekindle the joy of reading away from the screen. Libraries are here to stay.”

Snøhetta was founded by Thorsen with architect Craig Dykers in 1989. The studio specialises in both architecture and design.

Its first library was the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, and it has since also designed the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and Far Rockaway Library in the USA.

The photography is by Yumeng Zhu.

Project credits:

Architect: Snøhetta
Client: Beijing Planning and Natural Resource Bureau
Executive architect: ECADI
Structural, geotechnical, and civil engineer: ECADI
Cost consultant: ECADI
Building sustainability engineer: ECADI
Facade & BMU engineer: Eckersley O’Callaghan, Meinhardt
Lighting designer: ECADI
Main contractor: China Railway Construction Engineering Group

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Interior designers Patricia Urquiola and Amechi Mandi, architects Odile Decq and Shawn Adams and product designer Lee Broom have been announced as Dezeen Awards 2024 judges.

Dezeen Awards 2024 launched last week in partnership with Bentley. Submit your entry by Tuesday 27 March to save 20 per cent on entry fees.

Now in its seventh year, the programme has become the ultimate accolade for architects and designers everywhere, with winners selected by a prestigious panel of international judges.

Read on to learn more about the new names that have joined this year’s judging panel:

Urquiola, who was named Dezeen Awards 2023 interior designer of the year, will sit alongside Queer Eye’s Bobby Berk on the interiors panel for this year’s awards.

Milan-based Urquiola is the art director at Italian furniture manufacturer Cassina and has collaborated with global brands including Agape, B&B Italia, Boffi, Flos, Kettal, Kvadrat and Molteni&C.

Recent projects by Urquiola include a carpet tile collection using low carbon initiatives for French brand Tarkett, a renovation of the 48-room Haworth Hotel in Michigan and a pebble-like sofa for Italian furniture brand Moroso.

She was also awarded Dezeen Awards 2023 hotel and short stay interior of the year for Six Senses Rome, a converted palazzo in Rome featuring circular elements and Italian materials.

Joining Giles Tetty Nartey on the design judging panel will be London-based product designer Broom.

Broom’s contemporary design studio has designed over 100 pieces of furniture, accessories and lighting pieces, which are regularly featured in hotels, restaurants and homes.

The British designer has collaborated with leading brands including Christian Louboutin, Mulberry, Bergdorf Goodman, Rémy Martin XO and Wedgwood.

Last year he unveiled his largest exhibition to date – Divine Inspiration, a lighting collection that reflects the brutalist architecture from his childhood, at Milan design week.

Cameroonian-born Mandi is the founder of Amechi Home and will be joining Urquiola on the interiors panel.

Mandi’s contemporary designs are informed by his heritage, spotlighting indigenous Nigerian and Cameroonian textiles and cultures.

The London-based designer has been named as one to watch and a rising star in several design publications, leading to several collaborations including a rug collection with London-based rug manufacturer Floor Story.

This year, Mandi will launch a series of new works, including a range of morphological wooden cabinets designed as an interplay between tradition and technology.

French architect and urban planner Decq runs her Paris-based firm Studio Odile and will join architect Suchi Reddy on the architecture judging panel.

Decq’s experiments with bold geometric shapes have resulted in multiple awards, including the 1996 Golden Lion Biennale, the Jane Drew Prize, and the Architizer Lifetime Achievement Award.

Recent projects by practice Studio Odile include a glass pavilion featuring a pyramidal roof in Paris, a 30-storey luxury residential tower featuring red curved balconies in Barcelona and a translucent glass house for an owner with vision loss in Carantec.

Joining Decq on the architecture judging panel will be London-based architect Shawn Adams.

Adams is the co-founder of studio POOR Collective. This social-impact design practice aims to engage young people from disadvantaged backgrounds by working with local schools and councils to overhaul public spaces.

Writer and lecturer Adams currently teaches at Central St Martins, UAL and the Architectural Association. He also sits on the advisory board of Open City’s Accelerate Programme, an education and mentoring initiative, and is a trustee of The Museum of Architecture.

In recognition of their efforts, POOR Collective won the Emerging Design Medal at London Design Festival in 2023.

Dezeen Awards 2024 in partnership with Bentley

Dezeen Awards is the ultimate accolade for architects and designers across the globe. The seventh edition of the annual awards programme is in partnership with Bentley as part of a wider collaboration to inspire, support and champion design excellence and showcase innovation that creates a better and more sustainable world. This ambition complements Bentley’s architecture and design business initiatives, including the Bentley Home range of furnishings and real estate projects around the world.

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Conserving Tashkent’s modernist architecture is a way of boosting the city’s international profile, Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation chair Gayane Umerova tells Dezeen in this interview.

The Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation is leading the preservation of more than 20 impressive Soviet-era modernist buildings in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.

“The foundation was set up for cultural diplomacy”

The conservation effort forms part a strategy led by president Shavkat Mirziyoyev to build awareness of the central Asian country’s cultural assets beyond the tourist hotspots of Bukhara and Samarkand.

