Cais das Artes, new museum located on the waterfront of Vitória, north of Rio de Janeiro, has successfully transformed Suá Bay area of the city into cultural host of national importance. Designed in collaboration between Brazilian architects Paulo Mendes da Rocha and Martin Corullon of local practice Metro Arquitetos Associados, this sprawling museum complex was designed with the aim to preserve the character of the historic environment. 3,000 square meter exhibition area and the 1300 seats-theater are wrapped into raw concrete façade and the building floats above the ground. The volume is broken up by a void which frames the view of surrounding.

Equipped to host large scale events, this museum development configures the plain field as an open square for the entire city – new public space on the ocean. With the facilities such as bookstores and spaces that can host theatrical shows and open-air exhibitions, the new square is an attraction, a spectacle forming the continuity of city’s cultural life. Furthermore, due to its spatial characteristics, the place allows the public to unveil the overwhelming landscape form a privileged standpoint.

The structure of the Museum building is consisted of two large beams of parallel, pre-stressed reinforced concrete, 7 meters high, with only 3 points of support, on every 20 meters. The exhibition halls are located between main beams, and are open and communicating visually to each other and to the square. The Theater is suspended just like the Museum with only the technical areas under the stage located on the ground.

The vertical circulation through ramps forms clear platforms and porches for the appreciation of the natural surroundings. The project defines a new territory – the Vitória Bay itself, in its natural greatness, a place derived from a constant opposition between natural and artificial, landscape and concrete, historical and temporary.