Museum of Tomorrow wins award for combining innovation and sustainability

As the name suggests, the Museum of Tomorrow is not just a beautiful building that attracts tourists for photos and visits. The project was created with the aim of enhancing and restoring Guanabara Bay, in addition to promoting sustainability, becoming a green building, concerned with the future and the environment. For this reason, the museum was the first Brazilian project of its kind to win the MIPIM International Award in the category "Most Innovative Green Building".

Created in 1991, the MIPIM awards are an international competition that selects the most notable projects already built or under construction from around the world. The ceremony to announce the winners was held yesterday (March 16) at the Palácio dos Festivais, in France (where the Cannes Film Festival also takes place).

Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the space is managed by the Institute of Development and Management (IDG) and was an initiative of the City of Rio de Janeiro in conjunction with the Roberto Marinho Foundation. It has approximately 30 thousand m², with gardens, mirrors 'water, cycle path and leisure area. The building has 15 thousand m² with its elongated shape, inspired by the bromeliads of the Botanical Garden, was designed to integrate with the surrounding landscape and, especially, to make the São Bento Monastery visible, one of the most important baroque ensembles in the country.

The project is aimed at making better use of the region's natural resources, such as some measures adopted since the beginning of the museum's construction, with the reduction and correct disposal of waste for recycling – leftovers from foundation piles, for example, were used in the construction. of the sheds used in the construction. Tons of steel were saved with this action. The selection of materials also followed environmental criteria, giving preference to materials with recycled components, low toxicity, high durability and produced close to the construction site, in addition to the use of wood FSC certified.

In addition, a technology was used to capture solar energy and use the cold waters from the bottom of Guanabara Bay for the air conditioning system. It is estimated that 9.6 million liters of water will be saved per year. and 2,400 megawatts/hour (MWh) of electricity, which would be enough to supply more than 1,200 homes.

The water from the Bay is collected by the museum for two purposes: to supply the water features and for the refrigeration system, where it is used for heat exchange. After being filtered for solids and used for air conditioning in the Museum, it is returned. to the sea. The rational use of water also occurs in the treatment and reuse of water from sinks, lavatories, showers and rainwater, in addition to the volume resulting from the dehumidification of the air (the “drip-drip” of the air conditioning) – which alone can yield up to 4 thousand liters of water per day.

With more than ten international awards, the Museum of Tomorrow has been gaining global notoriety. In 2016, the “Oscar of Museums”, the British Leading Culture Destinations Awards, elected the Rio de Janeiro institution as the “Best New Museum of the Year”. Tomorrow also took the podium with a gold medal and two bronze medals at the International Design & Communication Awards (IDCA) in Canada.

To find out which projects won the MIPIM Award , click here !