The São Paulo Museum of Art Assis Chateaubriand (Masp) announced the completion of the construction of its second building, named Pietro Maria Bardi, in honor of the institution’s first artistic director. The original building was named after its architect, Lina Bo Bardi.
In March of next year, when it will be opened to the public, to celebrate the inauguration of the new galleries of the Pietro Building, exhibitions featuring selections from the Masp collection and a show about the museum’s history will be presented.
The president of Masp, Heitor Martins, highlighted that the construction of the new building increases exhibition spaces by up to 66%. There are five new galleries for exhibitions, two multi-purpose areas, classrooms, a conservation laboratory, a public reception area, a restaurant and café, as well as storage and loading docks for the unloading of artworks.
The museum director recalled that the original building was constructed in 1968 and that, despite being a masterpiece, it has a series of limitations due to the era in which it was built. “From the issue of air conditioning with the entire glass architecture, which is a challenge, [the building] did not have a ticket office, does not have a reception area, does not have a dock to unload the paintings. The paintings we borrowed had to be unloaded on Avenida Paulista,” he said.
“We also saw, with the Tarsila exhibition, that the limitation of the audience became real. We had to restrict the number of visitors because it did not fit in the building,” he reported.
With 14 floors and 7,821 square meters (m²), the new building adds to the recent concession of the free span, increasing the institution’s operational area from 10,485 m² to 21,863 m², starting in March 2025. Initiated in 2019, the construction of the building was fully financed by donations from individuals, without the use of incentive laws. R$ 250 million was donated for the construction of the building.Buildings
The connection between the two buildings is present in various architectural elements, such as the relationship between the museum and the urban environment through transparency. Inside the Pietro, visitors will be able to observe the city and the Lina Building through wide openings that, during the day, are only visible to those inside the building. At night, these same windows provide a view of fragments of the building’s interior for those outside.
The new building has glass installed on the lower floors, which overlook the free span, and the rectangular geometry of the two facades consists of uninterrupted surfaces, without seams or joints. The visual connections between the buildings are also found in the exposed concrete, colors, and volume.
A curiosity highlighted during the announcement was that the Lina building, if verticalized, would be the same size as the new building. The ceiling height of the ground floor of the Pietro, at eight meters, is the same height as the ceiling height of the free span. The dark tone chosen for the facade was inspired by the color of the frames present in the first building.
There will also be, as a connecting element, a 40-meter tunnel linking the buildings. With completion expected in the second half of 2025, the underground passage aims to facilitate visitor circulation and promote the integrated operation of the buildings, in addition to preserving the visual of the urban landscape.
In the area known as the free span of Masp, under concession and managed by the museum, there is a forecast for a schedule of free cultural activities, a community area, installation of urban furniture, installation of free wi-fi, lighting, security, waste management, as well as maintenance and conservation services.Source: Agência Brasil