Centre Pompidou Expands into South America with Brazilian Outpost
Paris’s Centre Pompidou, which is set to close in September for a five-year renovation, will open a satellite in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, in November 2027. The outpost is projected to cost $240 million and represents the storied contemporary art institution’s first foray into South America. It is supported in part by officials of the state of Paraná, in which it is to be located. Situated near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Iguaçu Falls, near the borders of Argentina and Paraguay, the new museum will be designed by Paraguayan architect Solano Benítez.
A 2016 winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Benítez is known for his embrace of sustainability. According to the Pompidou, his design will merge with its surrounds and will encompass exhibition galleries and research facilities as well as a public plaza meant to integrate the museum into the community and establish it as a hub for live events, film screenings, and festivals. Though the new branch, designated Centre Pompidou x Paraná, will receive works from the Pompidou’s roughly 150,000-piece collection, programming will highlight South American artists.
The Brazilian satellite is the latest in a spate of outposts to be announced by the Pompidou, which is additionally building branches in Brussels and Seoul, and in Jersey City, New Jersey, though the last hit a snag this past June, when the New Jersey Economic Development Authority rescinded financial support. The museum already operates spaces in Metz, France; Málaga, Spain; and Shanghai. Late last year, the Pompidou cemented a deal with Saudi Arabia in which the latter agreed to contribute €50 million ($52.6 million) to the renovation of the Paris flagship as part of a broader agreement between the culture ministries of France and Saudi Arabia. The Pompidou in 2023 announced that it would open a large outpost in AlUla in northwestern Saudi Arabia as part of the cultural accord, but the project is not currently mentioned on its website.
