Brazilian Museum of Sculpture and Ecology
Paulo Mendes da Rocha · São Paulo, Brazil · 1995
Paulo Mendes da Rocha conceived MuBE less as a building object than as constructed topography. Much of the museum program is buried beneath a public garden, while a monumental prestressed-concrete beam spans the site as an abstract urban marker. Ramps, retaining walls and open-air spaces blur distinctions between museum, plaza and landscape. The project exemplifies Mendes da Rocha’s structural directness and his belief that architecture should intensify collective public space rather than simply enclose a program.