When one thinks of art destinations, Mirando do Corvo doesn’t spring to mind. But this town in Coimbra surrounded by the Lousã Mountains might soon go through its own Bilbao transformation.

Opened last fall, the House of the Arts is a blazingly bright red beacon. It was designed by Future Architecture Thinking (not to be confused with the soon-to-be-shuttered London firm FAT) to get lots of attention. Comprising three volumes, the centre is destined to be a meeting place that hosts art exhibitions in its various spaces and theatre productions in its 300-seat auditorium.

Besides its sloping roofs, which are geometric analogs to the mountains in the distance, the building is connected to its natural landscape through its multiple access points and long swaths of glazing. One can peruse an art show while bathed in natural light, a panorama out the window.

Photos by João Morgado