Lisbon Oceanarium

The building is the work of the architectural firm Cambridge Seven Associates under the direction of Peter Chermayeff, resembling an Aircraft carrier, and is built in the pier of an internal sea. Peter Chermayeff is also the designer of the Osaka oceanarium, which is the largest in the world. It is one of the largest aquariums in the world, and has a large collection of marine species — birds, mammals, fishes, cnidaria and other marine organisms. The building is a small ride from the heart of Lisbon and is a large tourist attraction. The architecture of this building is far from the ancient buildings of Lisbon though it is only a few minutes away.

The exhibition is arranged around four smaller aquaria, displaying the fauna and flora of the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and of the Antarctic and a large central tank to exhibit species of the open ocean, from sharks and large groupers to tuna fish and small wrasses. The four towers of the building house each of the different ecosystems mentioned above and the central tank houses sharks, tuna and large groupers. Despite its intention of representing the open ocean, it has been criticised by several scientists for grouping together species that would never meet in nature. Though it may not show the ecosystems as they are in nature it is home to over 16 000 animals and plants from over 450 distinct species.