MAC Niterói: A Modern Temple

Abstract

This article, about the work of the architect Oscar Niemeyer, is focused on one of the most emblematic buildings of modern Brazilian architecture, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Niterói. The approach chose the dialogue between architecture and place and proposed an analysis based on graphical elements such as: aerial photos, the observer’s perception, plans and sections, in which it was possible to identify a potential analogy with one of the most iconic buildings of classical architecture, the Parthenon in Athens. Both buildings were submitted to an approach dedicated exclusively to the discussion of the binomial architecture and place, so it was possible to create contact points between these two buildings. The analogies seem to be relevant proposals and want, from a phenomenological approach, to achieve a deeper understanding of the work of one of the most important architects of the twentieth century.