Niterói Contemporary Art Museum (MAC)

Oscar Niemeyer's flying-saucer museum across the bay, a 45-minute ferry from Rio

The Niterói Contemporary Art Museum sits across Guanabara Bay from Rio, in the city of Niterói — a 45-minute ferry ride from Praça XV in Centro. Oscar Niemeyer designed the building in 1991, completing it in 1996 when he was 88 years old. The result is one of the most extraordinary museum buildings in the world: a 16-metre diameter disc of white concrete perched on a single stem above a reflecting pool on the cliff edge of Boa Viagem point.

The view from the museum's spiral ramp — looking back across the bay to Rio, with Sugarloaf and Corcovado framed in the blue water — may be better than any exhibit inside. The collection focuses on contemporary Brazilian art. The ferry crossing itself, past the commercial port and across the bay, is scenic. Take the ferry from Praça XV and a taxi from the Niterói ferry terminal to the museum.

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A story
Oscar Niemeyer designed the museum when he was 88 years old, and produced what many consider his greatest building. The structure — a 16-metre flying saucer balanced on a concrete stem above a reflecting pool, cantilevered over the cliffs of Boa Viagem — was completed in 1996. Niemeyer said he was inspired by a flower: the stem, the petals, the form rising from the earth.