stepped levels and luminous skylights enrich millan art gallery in são paulo 

Undiú + Clara Werneck pose a fusion of steel and concrete

Undiú + Clara Werneck’s Millan Art Gallery in São Paulo sits on a compact site adjoining an existing company building, seeking to create an autonomous structure that engages in dialogue with its predecessor. This dynamic relationship is materialized through the establishment of an internal passage and a shared esplanade, both of which play a pivotal role during vernissages and the display of outdoor sculptures. Further, the internal space expresses a fusion of steel and concrete, adorned with a dynamic spatial richness caused by various levels, and illuminated by the embrace of natural light that seeps in through a series of skylights. 

millan art gallery infuses exhibitions with natural light

The concept for the Millan Art Gallery’s new building was to create a single expansive space that could accommodate the client’s needs, which primarily encompassed an exhibition room and a functional workspace for the gallery team. Undiú + Clara Werneck’s spatial solution involved positioning the exhibition room on the ground floor while elevating the working area to a mezzanine level that sits while leaving the side walls untouched. This results in voids that integrate an abundance of natural light through continuous skylights in the ceiling, while also imbuing the exhibition room with a dynamic variation in ceiling height.

Constructively, the design team blends the use of masonry and concrete to conceive the perimeter and service core, while the facade, mezzanine, and ceiling feature lightweight steel structures, predominantly pre-assembled in a factory setting. This feature granted enhanced agility and precision during the construction process while also eliminating the need for intrusive columns within the exhibition room. Instead, the mezzanine side walls function as two longitudinal trusses traversing the space like a bridge, resulting in an unobstructed viewing experience for visitors. Working as a single whole, the building tries to take the most out of the small site to integrate different functions and to approximate the gallery team from the exhibition dynamics.

project info:

name: Millan Art Gallery
architecture: Undiú + Clara Werneck
location: São Paulo, Brazil

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