Instituto Moreira Salles São Paulo

After about four years of waiting and excitement for those who walk daily at Paulista Avenue, at number 2439, close to the corner of Bela Cintra Street and in front of the Cyclist Plaza, the headquarters of Instituto Moreira Salles São Paulo is finally open.

The idea of the Instituto was to build a new building dedicated to home and expose the artistic and photographic collection of IMS, that until so far was kept only at the Rio de Janeiro headquarters and at — a tiny — gallery in São Paulo, at Higienópolis neighbourhood. The new space will host expositions, speeches and courses.

Through a closed bid held in 2011 by six important architectural Brazilian offices (Andrade Morettin Arquitetos, Arquitetos Associados, Bernardes Arquitetura, UNA Arquitetos, SPBR e Studio MK27), the initial proposal developed in about two months by the São Paulo office Andrade Morettin Arquitetos won.

From the central issue that guided the project, one of the relevant points is born from the relation of the building to the city, through its strategic position on Avenida Paulista, in the lot with 20x50 meters. In this way, the architects thought of it as an important mechanism linked to the culture and museological role in the privileged address, so that it assumed the serenity required within the dynamic environment of Paulista.

How to impose a building that relates to the life of the Avenue, together with the museum space, preserving the demand to serenity? In fact, the office’s proposal was consistent, since the new building since the design stage has already established a response to the problems imposed, guiding them.

During the presentation to the Competition Committee, Vinicius Andrade and Marcelo Morettin, founding partners of the firm, began their speech by presenting a photograph of Maison de Verre, a project by Pierre Chareau and Bernard Bijvoet, reinforcing the idea of ​​controlled transparency and the relationship between light and opacity. The reference brought significant contribution to the party of the project, trying to respond to the required atmosphere with stillness, however, communicating to the external environment.

The response to the relationship between the internal and external environment is created by means of a casing, with a double enveloping system to the building, protecting its interior, in the exhibition area, but also allowing the entrance of natural light. Through the installation of special, semi-translucent glasses, the skin establishes dialogue between the exterior and the interior, allowing contemplation to those inside the building, and for those who are outside, still perceive remnants of the inner life.

The facade in glass still acts as a thermal protector, filtering the excess of solar radiation, seeking the ideal light control to the exhibition space and circulations, besides the visibility, consequently interfering in the drawing, that in the daytime acts as a crystal and in the nocturnal period, acts like a flashlight, emitting light to the city.

Still in the commission, the architects presented a brief analysis of the design quality of some of the buildings connected to the culture present along the Avenue, analysing its urban interfaces. In the case of the Cásper Líbero Foundation, they point out how the ground floor rises from the level of the sidewalk and, therefore, a long staircase, creates the role of conviviality. In the second case study, the FIESP Building points to the idea of ​​a “double floor”, since the sidewalk of the building assumes an intermediate level, and the pedestrian rises or falls, while the block is suspended generating a shaded area.

In the case study of the Museum of Art of São Paulo (MASP), they score as leader to the vision, due to their ground-floor conditioners liberated by the span that envisions extensive public area and freedom to see. In the National Assembly, they exalt the fruition and connection between the adjacent streets, so that the ground floor of the building establishes the idea of ​​continuity of the sidewalk, diluting the boundaries between public and private.

Thus, after these analyses, the architectural party of the new cultural centre was born from the resolution of problems identified in each of the case studies, dealing with the conditions of Paulista Avenue, intense and frantic, along with the premises of the museum. The solution, then, was to elevate the reception floor to fifteen meters high, releasing the ground floor and turning it into the sidewalk extension, allowing the public to flane freely by it.

In the strategy, the public organizes itself in the ground floor, vehicles in the basement and when ascending to the first floor, arrives at the heart of the building.

The transition from ground level to first floor is made by escalators, designing a three-dimensional walk through space, and as the pedestrian is transferred between the dimensions, in the simple gesture, makes the city reading.

Inside the Institute, the walk to the other floors is made by a set of stairs that receive filtered natural light, arranged between the external glass facade and the red volume that protects the works.

In the building, with an area three times larger than the IMS in Rio de Janeiro, the program is distributed among administrative area, parking, facilities and technical reserves, media centre, distribution area and exhibition area.

At the level of the sidewalk, the large shaded area, next to the stairs, houses the restaurant of the building, in a nice dialogue between the public and private spaces, besides lateral volume in concrete that cuts vertically the building, including technical stairs, emergency, elevators and toilets.

In the first floor, library and administration are arranged in an attempt to bring the visitor closer to the Institute’s extensive collection of books and allowing them to flutter through space, waiting for the ascent to the other floors.

In the second floor, the classroom that will house courses linked to Photography and Art, is arranged in the frontal area, allowing the entrance of natural and targeted light to the city.

The third and fourth floor are dedicated to the auditorium, establishing area of ​​the audience, stage and projection booth.

The fifth floor contains space dedicated to the cafe, shops and second reception of control to the exhibition areas. The sixth, eighth and ninth floors are positioned within the red element, protecting it from direct sunlight as a result of the works and projection area. It is worth mentioning that the first two floors of the sector are responsible for the temporary exhibition area, while the last floor comprises the permanent exhibition area.

In this way, the new cultural centre reinvents itself, through programmatic and in the choice of materials, in an exquisite way. The design assumed by the building reflects connections with the urban soul of the city, not acting in isolation, but inviting the pedestrian to enter it. For those inside the building, it is possible to notice the frank dialogue to outer space, through the semi-translucent glass facade.

Visiting the Instituto Moreira Salles is certainly an obligation to all those who love art, architecture and, specially, the city of São Paulo.