Lisbon architect turned Context expert, Bert de Muynck, was recently featured in an article with Design Observer.
The essay captures so poetically the core of what we strive for here at Context, in every interaction of ours all around the world.
Walkie talkie: An architect-turned-tour guide on designing presence in Lisbon
A few favorite quotes:
“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘶. 𝙄 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥.”
“𝘐 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙭𝙮𝙜𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 — 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘶𝘱, 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴.”
“𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺: 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘵, 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴-𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 — 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙, 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚.”
In a rapidly changing Lisbon, where tourists consume more than they observe, tour guides design not just routes, but memory — a subtle authorship of truth.
Walkie talkie: An architect-turned-tour guide on designing presence in Lisbon
Published in DesignObserver, July 2025
Get in touch and start your walk
My background spans the humanities and the history of ideas and architecture. I have spent years studying how this small, Atlantic-facing city became the hinge of three continents — how its churches absorbed the wealth of spices and souls, how its tiles told stories the illiterate could read, how its poets turned longing into an entire philosophy of being.
My clients are academics, collectors, architects, novelists, philanthropists, and curious minds who travel specifically to understand — not merely to see. If you are looking for a tour that moves at the pace of genuine conversation, that answers the questions you haven’t yet thought to ask, and that leaves you feeling you have entered a place rather than merely visited it — we should speak.
Tell me what you’re curious about.
Looking for a tour in the next few days? Get in touch.
Every tour starts with a conversation. Write to me about your interests, your travel dates, your group, and what draws you to Lisbon. I will reply within 24 hours with an initial proposal — and a question or two of my own.
Fill in the formula below or write directly to me bertdemuynck.tourslisboa @ proton.me
