Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
IMS Paulista — Reimagining the Museum and the City | Architecture by Andrade Morettin
Nearly a decade after opening its doors, IMS Paulista remains one of the defining works of contemporary Brazilian architecture. But what happens when a museum is designed not as an isolated cultural object, but as an extension of the city itself?
Located on Avenida Paulista, one of São Paulo’s most intense and democratic corridors, the Instituto Moreira Salles — IMS Paulista was designed by Andrade Morettin Arquitetos as a new model for contemporary museum architecture in Brazil.
Completed in 2017 following an architectural competition won by the São Paulo-based practice, the building became a landmark and was selected as a finalist for the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize, recognizing significant works built across the Americas.
Conceived as a physical expression of the IMS itself, the museum was designed from the inside out, shaped by its cultural program, institutional values, and the experience it sought to offer visitors. The architects imagined an accessible, welcoming museum capable of reconciling two opposing conditions: the energy of Avenida Paulista and the contemplative atmosphere required by art, photography, cinema, music, and literature.
Occupying a narrow 20-by-50-meter site surrounded by tall buildings, the plot offered limited views at sidewalk level. Rather than accepting this condition, Andrade Morettin reorganized the building by moving its principal public floor from the base to the center of the structure, 15 meters above the avenue. This elevated ground floor becomes the symbolic heart of the museum: a public plaza suspended above the city, connecting the café, restaurant, shop, galleries, and circulation routes while opening unexpected views across São Paulo.
At street level, the building operates as a large urban hall and continuation of the sidewalk. Escalators and elevators carry visitors upward, echoing nearby metro stations. Along the way, city noise fades, light shifts, and the urban rhythm gives way to the museum's distinct scale and perception of time.
Above the elevated plaza, exhibition galleries are contained within a protected, climate-controlled volume. Below, the auditorium, classrooms, multimedia spaces, and library form the Media Library, an integrated environment dedicated to film, music, literature, research, and education.Throughout the building, circulation is more than a functional necessity. Escalators, bridges, vertical passages, and internal voids become spaces of movement and orientation, unfolding between programmatic volumes and the translucent outer envelope.
The façade’s self-supporting translucent glass system gives the building a dynamic presence on Avenida Paulista. By day, it filters city light into soft illumination. From the outside, the translucent shell allows traces of internal life to subtly emerge into the streetscape. Material choices strengthen this urban connection. The elevated plaza reintroduces the Portuguese mosaic of Avenida Paulista's sidewalks, while street-level pavement continues indoors, visually extending the public realm into the building.
In this film, we explore IMS Paulista through a cinematic architectural journey. Following a carefully choreographed sequence of spaces, the camera moves from Avenida Paulista into the elevated plaza, galleries, voids, circulation routes, and softly illuminated interiors. Rather than presenting a static architectural object, the film reveals how the space is experienced through movement, changing light, shifting perspectives, materiality, and the transition from the metropolis to the rhythm of cultural life.
More than a museum tour, this is an exploration of how architecture brings art, public space, and urban life together. IMS Paulista demonstrates that a cultural institution can be both a place of refuge and a living part of the city: contemplative within, yet connected to the energy surrounding it.
Presented by All'e Engenharia & Canal&Musse
https://alleengenharia.com.br/
https://www.canalemusse.com.br/
Project: IMS Paulista
Architecture: Andrade Morettin
Film by: Architecture Hunter
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Cover Image: Nelson Kon
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IMS Paulista — Reimagining the Museum and the City | Architecture by Andrade Morettin
Nearly a decade after opening its doors, IMS Paulista remains one of the defining works of contemporary Brazilian architecture. But what happens when a museum is designed not as an isolated cultural object, but as an extension of the city itself?
Located on Avenida Paulista, one of São Paulo’s most intense and democratic corridors, the Instituto Moreira Salles — IMS Paulista was designed by Andrade Morettin Arquitetos as a new model for contemporary museum architecture in Brazil.
Completed in 2017 following an architectural competition won by the São Paulo-based practice, the building became a landmark and was selected as a finalist for the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize, recognizing significant works built across the Americas.
Conceived as a physical expression of the IMS itself, the museum was designed from the inside out, shaped by its cultural program, institutional values, and the experience it sought to offer visitors. The architects imagined an accessible, welcoming museum capable of reconciling two opposing conditions: the energy of Avenida Paulista and the contemplative atmosphere required by art, photography, cinema, music, and literature.
Occupying a narrow 20-by-50-meter site surrounded by tall buildings, the plot offered limited views at sidewalk level. Rather than accepting this condition, Andrade Morettin reorganized the building by moving its principal public floor from the base to the center of the structure, 15 meters above the avenue. This elevated ground floor becomes the symbolic heart of the museum: a public plaza suspended above the city, connecting the café, restaurant, shop, galleries, and circulation routes while opening unexpected views across São Paulo.
At street level, the building operates as a large urban hall and continuation of the sidewalk. Escalators and elevators carry visitors upward, echoing nearby metro stations. Along the way, city noise fades, light shifts, and the urban rhythm gives way to the museum's distinct scale and perception of time.
Above the elevated plaza, exhibition galleries are contained within a protected, climate-controlled volume. Below, the auditorium, classrooms, multimedia spaces, and library form the Media Library, an integrated environment dedicated to film, music, literature, research, and education.Throughout the building, circulation is more than a functional necessity. Escalators, bridges, vertical passages, and internal voids become spaces of movement and orientation, unfolding between programmatic volumes and the translucent outer envelope.
The façade’s self-supporting translucent glass system gives the building a dynamic presence on Avenida Paulista. By day, it filters city light into soft illumination. From the outside, the translucent shell allows traces of internal life to subtly emerge into the streetscape. Material choices strengthen this urban connection. The elevated plaza reintroduces the Portuguese mosaic of Avenida Paulista's sidewalks, while street-level pavement continues indoors, visually extending the public realm into the building.
In this film, we explore IMS Paulista through a cinematic architectural journey. Following a carefully choreographed sequence of spaces, the camera moves from Avenida Paulista into the elevated plaza, galleries, voids, circulation routes, and softly illuminated interiors. Rather than presenting a static architectural object, the film reveals how the space is experienced through movement, changing light, shifting perspectives, materiality, and the transition from the metropolis to the rhythm of cultural life.
More than a museum tour, this is an exploration of how architecture brings art, public space, and urban life together. IMS Paulista demonstrates that a cultural institution can be both a place of refuge and a living part of the city: contemplative within, yet connected to the energy surrounding it.
Presented by All'e Engenharia & Canal&Musse
https://alleengenharia.com.br/
https://www.canalemusse.com.br/
Project: IMS Paulista
Architecture: Andrade Morettin
Film by: Architecture Hunter
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Cover Image: Nelson Kon
Get to know other recent videos:
Interviews with the Creators: Studio MK27’s Biribinhas Private Beach House:
youtu.be/GI0H8tgoZpg
Interview: The Vision of Jacobsen Inside a Suspended Beach House in Rio de Janeiro:
youtu.be/xN1YbN1Jgws
Hunt, Watch & Read: architecturehunter.com
Instagram: instagram.com/architecture_hunter/.
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/architecturehunter
TikTok: tiktok.com/@archihunters
Pinterest: br.pinterest.com/architecture_hunter
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