Niterói Contemporary Art Museum

The Niterói Contemporary Art Museum (Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói, or MAC, in Portugese) is located in the city of Niterói, Brazil. It is set on a cliffside, at the bottom of which is a beach. The saucer-shaped modernist structure overlooks Guanabara Bay, from where on the opposite side Rio de Janeiro and Sugarloaf Mountain can be seen. Designed by Oscar Niemeyer with the assistance of structural engineer Bruno Contarini, who had worked with Niemeyer on earlier projects, the museum is 16 metres high; its cupola has a diameter of 50 metres with three floors and has been likened to a UFO. A wide access slope leads to a Hall of Expositions, which has a capacity for sixty people.