The installation of the National Museum of Music in a building whose very origin is rooted in music was the ideal way to enhance the existing collection through its connection to Mafra’s condition as a building-instrument. This idea, which appears sporadically in recent architectural history, is already evident in this eighteenth-century construction, which incorporates complex instruments such as the organ ensemble and the carillon, for which specific and exclusive musical compositions were created.
For us, this connection is closely linked to the ambition of a living museum: more than a display of objects, it is a museum of experience and pedagogy that communicates music in both its historical and contemporary dimensions, through the exploration of the physics of instruments and, above all, through sensory engagement and interaction with the musical phenomenon as a whole.
This intervention is distinctive in that it is a museum within a museum. The National Museum of Music is conceived as an exhibition space that allows the discovery of musical content while also encouraging the contemplation of the magnificent palace building itself.
The proposal therefore reveals, above all, a highly elemental exhibition system that engages with the palace through its simplicity and seeks to remain highly flexible in its use. Display cases, seating areas and interactive zones are arranged so as to free some of the more noble spaces for polyvalent use, whether for musical events or other activities, which can easily connect with the remaining areas of the Palace, promoting—even if only occasionally—a complete reading and experience of the Palace in all its dimensions.