Since 1968, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo has been a prominent feature on Avenida Paulista with its modernist building designed by architect Lina Bo Bardi. After six years of planning and construction, a new 14-floor building with 82,600 square feet of space will be added, increasing MASP’s exhibition space by 66 percent.
The new annex, costing $43.5 million from private donations, will open to the public on March 28. This expansion is the first since MASP moved to Avenida Paulista, giving the museum 235,300 square feet to work with. The original building has been renamed after Bo Bardi, with the new building named after Pietro Maria Bardi, the museum’s first artistic director.
The high-rise Pietro building, located across a side street and soon to be connected via an underground tunnel, is a sharp contrast to the original Lina structure. The exterior acts as a protective skin for the art treasures inside.
The goal of the new Pietro building is to enhance the visitor experience at MASP. The first floor will serve as a visitor reception area, and an underground passage will improve circulation between the two buildings.
Of the 14 floors in the new building, five will be dedicated to exhibition spaces, while others will be flexible for seminars, classes, and lectures. MASP School will have its own floor, and a conservation lab will be added.
For the inauguration of the Pietro building, five exhibitions have been selected to offer new perspectives on the museum’s collection and evolution. These exhibitions cover various aspects of MASP’s history and art collection.
The Julien installation, titled “Lina Bo Bardi – A Marvellous Entanglement,” complements the “Histories” show, exploring the legacy of Lina Bo Bardi and her impact on MASP over the years. The museum is also revisiting an exhibition on European art from two decades ago. Die 12 Gemälde von Renoir sind auf einem halbmetallischen und halbglasten Staffelei montiert, einem Update der bekannten Glastafel-Displays von Bo Bardi durch die Architektin Juliana Godoy. Pedrosa wollte, dass Godoy „über eine andere Art von Staffelei-Display“ nachdenkt, da Bo Bardis Staffelei-Display „ziemlich streng, rigoros“ ist. Das Endergebnis, sagte er, ist „eine sehr verspielte, eher skurrile“ Version von Bo Bardis Version, die im Originalgebäude betrachtet werden kann.