www.palaciogrilo.com
Words: Joana Jervell
After an authentic renaissance, the doors of Palácio do Grilo have, since 2022, been transporting us into a parallel universe, with art and performance guiding us through an immersive experience that feels genuinely distinctive. In conversation with Andrew Costa, events manager, we gain a better understanding of what makes this 18th-century palace such a surprising place: an exclusive setting where boundaries dissolve, and unexpected dialogues emerge, bringing everyday life closer to the artistic realm.
Q: Here we find the realisation of the dream palace of King Pedro of Braganza — the illegitimate son of King Pedro II and 1st Duke of Lafões — which was built after the 1755 earthquake. From an architectural and stylistic point of view, what can you tell us about the palace?
A: Palácio do Grilo is a dream set in stone. Constructed after the great earthquake of 1755, it brings together Baroque ambition and Neoclassical sensibility in a play of light, symmetry and fantasy typical of the period.
But the palace is more than just a building, it is a palimpsest of Portugal: walls that hold royal echoes, the shadows of myths and a certain aristocratic spirit that only Lisbon knows how to preserve.
Here, the past is not static: it breathes, it moves, it watches.
Q: Julien Labrousse imagined it exactly as it functions today. What inspired this project, and what motivated its creation?
A: As an artist, architect and dreamer, Julien saw in this place a sleeping house, ready to be reborn in the 21st century. The ruin itself became his inspiration: the beauty of what is about to end, about to be invented, about to be dared. He imagined Palácio do Grilo as a space where artistic performance merges with everyday experience. This is not a staged fiction, but a territory in which gestures, presences, and atmospheres create layers of meaning in real time.
What inspired the project was a deep desire to create a living place, where daily life and art would not be kept behind rigid boundaries. A place where dinner is also about participating, where the party becomes ritual, where each room offers a different sensation and where every visitor becomes part of the work simply through the act of being present. Julien was also driven by the wish to explore new forms of encounter: an environment in which architecture summons stories, but it is bodies, sounds and actions that bring them to life. Here there is no written fiction, only presence. No characters, only states. No fixed narrative, only experience. At Palácio do Grilo, art happens as life does: on the threshold. A continuous creation that transforms those who enter, and reinvents itself with everyone who passes through.
Q: What were Julien’s main concerns and challenges during the work on this building? And how long did the rehabilitation take?
A: The greatest challenge was to balance two forces: absolute respect for memory and the courage to reinvent it. The work demanded time, not only in the physical sense, but the time needed to understand the spirit of the place. It took three years of rehabilitation, research, risks and revelations, and the central concern was never to “clean” it too much: to keep the wrinkles of the architecture, the beautiful wounds, the silences held within the walls. To restore without taming. To give it life again without erasing what time has written.
Q: Anyone who arrives here encounters an artistic experience unlike any other. Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about this experience?
A: Anyone who enters the palace steps into a performative realm. It is not simply a visit, but a journey: sensory, theatrical, unexpected. Without lifting the veil, we can only say that personas appear without warning; rooms change their mood; art emerges where you least expect it; and the palace’s narrative is always being written before the visitor’s eyes. It is a place where reality wavers, and is all the better for it.
Q: What role does art play in shaping this atmosphere?
A: Art is the engine of the palace. Without it, it would be nothing more than a beautiful building. With art, it becomes an organism. Here, art is not an ornament. It is experience, it is breath, it is what connects people to the space and to one another.
It leads, provokes, welcomes and transforms.
Q: As a multifaceted venue — a museum, restaurant, bar and theatre — how do these different dimensions work together at the same time? How does it all function as a whole?
A: The palace is a continuous ritual, and each element is a gesture that keeps it alive. The restaurant feeds the body, the museum feeds the eye, the performance feeds the spirit, the bar feeds the evening. Everything happens at once, but never in conflict. It works like an opera: multiple layers, one vibration.
Q: What kinds of events does the palace regularly host?
A: The palace welcomes the unexpected: concerts, immersive dinners, exhibitions, balls, parties for national and international brands, film shoots, performances and private events that range from the intimate to the monumental. It hosted pop queen Madonna’s birthday dinner in 2023, fashion events, filming for a series about Beatriz Ângelo (the first woman to have the right to vote in Portugal), as well as gala evenings and artistic rituals. It is a space that adapts to the creator, as long as they are aligned with our principles.
Q: In your view, what makes it so special? What differentiates it from other spaces in Portugal and the rest of the world?
A: The palace is special because it does not try to imitate anything. It is not a traditional museum, it is not a conventional restaurant, it is not a classic theatre and nor is it a modern bar. It is a total experience. What distinguishes it is its courage to embrace beautiful chaos, the mixing of eras and the presence of art as its gravitational centre. It is a space that creates memory, that touches those who enter. And perhaps the rarest thing of all: it is a place where everything converges.
