José Teixeira owns a large Portuguese construction and engineering company in northern Portugal. He is an aficionado of art and culture, so much so, that this is how he runs his business:
At Portuguese construction and engineering group DST’s sprawling hub in the northern city of Braga, a landscape of factories and warehouses is punctuated by site-specific artworks by the likes of Pedro Cabrita Reis and Miguel Palma. Workers in hi-vis vests and trucks move through the grounds, which also host open-air poetry readings, theatre performances and philosophy classes.
This guy loves art so much (he owns one of the most significant art collections in Portugal) that he established a modern art museum that opened in 2026.
We walk past this art museum every time we walk to the city centre (I write in European now!). We’d talked about going a few times, but when I realized it was modern art, I knew we had to go asap.
The other night we decided to get gelato after dinner. On the way, we passed Muzeu and it was all lit up. I remembered that on Thursdays admission is free and it stays open until 11pm. It was indeed Thursday. It seemed like a sign.
But first, gelato.
Muzeu is five floors of glorious industrial minimalism. It’s beautiful and stark. We loved it and plan to return soon.
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