Oscar Niemeyer Museum

The original building here was designed by Niemeyer in 1967 as a state education department, a long low horizontal block, and converted to a museum in 2002. The following year, at ninety-five, he added the annexe that everyone photographs: a curved yellow structure raised on a single supporting column, read universally as an eye, and reached by an underground ramp lined with a mural. Curitibanos call the museum the Museu do Olho for that reason. The collection covers Brazilian visual arts, design and architecture, with large temporary exhibitions filling the long galleries of the original block, and the annexe itself functions as an exhibition space with windows framing the city. Niemeyer died in 2012 at a hundred and four.

What's there

• The eye annexe - a curved yellow volume on one column, added in 2003.
• A 1967 government block - the original Niemeyer building it extends.
• An underground approach - the ramp and mural leading up into the eye.
• Brazilian art and design - the collection and large temporary shows.

When to go

All year, closed Mondays. Half a day.

What to expect

The collection is uneven and the building is the main event for most visitors. Exhibition turnover means what is on varies widely. The Centro Civico around it is a government district with little else and is quiet at weekends.

Nearby

The Botanical Garden is south-east; the Curitiba historic centre is south.

Key facts