Diller Scofidio + Renfro Win Museum Competition at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana

New York-based firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro has won the competition for the new Museum of Image and Sound (MIS) on Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro‘s postcard beach.

In announcing the winner yesterday, the governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Sérgio Cabral Filho, welcomed that the museum occupies the site of a former infamous nightclub that became an area of prostitution and drug trafficking. “I always wanted to see another function,” said the governor.

The cost of the museum project, which will include extensive external access ramps and windows showing different angles of the Copacabana beach, is estimated at 65 Million Brazilian Real (35 Million US Dollar), including 50 Million paid by the local government. The rest comes from private sponsors including the Roberto Marinho Foundation.

The new Museum of Image and Sound will occupy 4,500 m2 (48,500 sf) with rooms for permanent and temporary exhibitions, facilities for research, a panoramic restaurant, an open-air auditorium and others. Construction will take two and a half years.

The current MIS was founded in 1965 in the center of Rio. It houses 22 collections bringing together the most valuable variety (photos, posters, films, videos, newspaper clippings) to be transferred to the Copacabana.

Seven of the largest architecture firms in Brazil and the world have participated in the contest, including Brazilian practices Bernardes & Jacobsen, Isay Weinfeld, Brasil Arquitetura, and Tacoa Arquitetos and international players Diller Scofidio + Renfro (USA), Daniel Libeskind (USA), and Shigeru Ban (Japan).

RELATED: Diller Scofidio + Renfro are also currently shortlisted, together with four other well-known international finalists, to design the new National Music Center in Calgary, Canada.