miguel vieira baptista's museu infinito exhibition at MUDE, portugal

showcased at the MUDE museum in portugal, the ‘museu infinito’ exhibition by designer miguel vieira baptista is directly linked to the brief existence of oporto’s industrial museum in the 19th century. established in 1889 by joaquim de vasconcelos, the museum emerged with the goals of promoting works produced by artists and craftsmen in association with industry to advance the country’s development in this sector. other european museums, like the V&A in london, soon realized the importance of cultural centers in helping improve industrial products and vice versa. this wasn’t so much of a concern in portugal and in 1898, oporto’s industrial museum is shuttered by shortsighted political decisions.

museu infinito by miguel vieira baptista directly links to the brief existence of oporto’s industrial museum
(above and main) image © fernando guerra FG+SG 

upon entering miguel vieira baptista‘s exhibition in the MUDE museum, visitors are confronted with a sequence of coloured boxes placed on the floor so as to guide them along an intuitive path. starting with a red color enforced by the adjoining white wall, announcing the exhibition name, the display slowly intensifies towards the middle of the room at which point colors darken until reaching pitch black. this chromatic progression takes people on a temporal journey, of beginning and ending, which baptista wants to reinforce. 

the MUDE museum’s nine years of existence is organized within nine exhibition modules — where one can discover every day objects that formed part of the original collection, and which are presently housed in several portuguese museums.

a chromatic progression is strongly present throughout the exhibition, starting off with lighter tones 
image © fernando guerra FG+SG 

throughout the exhibition, some visual irregularities can be picked up by the visitors. indeed, dissimilar interior and exterior module dimensions had to be integrated in order to accommodate the various contents. as a result, the objects displayed reflect on the idea of a programmed collection which tells the story of MUDE’s demolished state. in other words, one is tempted to think that the museum goes back to itself, making it endless or a ‘museo infinito’. 

the colorful transitions take visitors on a path along oporto’s cultural and industrial history 
image © fernando guerra FG+SG 

the tour starts off with a striking red color module
image © fernando guerra FG+SG  

for security reasons, the displayed items had to be enclosed with glass
image © fernando guerra FG+SG

dissimilar interior and exterior module dimensions were required to accommodate the different contents
image © fernando guerra FG+SG 

close up view on the displayed artifacts 
image © fernando guerra FG+SG 

the MUDE museum’s nine years of existence is organized within nine exhibition modules
image © joana soda

the last module’s dramatic effect makes direct references to the previous museum’s plans and location in oporto
image © joana soda

 miguel vieira baptista’s sketches

axonometric view  of the exhibition space

project info: 

exhibition: museu infinito
location and year: MUDE – museu do design e da moda, lisboa, 2016
exhibition design: miguel vieira baptista
assistant designers: ivo oliveira rodrigues e joana soda
graphic design: diogo potes
curatorship: sandra leandro
construction and lighting: expocena
built area: 450 sq.m 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom