RIO: NITEROI

Strangely enough, Rio de Janeiro’s most famous building is actually not in Rio but across the bay in Niterói − a separate municipality that houses the landmark Museu de Arte Contemporânea. The museum is designed by Brazil’s most famous architect, Oscar Niemeyer, and resembles a snow white flying saucer, which stands in sharp contrast with the (usually) bright blue sky. It takes a subway, a ferry, a bus, and a walk fortified by coconut water to get to the fabled icon.

Although the suburb might be the less fancy sibling of a glamorous older sister, its museum outshines anything across the bay. Traveling across the water gave us a chance to step away from Rio’s frenzied bustle, to enjoy the cool breeze of the open sea.

Oscar Niemeyer ‘s Niterói remains as timeless and innovative today as it was built more than twenty years ago. The museum is organized around a processional ramp, painted in bold red to accentuate the ceremonial entrance. The building itself looks like a spaceship has landed on the cliff’s edge. The museum has a limited collection (as the original burned down) but the views and the experience are worth of the trip to the other side.

According to an architecture review, "In terms of timeless architecture, such disadvantages are unimportant, for Niterói is a modern triumph, something that deserves to be considered alongside such great buildings as Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater; Le Corbusier’s chapel at Ronchamp and Mies van der Rohe’s Farnworth house. Using one basic material, plus daring structural engineering, Niemeyer turned poured concrete painted white into an expressionist masterpiece." It’s a timeless classic, a beautiful form that is humble and grandiose at the same time.