Museum of Contemporary Art, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Four Sketches

Completed in 1996, the Niterói Museum of Contemporary art has since become one of the city of Rio de Janeiro’s main landmark buildings. While visiting the town during the design process, Niemeyer told the then mayor, Jorge Roberto Silveira he envisioned a design for the museum to rise up from the seaside location like a flower or a bird. The resulting design strongly resembles the sketches seen here with the museum rising from a structural stem and lined with panoramic view of the adjacent sea. The completed project is accessed via a curvilinear bridge that stretches up to the top floor of the building.