São Paulo’s Museu de Arte de São Paulo Unveils Landmark Expansion

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) is set to inaugurate its long-awaited expansion on March 28, 2025, marking a transformative moment in the museum’s history.

The $43 million project, which has been in development for six years, more than doubles MASP’s space by adding approximately 11,000 square meters to its campus.

The centerpiece of the expansion is the Pietro Maria Bardi building, a striking 14-storey black tower named after MASP’s founding director, which now stands adjacent to Lina Bo Bardi’s iconic Modernist structure on Avenida Paulista.

The new tower honors Pietro Maria Bardi, who co-founded MASP in 1947 alongside philanthropist Assis Chateaubriand and led the institution for 45 years. Bardi’s wife, Lina Bo Bardi, designed MASP’s original glass-and-concrete building, which opened in 1968 and is celebrated as a landmark of Modernist architecture.

The expansion integrates the two buildings via an underground tunnel, scheduled for completion later this year. The Pietro building adds five new galleries and increases exhibition space by 66%. It also introduces state-of-the-art conservation laboratories, classrooms, multipurpose rooms, storage facilities, loading docks, a restaurant, and a café.

MASP’s original building, supported by four massive concrete pillars that suspend its galleries eight meters above ground level, has faced infrastructure challenges over the decades as the museum’s programming and audience grew. Limitations included inefficient air-conditioning systems, insufficient loading docks for artwork transportation, and constrained exhibition space.

The expansion addresses these issues while preserving Lina Bo Bardi’s architectural vision. Martin Corullon and Gustavo Cedroni of Metro Arquitetos Associados led the project with a design that complements Bo Bardi’s masterpiece through visual connections between the two structures. From outside, the horizontal prism of the original building contrasts with the vertical prism of the new tower, creating a harmonious volumetric relationship.

The Pietro building opens with exhibitions celebrating MASP’s rich history and diverse collection. MASP Histories explores the museum’s 75-year timeline through more than 50 works spanning canonical European artists like El Greco and Brazilian Modernists such as Emiliano Di Cavalcanti. The exhibition also features archival photographs and catalogues that trace key milestones in MASP’s development, including its record-breaking 2019 Tarsila do Amaral retrospective.

Another highlight is Arts of Africa, which showcases around 120 West African sculptures and masks from the museum’s early acquisitions alongside contemporary commissions by Brazilian artists engaging with Afro-Brazilian themes. Curator Amanda Carneiro emphasizes MASP’s pioneering interest in African art and its commitment to fostering global artistic dialogue beyond Brazilian and European traditions.

In addition to these exhibitions, Pierre-Auguste Renoir presents rarely exhibited works from MASP’s collection. Later this year, Histories of Ecology, an international group show addressing climate and political crises, will span five floors of the new tower. MASP also plans to activate public space beneath Lina Bo Bardi’s overhang with free exhibitions and programming aimed at reconnecting with local communities.

The expansion was funded entirely through private donations from prominent figures such as art collector Cleusa Garfinkel and philanthropists André and Lilian Esteves. Heitor Martins, MASP’s president since 2019, described the project as a pivotal moment for São Paulo’s cultural landscape. “This expansion consolidates MASP as an anchor of Avenida Paulista—a cultural axis that may become Brazil's most important,” he said.

With its expanded facilities and ambitious programming, MASP is poised to solidify its status as a leading institution in Latin America while preserving its legacy as a beacon of Modernist architecture and inclusive cultural engagement.