A Guggenheim for Brazil - Artworld

Hoping for the same bounce from Jean Nouvel's partly underwater museum that Bilbao received from Frank Gehry's titanium tourist magnet, Mayor Cesar Maia of Rio de Janeiro signed an agreement in New York on Apr. 30 for the development of a 240,000-square-foot Guggenheim Museum Rio de Janeiro on Maua. Pier, slated for completion in 2007 [see A.i.A., Feb. '03, "Front Page," Mar. '03].

The Rio museum will be operated in partnership with the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Those two institutions will not only loan works for exhibition but will also get a share of the $28.65-million fee that the city has agreed to pay for the use of the Guggenheim's name and access to the three museums' expertise. The Guggenheim will receive about two-thirds of that fee, according to Thomas Krens, its director. The three museums will also be reimbursed for their costs and time spent working with Rio.

At a New York press conference, Mayor Maia declared that the project would cost $130 million. But Krens later told A.i.A. that the total price will be about $230 million to $250 million, including $40-50 million to rehabilitate the pier, $40 million for "soft costs" (including the architect's fee of $12 million), a $4.18-million development fee for the Guggenheim's work in overseeing construction and developing programs, and the $28.65-million licensing fee.

Because the project and its cost are controversial in Brazil, the Guggenheim provided no financial information in its press release, allowing the mayor to decide what to divulge. Maia said that the government would provide up to $12 million toward the museum's annual operating costs. The total operating budget, Krens told A.i.A., will be about $25.5 million annually, to be funded in part through earned income and contributions.

Asked about Rio's rampant drug-gang violence, which has recently spread to tourist areas, Mayor Maia asserted that the close proximity of federal police headquarters should shield the museum and its visitors. Eager to conquer new continents, the Guggenheim recently began a feasibility study for yet another branch, in Taichung, Taiwan.

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