Brought to you by:Architect:Metro Arquitetos AssociadosLocation:So Paulo Completion Date: 2025Expectations are always immense when adding to a famous work of architecture. This was certainly the case at the Museu de Arte de So Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP), where Metro Arquitetos Associados was tasked with complementing the institutions original building, designed by Lina Bo Bardi. To avoid competing for visual attention with the existing structure, Metro Arquitetos wrapped the new tower with a black aluminum screen, a choice that makes the extension practically vanish among the sea of towers along Avenida Paulista. The tower appears as a large black monolith to avoid drawing attention from the original building. (Leonardo Finotti)Named the Pietro Maria Bardi Building after the museums founder (and husband of Lina Bo Bardi), the 14-story tower adds exhibition space, classrooms, a conservation laboratory, restaurant, cafe, and a new public entrance to the institutiontotaling 84,000 square feet. To date, this is the largest single expansion of the museum since the construction of the original building in 1968. With an official public opening scheduled for spring 2025, construction of the tower coincides with the completion of a decade-long renovation of the original building, also led by Metro Arquitetos. In 2015 we started working on exhibitions at MASP, said Gustavo Cedroni, co-director of the firm. At that time, MASP was physically and institutionally different from what Lina dreamed. The main exhibition room was blocked by walls and the glass system she developed wasnt in use for decades The intention was to recover all of Linas original ideas, he added.Metro Arquitetos restored MASPs intended gallery design, making use of Lina Bo Bardis original exhibition system in which paintings are suspended between two glass plates supported by a concrete block. (Cleber Vallin/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)The architects reintroduced Bo Bardis glass easels to the main exhibition hall, while also making practical improvements to the buildings HVAC systems, lighting, and bathrooms. Following this work, the firm was invited to design a new building for the institution.For the Pietro Maria Bardi Building, Metro Arquitetos used the structure of a 1940s residential tower adjacent to MASP. The apartment building was selectively demolished and every other floor was removed to create double-height exhibition spaces while additional floors were added above to increase the buildings height. The dimensions of the new tower are exactly that of the original museum, establishing a dialogue between the two structures.The structure of a 1940s apartment building was reused to build the new tower. (Paulo Humberto/WikimediaCommons/CC BY-SA 3.0)Structural diagram (Courtesy Metro Arquitetos Associados)Thinking carefully about the new towers appearance in relation to Bo Bardis bright colored MASP building, Metro Arquitetos opted for discretion, choosing a black facade system of corrugated aluminum panels. Besides concealing the tower, this exterior skin also functions to control sunlight within the galleries, protecting the museums light-sensitive collections and lowering energy use. Though perforated, the panels are nearly opaque, save for select openings for windows placed along the stairwell and circulation spaces. Corrugated panels were selected to improve the strength of the cladding system, however, Cedroni also noted that the undulating texture might draw comparisons to Ladeira de Misericrdia in Salvador de Baha, a project designed by Lina Bo Bardi with a ferro-cement exterior cast in corrugated form work. The use of extensive shading for the Pietro Maria Bardi building is a strong departure from MASPs main building, which features large windows along its main exhibition hall.The towers facade is slightly perforated, but appears opaque from a distance. (Leonardo Finotti)The layout of the towers exhibition floors was drawn from vertical museums such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. On the interior Metro Arquitetes worked diligently to mimic the materiality and finishes of the original building.We used a lot of steel, concrete, large stones, terrazzo, and all of the galleries have black natural wood floors, said Cedroni. There was no material we simply bought from the market. Everything was designed for the buildingeven the pipes. Back then, [when the original museum was built], they designed everything and invented things. These days that is not so common.Raw materials such as concrete, steel, and wood characterize the interior of the building. (Leonardo Finotti)Although the interior primarily mimics the designs of Lina Bo Bardi, Metro Arquitetos borrowed one concept from another titan of Brazilian modernismPritzker prizewinner Paulo Mendes da Rocha. To connect a split-level gallery floor, a sculptural case concrete staircase was constructed, inspired by those designed by the late architect. Its funny, because we found Oscar Kusaka, the man that used to build Paulos concrete stairs, added Cedroni. This guywho is more than 80 years oldbuilds the wood forms alone, piece by piece. It was beautiful to be able to recover this kind of work that todays architects and engineers dont use anymore.The additions sculptural concrete staircase was drawn from the work of Paolo Mendes da Rocha, another famous Brazilian modernist. (Leonardo Finotti)Another major emphasis of the project was improving MASPs visitor circulation. The museums main entrance is now located on the ground floor of the Pietro Maria Bardi Building, where a double-height lobby encased in floor-to-ceiling glass is located. Previously, visitors queued in crowded lines on the plaza beneath the suspended museuma space that Lina Bo Bardi originally intended to remain open as a public plaza. Museumgoers will pass between the two buildings through a newly constructed subterranean tunnel, bypassing the plaza above. While Cedroni is pleased with the firms work, he eagerly awaits the official opening of the extension later this month.We are super excited because we havent yet seen the building actually working as a museum with lots of people in it, Cedroni said. This makes all the difference and changes everything, the feeling, the sense, and the meaning.Project SpecificationsArchitect: Metro Arquitetos AssociadosSteel and Concrete Structures: Cia. De ProjetosDemolition: SOFT Projetos EstruturaisFoundation: MG&A ConsultoresUnderground Passage: ContagAir Conditioning: TeknikaLighting: Fernanda Carvalho and Paula CarnelsFacade Installation: MHA EngenhariaFacade and Frame: QMD ConsultoriaFencing: Inovatec ConsultoresAcoustics: Harmonia GlobalWaterproofing: PetraFlooring: Mix DesignLandscaping: Ricardo ViannaAccessibility: Design Universal ConsultoriaPre-construction: Racional EngenhariaMuseum Air Conditioning: HypocaustumFire Prevention: FeurtecElevators and Loading Platform: Rumo VerticalConcrete Pathologies: PHDExposed Concrete Treatment: GR ConsultingFacade Maintenance: PB Anchoring SystemsRelocation of Buried Networks: IntegerLegalizations: EnproplanCQP Foundations: ConsultrixCQP Concrete MASP: Figueiredo Ferraz Consulting and Project EngineeringCQP Installations: MS ConsultingCQP Metallic Structure: Alpha ProjectCQP Concrete Structures: SOFT Structural ProjectsDynamic Load Analysis: StolovasRadiology Consultancy: Inovafi