Mandate: Create an urban landmark for Cirque du Soleil and the city of Rio de Janeiro that would link the beautiful Praca Maua, the pier with a theater, a commercial program and the marina
Realisation date: 2008
Concept and challenges: A series of veils extends along a river from the city to the ocean in two major components: a commercial/entertainment strip and a theater. The project underlines the importance of binding the city to Pier Maua, a vantage point that offers a vista of many important Rio landmarks. The project’s link with the city is based on the echoing relationship between two venues occupying opposite ends of the pier: the hotel, and the theater-belvedere on the ocean side. A new urban space is created between the two – a genuine town square on a scale befitting both Rio’s great gatherings and its port. A metaphorical landscape echoing the Amazon rainforest, the river and its different moods will merge in the movement of three constructed veils housing Cirque’s theater. This movement will peacefully extend to a belvedere at the end of the pier. The interaction with low and high tides was an important feature of this project.
Previous project
