MUDE
Interior architecture 1900-1999

Following an invitation from MUDE, a study was put together for an exhibition entitled "INTERIORS - Interior Architecture in Portugal 1900-1999" that would cover the last 100 years of interior design. Conceptually, the main focus of the study was to investigate the manipulation of a particular form of the simulacrum, the physical model, to help construct a spatial reflection on the theme of the interiors.

Assuming that the best way to represent an interior space is through the space itself, the proposal was made to systematise the exhibition using mock-ups from a manipulated perspective (Ames room) on a 1/1 scale. This set of models, one per decade, formed a structure, an entity that inhabited the emptiness of MUDE and presented it in relation to the idea of exterior-interior, thereby assuming the contemporary matrix from which we would be able to experience the other decades.

The external context was taken into consideration when assembling the interior spaces and the positioning of the containers (one for each decade) was adjusted according to the existing structural network. At the same time, an adjustment was made to the linking and positioning of the containers in order to improve their appropriation of the available space in the museum. The overall structure of the piece was also approached as single entity to ensure that the separate parts formed a continuous whole.

The proposed scheme predicted that there would be 10 + 2 nuclei gathered together in containers. This resulted in 1 container that existed as an entrance hall, 10 decade containers and 1 auditorium container that formed the point in the exhibition, somewhere around the 50s, where visitors would make a U-turn and start walking back on the other side of the displays. The exhibition simultaneously revealed the interiors that the visitor would be able to see and the spaces of circulation with the complementary information supporting the chronological journey through the decades of design.

It is thought that, from an emotional perspective, this exhibition has allowed for a concrete relationship between the memories of the design and the interiors of the twentieth century, and it has provided a physical context for a guided discovery of these interiors.