The TIKVA Jewish museum in Lisbon, Portugal is based on the 5 historical moments of Jewish population in Lisbon. Each period is marked by a distinct volume and is stitched together by the Hebrew letters TIKVA which means hope. Organizationally, the building is a collaboration between Studio Libeskind and local curators to create a distinct museum of labyrinthic qualities. The circulation and museum experience is flexible in terms of experience depending on the exhibitions.
The architectual experience is mainly about linkages both horizontally versus vertiaclly and interiority versus exteriority. Where each volume holds a unique experience for the visitors. Programmatically, the inclusion of a medium sized lecture hall, flexible space for catered events and screenings, and rooftop restaurant, make for the building to be breathable to the public at all times. The movement from the street up to the building and through the central spine, splits the program in half between “learning spaces” and gallery spaces, with the second floor containing a research center and office spaces.
What makes the building so interesting and unique is also the material choices of white plaster and Azulejos, or typical Lisbon ceramic tiles seen on most historic buildings in the city. This blend of new and the historic flows to all areas of the design.
The Hebrew word for Hope is Tikva. In relation to the city and the context in which it is situated, the museum beings to literally stitch together the five major historic moments of the Jewish people in Lisbon with the work Hope. In the design of the museum, these letters are seen as projections through the top top creating double height spaces, circulation, and inscisions that dictate and control how light filters through the space.
Historically, semiotics has been seen as sign and signifier as a way of undermining the accepted truths of modern language. The linneage of these concepts is traced through post-modernism and deconstructivism. In this building, the lettering and the sign of Hope is seen as a direct translation but is utilized and manipulated in formal terms that result in an atmospheric effect throughout. Interestingly enough, the word itself is only seen by those designing. It becomes skewed and covered and only visible to the eye of the designer. The human perspective is blurred of the meaning behind the building.
Similar to contemporary concepts, the truth of the building is hidden behind the subjective view. This extreme subjectivity is interesting in that the concept of the project becomes a mystery and in images showing the project in a realistic way, this meaning is hidden in plain sight.
The contemporary discussion of truth and fact and fiction, play into the dissection of the project which is historically seen as something from a linneage that is fifty years old. It becomes a great way to bridge the gap.
