Amazons Museum MAZ: Architecture, Culture & Environment

Opening of the Amazons Museum: A Platform for Science and Technology

The Amazons Museum (MAZ) was inaugurated on October 4 in Belém, becoming a cultural space dedicated to the appreciation of science and technology in the region. The museum represents an important step toward enhancing knowledge awareness in the Pará region and reflects the local government’s efforts to support cultural and educational initiatives.

Historical Context and Comprehensive Project

The museum is part of the “Porto Futuro II” project, a government initiative aimed at developing the city’s cultural and educational infrastructure. The project encompasses a collection of works left behind from the COP 30 conference events, making the museum part of a sustainable legacy for the region.

Architectural Design of the Museum

The design of the 3,100-square-meter facility was carried out by the architectural offices Guá Arquitetura from Pará and be.bo. architects from Rio de Janeiro. In addition, the team developed the design for the museum’s permanent exhibition, scheduled to open in 2026, which will showcase a diverse cultural content related to science and technology.

Project Significance

The museum contributes to providing an educational and informative environment for visitors and serves as a model of collaboration between local institutions and architectural experts in developing sustainable projects that combine innovative design with cultural substance. The project also reflects the region’s commitment to gradually and continuously promoting science and innovation.

Facade of the Amazon Museum featuring a large snake mural by 16 artists, highlighting Amazonian cultural mythology.

Museum Supervision: A Comprehensive Amazonian Identity Experience

The new museum, overseen by the Secretariat of Culture of the State of Pará and implemented by IDG in partnership with the Museu Paranzéi Emílio Gueldi, aims to highlight the diversity of Amazonian peoples spread across the nine Brazilian states and eight other countries.

Under the supervision of Frances Paniwa, Joyce Ferreira, and Helena Lima, the museum offers immersive sensory experiences that reflect the lives of various communities: indigenous peoples, extractive workers, quilombola communities, and riverine populations, all of which form a unique Amazonian identity.

Architecture: Space Organization and Functions

The architects transformed the 3,300-square-meter facility into a well-organized two-level layout that balances practical functions with the visual experience for visitors.

Ground Floor (2,000 sqm): Houses the exhibition area, main hall, and shop, creating a natural starting point for the visitor journey.
Mezzanine (1,100 sqm): Includes the temporary exhibition room, multipurpose room, and a creative space dedicated to various cultural activities, enhancing community interaction and enabling active visitor participation.

Symbolism of the Snake in the Design

The snake is a recurring element in Amazonian mythology and inspired multiple aspects of the museum’s design, such as:

Seating design at the entrance, providing spaces for gathering and lingering.
Inspiration from mythical creatures like Boiúna, the Canoe Snake, and the Great Snake, lending a unique local identity to design elements.

Sustainability and Use of Wood

Luis Guedes, partner at Guá Arquitetura, notes that more than 15 types of sustainably managed Amazonian woods were used in the project. He adds:
“This has become a wooden library serving the public, while also educating visitors about the vast diversity of Amazonian woods.”

In this way, the design combines aesthetics, functionality, and environmental awareness, reflecting a sustainable and multidimensional architectural approach.

Art on the Warehouse Facade: The Snake Unites Worlds

The warehouse facade features a collective art intervention titled “The Snake: A Body That Unites Worlds”, involving 16 artists from the Greater Amazon region.

The emblem was developed by Agência Libra and engraved using marquetry techniques by craftsman Maxson Pereira da Silva from Marchetaria do Acre. This project reflects the combination of local heritage and traditional craftsmanship, emphasizing the cultural symbolism of the snake in Amazonian mythology.

Lobby Design: Preparing the Visitor for the Experience

The exhibition begins in the main lobby, designed to establish the visitor’s journey and prepare them to explore the rest of the display.

The lobby features low lighting and red walls inspired by the pigments of the Marajó indigenous people, traditionally used in their ceramics and body decorations.
All interior walls were painted in this natural clay-based color, in a research project carried out in collaboration with Mãos Caruanas Studio, specialists in ceramic jewelry from Marajó Island (PA).

Bel Lobo, partner at be.bo. architects, notes:
“This museum is multi-layered. Floors have meaning, wall textures have meaning, everything has meaning. Every architectural element conveys a message.”

Contemporary Art: LED Sphere “Simbiosfera”

Inside the museum, the artwork “Simbiosfera” by artist Roberta Carvalho stands out, a large LED sphere highlighting the centrality of the Amazon in global imagination.

