Galeria Babilônia 1500
Galeria Babilônia 1500
Rua Arquitetos
YEAR
2014
LOCATION
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
TYPE
Cultural › Gallery
When looking for a place to move his photography gallery from New York to Rio de Janeiro, the client found the ruins of an unfinished shack at the favela Morro da Babilônia, in Copacabana.
His family had a personal relation to the place, since his mother’s friend starred the Oscar winning movie Black Orpheus, shot there in 1959.
Building on top of the hill with limited access through narrow stairs is not an easy task, therefore we decided to recycle the existing structure and materials - a concrete slab with half-built walls and no roof over a basement filled with dirt - and to make use local techniques and workers.
The basement was cleaned up, leveled and used to accommodate the support programs, while on the upper floor we reused the bricks to conform the exhibition space.
From that level on, we continued the existing stairs as a spiral around the building to reach the office space and terrace, from where the beautiful views of Copacabana beach and the forest are revealed.
The closure of the entire circulation is a brise-soleil made with maçaranduba wood, commonly used as concrete slabs props.
Rather than introducing an alien design, the design appeal is achieved by upgrading and dialoguing with an existing system, by referring to the local scale and typology.
By doing so, we expect to illustrate to local builders and residents on how can they, with simple means, improve their homes.
