Museu Nacional dos Coches (Lisboa)

Lisboa, Portugal. This is a brutal beast of a building, a massive raised cement garage that houses ornate and golden coaches, like Cinderella's but for real. From the outside, you'd never guess what it contains.

Could be the largest restroom icon in the world?

The huge elevators are closed, and after walking up some drab side stairs the visitors enter immediately into a great hall of coaches. Unceremoniously.

Some are more restored than others. The views between carriages and wheels adds a little interest along the wide corridor.

The coaches are bordered by a floor railing with text. Angled side displays.

For many, this is a dream come true. 

Massive side walls allowed for huge projections with sound, which is much needed in the stark space. But the long silent, blank gaps between the video segments were disturbing, as if the whole experience was stopping and starting again.

The effect was like standing on a quiet road, watching a dramatic coach with horses ride by, and then disappear again. But I don't think this was the intention.

People actually rode around in these objects, pulled by animals!

When you leave the building, your own coach awaits.

Or you can cross the street to the original coach museum, which looks like this. An ornate building with the more neglected coaches, and bad lighting.

A temporary exhibition honors the history of fighting fire by horse drawn coaches.

Every large banner image, has a small scale whole image set into it.