The Museum of Art of São Paulo - MASP will soon expand its facilities to include an annex next to the iconic project by Lina Bo Bardi. The 14-story Dumont-Adams building, which has been inactive for decades, has 7800 square meters and will be renovated to house exhibition wings, a café, a restaurant, and a restoration laboratory.
The project of the new building - which will be named Pietro Maria Bardi, in honor of his 45 years as director of the institution - was designed by Metro Arquitetos, who have already been working on some of MASP's renovations and exhibitions over the last years, including the revision of Lina Bo Bardi's glass easels, and Júlio Neves, former director of the museum. According to Metro's Martin Corullon, "a perforated aluminum membrane will surround the entire façade and prevent the building from getting overheated."
There will be seven floors dedicated to temporary exhibitions (the first six floors and the ninth), which will have double-height ceilings and a free floor plan to ensure that the space can be easily arranged in different ways. The environments will be equipped with a state-of-the-art air conditioning system that will allow artworks that require more rigorous conservation standards. The inauguration is scheduled for 2024, to include oil paintings by Francis Bacon, and an exhibition of the works of Claude Monet, one of the most famous Impressionist painters, is expected to take place in 2025.
The program also includes a restoration laboratory, a mezzanine, and a space for workshops. In the last basement, there will be an almost 500-square-meter storage area. The café and restaurant will be on the first floor, allowing the space in the basement of the current museum to be used for permanent exhibitions. The ticket office, which is currently located under MASP's famous free span, will be relocated to the first floor of the new building.
The current headquarters will be named after Lina Bo Bardi, and the two buildings will be connected by an underground tunnel which will also create a symbolic link between the couple that left their mark on Brazilian culture.
Learn more about the MASP Expansion project.
