New icon of the Port Region, the Museum of Tomorrow explores the future possibilities of construction. Raised in Porto Maravilha and designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava over the Bay of Guanabara, was inaugurated by the City Hall on December 19, 2015. Anchor of the cultural revitalization project of the Port Region, the museum is the most signifcant symbol of rebirth in an area of five million square meters, part of the history of Rio and faced decades of delay and neglect.
Docked at Pier Maua and neighboring the Rio Art Museum (MAR), the structure of the Museum of Tomorrow is already part of the new postcard of Rio, the Praça Mauá where the Elevado da Perimetral is a reminder of the past and the rails of the tramway (Light Rail Vehicle) are a promise for the future. Experience promotes the meeting between science and art, reason and emotion, culture and society, language and technology. Initiative of the City Hall held with the Roberto Marinho Foundation, the museum is already icon of transformations that the city has coming through.
The Museum of Tomorrow combines the rigor of science and expressive art language, and technology as support, in immersive environments, audiovisual installations and games, created from scientific studies by experts and data released by institutions worldwide. The Museum brings to the city for the first time the concept of experiential museum, in which the content is presented in a sensory, interactive way and driven by a narrative. The space looks at the past, shows present trends and explores possible scenarios for the next 50 years from the perspective of sustainability and coexistence.
The building of organic shapes, inspired by the bromeliads of the Botanical Garden, occupies 15,000 square meters and is surrounded by water features, garden, bike paths and space for recreation, in a total area of 34,600 square meters. The museum also has an auditorium with 400 seats, shop, coffee shop and restaurant. The area dedicated to temporary exhibitions received as the first show, the audiovisual installation “Perimetral”, signed by Vik Muniz, Andrucha Waddington and the SuperUber design office. The next exhibition will be “Santos Dumont – the great Brazilian visionary,” which opens in the first half of 2016.