“The foundation was set up for cultural diplomacy in a way, because we were formed by the president’s initiative in 2017,” Umerova told Dezeen.

“At the time, the president realised that there wasn’t a lot of information about Uzbekistan culture overseas, and it was mainly connected to the historical cities – Bukhara and Samarkand.”

The Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation, which is part of the government, was established following Mirziyoyev’s election in 2016 with the aim of protecting and promoting the country’s art and culture.

However, the organisation only took a serious interest in Tashkent’s modernist architecture after the iconic House of Cinema was threatened with demolition.

“The foundation was not formed to secure or protect any building or heritage – we started with an arts and culture agenda,” explained Umerova.

“But, at this time [around 2017] a vast number of investors were coming to the country and there were developers that started a building boom,” she continued.

“We found out from our team and from the people around us that a building was about to be demolished which was quite iconic – the House of Cinema.”

“People were really feeling that something wrong was happening”

Although the foundation did not succeed in saving the cinema, which was demolished in early 2018, the discussion around it led to a renewed, government-backed interest in Tashkent’s Soviet-era modernism.

“People were really feeling that something wrong was happening, but at the time, it was already [too] late to save this building,” said Umerova.

“We didn’t really feel empowered to do it, because we were not really part of this system, we were not used to construction, and didn’t have the mechanisms to do anything.”

Following the demolition, the foundation set about establishing the systems and mechanisms needed to protect the city’s other, potentially under-threat, modernist buildings.

This led to the Tashkent Modernism XX/XXI research and preservation project, led by Milan-based architecture studio Grace, academic Boris Chukhovich, the Politecnico di Milano and Laboratorio Permanente.

The team carried out a survey of the city’s Soviet modernist buildings and has selected 24 key buildings that will be conserved.

Tashkent’s modernist architecture was the focus of the recent Where in the World is Tashkent conference, with Dezeen rounding up 10 key buildings following the event.

“We used to be the capital of Central Asia”

As Tashkent was one of the most populated and significant cities within the former Soviet Union, it contains numerous municipal, cultural and residential buildings from the communist era.

“We used to be the capital of Central Asia when we used to be Soviet and this is why there are a lot of cultural institutions, said Umerova.

“[The] majority of these buildings are modernist. It was seen as a very cultural city, and I think we’ve lost that for the past 30 years.”

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tashkent has become less prominent in the region – and the foundation hopes it can use the modernist buildings as part of a “rebranding” effort for the city.

“We are not a tourism entity,” explained Umerova. “But for us it’s important to that the country is known overseas, and this is basically how cultural diplomacy and soft power all come together.”

“So as more people know about these buildings, then the conditions are good for people to visit, it’s a benefit for us.”

“It’s important for us to create awareness”

The foundation has control over many of the 24 buildings that have designated for conservation, either through direct ownership or indirectly, in the case of those owned by other government bodies.

It is creating a strategy to reuse these buildings as well as influencing the development of the structures that are privately owned.

As part of this plan it is exploring a UNESCO listing bid for a selection of the city’s modernist buildings.

“It’s important for us to create awareness and UNESCO is the best, basically, for that,” Umerova said.

The photography is by Alexey Narodizkiy. The portrait is by ACDF.

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While most smartphone companies focus only on advancing the inner components of their devices, TECNO’s working on something even exciting – outer materials that enhance and elevate the smartphone’s design to new levels. The company gave us a sneak peek of what they’ve been working on, and let’s just say it goes above and beyond simple glass or metal assemblies. TECNO’s team have been researching color-changing materials, 3D stereoscopic displays (on the back of your phone), organic fabric leather, fiberglass, and even fragrant materials that can give your smartphone a unique aroma. Obviously, none of these materials are ready to deploy at the mass scale that TECNO produces its phones at… but it’s exciting to think of a future where phones won’t look the same, or even smell the same!

1. Chameleon Coloring Technology

Perhaps the holy grail of smartphone design (aside from fully transparent phones) has been the idea of a phone that can change color… and TECNO seems to have developed a technology capable of this. Dubbed Chameleon Coloring Technology, the material stands out as the first in the industry to harness ultra-fine prisms for full-spectrum, polarization-free color shifting. This state-of-the-art technology operates through angular rotation induced by an electric field, enabling it to capture every color hue vividly. It boasts an ultra-fast reaction time that sets new industry benchmarks, achieving responsiveness in a mere 0.03 seconds. Alongside its rapid performance, it promises an extended lifespan and operates on minimal power, with consumption measured at the milliampere level. The technology also features versatile color adaptation capabilities, allowing for the independent customization of essential color functionalities and enabling selectable color absorption to suit a variety of needs.

