Quake Museum

268 years ago, everything in Lisbon shook. First there was the earthquake and then the fires in the aftermath of a tsunami that devastated the capital. Portugal is a seismically active region due to its location, so the question is no longer if, but when it will happen next. It is from this premise that the Quake Museum was created, delving into the past to teach how to act in the future. The idea involves taking a journey back to the fateful day of November 1st, 1755, with immersive experiences in between, over the course of ten rooms spread over three floors. The programme lasts an hour and forty minutes, with a timed narrative component for each room. The idea was put together by Ricardo Clemente and Maria Marques, the founding partners, who favoured an approach capable of raising awareness among the various age groups while at the same time keeping them entertained. The museum is located in Belém, in an 1800 square metre building, and V&G went to see it.

The secrets of a lost Lisbon

The adventure begins in a mysterious booth, where the door to the next room only opens when the clock strikes 00:00. Until then, the Marquis of Pombal greets us with his portrait framed on the wall. There are Portuguese tiles on the floor and within each of us the desire to discover what lies just out of view. We’ll return to the present, safe and sound, after discovering the secrets of a lost Lisbon in the company of the fictional Professor Luís, a scholar who will show us how everything happened, from the earthquake to the reconstruction of the city. Many of the museum’s rooms seem to come alive, in a constant play of projections, lights, sounds, smells and sensations. These are followed by more informative stages, where the formation of earthquakes and the anti-seismic construction of buildings are explained. In between, concrete examples of more recent earthquakes are given, such as the one that occurred in March 2011 in Japan, the most violent in the country’s history. And, without further ado, we enter the time machine, travelling back to All Saints’ Day in 1755, through the tunnels of history. We are now in the 18th Century. In the streets of Lisbon, the sound of rats sneaking through holes echoes, clothes are drying on ropes by the windows and you can hear the hubbub of a traditional trading environment. The capital at this time is a Babylon of boats and products and the fourth largest city in the world, at least until the natural disaster that is about to strike. 

The day that shook the history of a nation

The scene changes when Professor Luís opens the doors of a church, where we sit down to attend mass on November 1st. Everything is fine, until the seats start shaking and people start shouting, making it difficult to keep your balance, thanks to the earthquake simulators that make this experience realistic. Has the Day of Reckoning arrived? Fire, water, air and wind united against humanity. 90 minutes later, billions of litres of water have covered the capital. Within an hour and forty minutes, a desert of ashes remains. And from that moment on, the earthquake changed the face of Lisbon and its people forever.
Today, you can learn that there are behaviours that can mitigate some of the damage that could result from a catastrophe of this magnitude, from putting together a survival kit to ensuring the construction of the house you might buy. Through interactive 4D technology, earthquake simulators and video-mapping, the Quake Museum’s message is one of prevention and remembrance of the day that shook the history of a nation.