Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, Modern art museum in Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Museum of Modern Art sits in the Flamengo neighborhood along the waterfront of Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro. The low concrete structure with clean lines and open passages connects to a landscaped garden filled with tropical vegetation.
The museum's founding charter dates from 1948, when Raymundo Ottoni de Castro Maya presided over the initiative; it became a civil entity in 1951 and was installed provisionally in the Palácio da Cultura the following year. The Escola Bloco opened in 1958 and the Exhibition Bloco in 1967, both designed by Affonso Eduardo Reidy with Carmen Portinho as chief engineer. On 8 July 1978 a fire caused by a cigarette or electrical failure destroyed 90% of the collection, including works by Picasso, Miró, Dalí and all pieces in a Torres-García retrospective; the Exhibition Bloco reopened in 1982.
The museum's name comes from its focus on modern art, and its grounds host the Bloco Escola and a theater wing for concerts, plays, classical ballet and film screenings. At the 1967 Nova Objetividade exhibition Hélio Oiticica showed Tropicália, the work that gave its name to the Tropicalist movement. The 1960s shows Opinião 65, Opinião 66 and Salão da Bússola were held here.
The building stands in Flamengo Park, between the World War II monument and Santos Dumont Airport, on Guanabara Bay. The entrance terrace links the main block and the theater wing, and a spiral ramp climbs to a roof terrace with a restaurant and bar facing the bay and Sugarloaf. The gallery level has no internal columns, so the exhibition floors are open and easy to move through.
Architect Affonso Eduardo Reidy designed the structure with a roof that rests on few supports, creating the impression that it floats above the ground. Landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx created the surrounding green spaces as an integral part of the site, using native plants to emphasize the dialogue between nature and architecture.
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