2. 3D Stereo Optical Grating

If you thought changing colors was exciting, what if the back of your phone had its own dedicated 3D display that showcased depth without requiring glasses?? The 3D Stereo Optical Grating is a cutting-edge technology that uses advanced materials and a special pattern to produce a 3D effect without the need for glasses. This technology can create a sense of depth and make images look like they’re floating right in front of you. It can also change the way colors and patterns appear. This method works by bending light in a specific way, which can be applied across an entire surface or just parts of it. It’s perfect for large-scale printing processes where vivid colors and detailed patterns are needed quickly and accurately. Plus, it’s capable of adding movement to images, making it a smart choice for creating lots of high-quality products in a factory setting.

3. Layered Fiberglass

Layered fiberglass stands out from standard glass because it’s built to be much stronger and more flexible, even when it’s just as thin. This means it can take more bending and pressure without breaking. Plus, it’s surprisingly lightweight, making it a better option for things that need both durability and ease of handling. To give it a sleek, shiny finish that mimics the look of metal, a special coating technique is used. This isn’t like regular spray paint; it’s a high-tech process that leaves the fiberglass feeling smooth to the touch, almost luxurious. The texture is top-notch, and it has the added bonus of resisting smudges and fingerprints, so it stays looking clean and polished for longer. This makes layered fiberglass not just tough and good-looking, but also practical for everyday use where touch and cleanliness matter.

4. Colored Textured Glass

Colored textured glass is crafted by blending molten glass in various colors, like clear, shades of blue, and white. This mixture is stirred evenly in a special container using a precise method, resulting in beautifully textured glass. The color infuses throughout the glass, ensuring it remains vibrant and enduring over time. This glass can be tailored to personal preferences, offering a unique, almost magical hue that resembles the depths of precious stones. Additionally, it has the ability to mimic the appearance of fine ceramics, all while being thinner than actual ceramics.

5. Fragrant Leather

This might be the most bizarrely interesting piece of innovation yet. TECNO’s Fragrant Leather is an innovative material that infuses scent into vegan leather through a special process. Tiny capsules filled with scented oils are mixed into the PU resin of the leather, with the amount carefully adjusted to get the perfect strength of fragrance. This sensory-rich material combines durability with a pleasing aroma and practical use. It’s designed to retain its scent for a long time, and with normal use, away from harsh conditions like direct sunlight or extreme heat, the lovely smell can last for more than a year, and TECNO’s been formulating popular scents like cologne, ocean, and even rose.

6. Organosilicone Fabric Leather

While most synthetic leathers come with a polyurethane coating, TECNO’s working on a synthetic leather that uses an ‘organosilicone’ coating instead. This fabric is specially coated with a silicone polymer, which makes it particularly user-friendly because it’s simple to clean and doesn’t hold onto odors. Additionally, it’s an eco-friendly option with very low volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, meaning it’s better for indoor air quality. The durability of organosilicone fabric leather stands up to various weather conditions, and it’s also recyclable, supporting a more sustainable lifecycle. What’s more, this material represents a leap forward in fabric technology by utilizing high-grade silicone coatings, reducing reliance on carbon-based materials and thus decreasing carbon emissions.

7. Renewable Fiber

We’ve seen fiberglass used everywhere, but have you seen it on the back of your phone?! TECNO’s developed a special brand of fiberglass that’s made from recycled plastics. The fibers themselves come from shredded plastic bottles that would otherwise end up as landfill or ocean waste. The result is a plastic that’s flexible, durable, gorgeous-looking, unique because the fibers are laid out differently on each phone, and innately fingerprint resistant given the fiberglass’ texture. There’s also the added bonus of it being sustainable because not only is it made from recycled plastic, but it can further be recycled too!

8. Color Blending Leather

Leather is currently a favored material for crafting deluxe smartphone back covers in the tech industry. However, the variety of leather colors on the market is quite restricted, typically offering only single or dual-tone options. TECNO has been working on a Color Blending Leather that incorporates color-changing patterns into leather, allowing it to shift hues through the day. This process allows for the merging of multiple hues, creating a seamless and vibrant artwork directly on the leather itself. The result is a multi-layered color effect with a distinct and refined texture that’s also practical, resisting dirt and wear. This innovative color blending technique is set to infuse a dash of fashion-forward flair and artistic expression into the realm of technology accessories.

9. Borderless Foldable Main Screen

While companies like Oppo, Huawei, and Samsung have truly been pushing the boundaries of folding phone technology, there’s always been one obstacle nobody could overcome – the bezel. TECNO, however, is proposing modifying the structure of the Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) to remove the bezels entirely. While we don’t have any physical or visual evidence of this, it seems like TECNO could potentially launch a folding concept soon with zero bezels.

10. Satellite Communication Technology

Finally, TECNO is also looking at ways to bring satellite communication to its own phones, just like Apple did with the iPhone 14 series. “When located in an environment with poor or no signal, the Satellite Communication Technology enables users to maintain contact with the outside world, ensuring safety when camping, hiking, and mountaineering,” says the company.

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