Site
Location: Campinas, Brasil

Building
Use: Museum
Floor Area: 5,350m2

The area, at the boundaries of Unicamp, is a location characterized by nice peculiarities. Its special high
position, which dominates not only on the Campus but also on the entire Campinas, and the natural 
surroundings make this place singular for its beauty. Because of these peculiar characteristics, together with 
the absence of a built contest, it was decided to express the project with simple and easy shapes. 

The typical house volume is at the same time an archetype and an icon easily understandable by everybody. 
As a contrast with this strict and regular shape, the exhibition space is like a big dome, with its dominant
circular form. The decision of developing the project with common shapes depends also on the desire of 
controlling costs and characterizing the museum with an evident eco-sustainable mark. Good comfort 
performances are reached through a simple ecostyle design, without using sophisticated and expensive 
technologies. 

The buildings for public and administrative services look like greenhouses, with its typical 
shape coming from agricultural architecture. Inside floating boxes, visible also from outside, host the activities
and services of the museum. The exhibition dome is covered by membrane materials. Paths and functions 
are located to let experience visitors a sequence of architectural episodes. From each site of the museum 
people can enjoy the view and the landscape constituted by the museum itself. A gentle artificial slope, hiding 
from outside the semi-basement floor, permits visitors to enter naturally in the buildings.