Rio de Janeiro’s breath-taking Museum of Tomorrow opened its doors a few weeks ago just before Christmas but has already received more than 100,000 visitors, firmly implanting itself onto the Brazilian party-city’s tourist trail as a ‘must-see’ destination, enchanting Brazilians and overseas visitors alike.
Sadly, and perhaps predictably, the Museum, which some have compared to the Star Trek mothership USS Enterprise, and even a solar-powered dinosaur, opened more than a year late missing out on the influx of visitors from the 2014 football World Cup, but Brazil has been spoilt with international sporting competitions this decade and will soon play host to the ‘Biggest Show on Earth’, the Olympic Games, so the museum’s management is bracing itself for a big influx over this summer.
Views inside the Museum of Tomorrow. (Courtesy: Domus Web)
Visitors will make their way to what was once a virtual no-go area of Rio – the city’s formerly dilapidated and crime-ridden old port zone – now undergoing huge regeneration – and marvel at Catalan architect Santiago Calatrava’s jutting and swash-buckling sweeps of concrete, slatted to admit the brilliant light of Rio’s skies.
The main purpose of the museum is to discuss how the choices made today for our lives will impact humanity’s viability and sustainability on our planet in the coming decades. Inside there are audiovisual environments, interactive installations and games to alert visitors to the dangers of climate change, environmental degradation and social collapse.
Inside the Museum of Tomorrow. (Courtesy: Wordless Tech)
The attractions of the museum are available in Portuguese, English and Spanish. A visit can last an average of two hours and is divided into five major zones: Cosmos, Earth, Anthropocene, Tomorrows and Now. There are also designated areas for celebrations and events to take place on site, including sponsorship. So it was that Coca- Cola held a party to introduce new products to the Brazilian market at the museum last week.
A large globe that projects images in 360 degrees allows the visitor to learn and witness in front of them a 4-D chronological evolution of the origins of Planet Earth up to the moment. Whilst in another area of the museum’s zones, exhibits demonstrate how the impact of human activity has become a geological force in itself, and that Mankind is changing the composition of the atmosphere, climate, biodiversity and river courses. Reflections continue with interactive games like that questioning: “How many planets would be needed to sustain humanity if everyone had your consumption pattern?”
Patrons exploring the Museum of Tomorrow. (Courtesy: NPR)
The beautiful structure was built in the middle of a large green open expanse that includes gardens, bike paths and recreational area. The roof is formed by large flaps that open and close according to the intensity of the sun and serve not only to provide shade but also as bases for the capture of solar energy through photovoltaic panels. The building uses natural resources – for example, water from Guanabara Bay serves for the air conditioning system and is returned to the lake. With this sustainable underlying energy-conscious structure, the museum seeks LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ), awarded by the Green Building Council.
The interiors of the museum pay due homage to the great Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, designer of the country’s capital, Brasilia, and the UN HQ in New York City. Rio’s city administration funded the museum with public money to the tune of $59 million, but already it would appear the money was well spent and that the inexhaustible energy of Brazil has produced yet again a startlingly exciting modern building to house a seemingly contradictory concept – a museum about the future – the ultimate paradox.
