The 'cais das artes', or 'pier of the arts', is an appropriately-named museum and theater complex located in vitoria, just north of rio de janeiro along sua bay's built coast. the site is a recently created concrete plane along the dock in an area benefiting from lovely views of the native landscape and the city backdrop, amongst new constructions and historical treasures. the primary strategy was to command this important space to convert it into the cultural center of the metropolis while preserving the character of place -- not an easy task considering the very large masses that would need to be built to accommodate a three-level museum and 1,300-seat theater. architect paulo mendes da rocha sums up the crux of the project:'this is an urban-oriented architectural action, in the sense of adjusting history and geography to a desired view of the present, indicating at the same time a museological conception, an effort to combine art and science, under an integrated perspective.'
The massing concept was therefore to lift the program off the ground plane, freeing an expansive plaza for large scale artistic events and more importantly opening views through the site at human-scale, both onto land and out to sea. the exhibition spaces are located in the 69 meter long pre-tensioned parallel concrete beams measuring 7 meters high touching the ground at only six points. twenty-meter bays regulated by the spans in between anchoring columns.interstitial platforms house the display areas visually connected to each other, reflecting indirect natural light off the floors. support and services are all located in a 22 m2 by 23-meter high annexed cube connected to the main volume by bridges. the museum can be conceived of as a bridge typology with a cafe, restaurants, bookstores and open-air exhibit space greeting visitors at the plaza. the theater is located in a structurally echoed, albeit independent, volume that is partially supported over the sea. the centrally-located performance hall uses 10-meter wide lateral corridors for support functions and circulation. only the technical areas under the stage are actually connected to the ground for ease of equipment transportation.