Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, Modern Building Brazil, Architecture Images

Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, SP

MASP, Paulista Avenue: 20th Century Architecture in SP, Brasil design by Lina Bo Bardi architects

1 Aug 2017

Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, Brazil

Architect: Lina Bo Bardi

Location: MASP – São Paulo Museum of Art, Paulista Avenue, São Paulo, Brazil

Date built: 1968

Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand Building One of Twelve Recipients of Getty Foundation’s Keeping It Modern Grants

An anchor of cultural life in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP) is a concrete and glass tour de force. Suspended on four massive pillars, the building shell hovers 26 feet above the ground and contains a total floor area of over 110,000 square feet. Designed by Lina Bo Bardi in 1957 and completed in 1968, the museum houses one of the most important collections of Western art in the Southern hemisphere. Bo Bardi was a visionary architect who believed that modern design should integrate local materials and surroundings.

photo © Eduardo Ortega

Originally from Italy, she relocated to Brazil in 1946 and put her experimental ideas into practice with her Casa de Vidro (Glass House) built in 1951 (Keeping It Modern grantee, 2016). Less than a decade later, Bo Bardi tackled MASP as the most ambitious project of her career. The museum has undergone several interventions over the years to address water infiltration, concrete spalling, and tension issues with the structural beams, however conservation challenges still remain. MASP will use Getty support to create an integrated conservation and maintenance plan that provides specific recommendations for long-term care and maintenance.

Grant support for this Brazilian building renewal: $150,000

MASP Building images / information from The Getty Foundation

Getty Foundation Keeping it Modern 2017 Grants

Address: Av. Paulista, 1578 – Bela Vista, São Paulo – SP, 01310-200, Brazil

Director: Heitor Martins

Location: Paulista Avenue, São Paulo, SP, Brasil, South America