Pablo do Valle, partner at Guá Arquitetura, explains:
“The sphere was placed between the museum’s two levels, suspended from the ceiling to give the impression of floating from the visitors’ perspective. If someone is near the railing on the first floor, they can see the entire sphere.”

Visitors on the first floor can also view the ground floor, enhancing the sense of openness and visual connection between the museum levels, creating a multidimensional immersive experience.

Ground Floor and Mezzanine: Multiple Functions and Sensory Experiences

The ground floor includes a 60-square-meter shop area, where carpenter Edson Rodrigues from Marotoko Island (PA) designed a custom display shelf, and craftsman Ivan Lyal from Abaetetuba (PA) created a large lamp made from natural roots.

The lamp contains 150 birds carved from meriti fibers extracted from the meritizero tree, combining traditional craftsmanship with local natural elements.

The mezzanine is dedicated to:

500 sqm for temporary exhibitions.
77 sqm for the creative space, designed as an open area for visitors or an extension of the temporary exhibitions.
150 sqm for a multipurpose room with a modular structure, accommodating 130 seated guests or divisible into three separate rooms, providing great flexibility for cultural and educational activities.

Permanent Exhibition Design: A Journey Through Amazonian History

The permanent exhibition is scheduled to open in July 2026, offering a comprehensive temporal journey through Amazonian history, from its geological formation to future visions.

The exhibition is divided into six stages covering key topics such as:

Biocultural diversity.
Traditional techniques of local communities.
The relationship between abundance and the forest.
Current environmental crises and their impact on the region.

Immersive Experiences: Connecting Visitors to Environment and Culture

Key elements of the exhibition include:

A spiral-shaped immersive environment covered with a curtain of bulrush plants, at the center of which is a cloud composed of 5,000 meriti animals showcasing light displays.
The Espaço Aturá, where visitors can enter a large traditional basket of the Baniwa indigenous tribe, providing insight into the connection between constellations and agricultural cycles according to indigenous worldviews.

In this way, the exhibition combines environmental education, sensory experience, and cultural heritage, creating a multidimensional interactive space for visitors of all ages and backgrounds.

Exhibition Environments: Stimulating Reflection on the Future

The exhibition continues to guide visitors through multiple environments until reaching the “Good Life Solutions” area, designed to inspire reflection on the future of the Amazon region.

The experiences vary, including:

Urban festivals featuring futuristic and innovative elements.
Encounters with social actors striving to preserve the forest and promote sustainable development.

These environments aim to connect visitors with environmental and social practices, encouraging critical thinking about the relationship between humans and nature in the Amazon.

The “Ajurí” Principle: Collective Work as a Core Value

The Amazons Museum is realized through multiple efforts based on the principle of “ajurí”, an Amazonian concept referring to collective work that motivates, organizes, and cares. This approach reflects the ongoing spirit of collaboration in Amazonian communities and ensures local community involvement in shaping the cultural experience.

Bel Lobo, founding partner of be.bo. architects, states:
“All we want is for people to get involved, understand, and feel more integrated. I hope they leave the museum with new values and a desire to care, each for themselves. We know that change begins from within.”

In this way, the museum becomes not just an exhibition space, but an interactive educational and cultural environment that encourages personal engagement and reflection on the future of the Amazon.

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

The Amazons Museum (MAZ) can be viewed as a case study that combines sensory experience with environmental and cultural design, offering an opportunity to understand how educational and cultural buildings can integrate local heritage with architectural innovation. Among the positive aspects, the project stands out for its use of sustainably sourced local woods and the incorporation of cultural symbolism, reflecting both environmental and social awareness, while providing visitors with a multidimensional experience that goes beyond mere superficial observation.

However, some potential challenges may affect the long-term effectiveness of the project. First, the size of the exhibition and the complexity of visitor pathways may make the exploration experience exhausting for some, especially when sensory experiences are combined with large spatial areas. Second, the heavy reliance on local symbols and mythology requires ongoing efforts to ensure deep understanding among a diverse audience from outside the region; otherwise, part of its educational impact may be lost. Finally, the emphasis on interactive and immersive elements demands continuous maintenance and supportive educational programs to ensure the sustainability of the experience over time.

This project can serve as a reference for future initiatives in cultural and educational architecture, particularly in terms of integrating local heritage with innovation, while taking practical considerations and diverse audiences into account to ensure the continuity of architectural and cultural impact.