The Dance House

(Current Reference Center of Architecture, Urbanism and Design)

The project is by architect Oscar Niemeyer and was built at the beginning of the 1940s, with landscaping by Roberto Burle Marx. According to information published in the newspaper Minas Gerais in April 1942, the place would be an amusement house, a popular dance, which would open daily, charging modest prices. “It has a large living room, with an area of 300 square meters, with indirect lighting and the same finish of the other buildings despite its popular function. Located on an artificial island, it is linked to the avenue by a bridge of eleven meters,” said the publication.

Around 1947, with the prohibition of gambling in Brazil and the consequent closure of the Casino, the bankruptcy of the Dance House was decreed, due to the lack of regular customers. After a long time abandoned and deteriorated, it was restored and functioned as an annex to the Museum of Modern Art and later as a restaurant. It was registered in the Public Patrimony in 1985 by the State Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage of Minas Gerais (IEPHA).

From this project, Niemeyer demonstrates the intention to explore the plasticity of curves, especially in the marquee. From the concrete bridge that joins the island to the dam, it goes in the direction of the building that is formed by two circles that are tangent to the contour, reaching an amoeboid volume where the toilets work. This marquee is supported by sturdy columns.

In front of the amoeboid volume, there is a mirror of water in the same format, in the center of which there is a small stage. The amoeboid volume is covered with decorated tiles and the stage, with tesserae. The main volumes have white and blue tiles on the outside and wood on the walls, which are frames of metal and glass, and open to the view of the lake and the casino on the opposite bank.

This proposal contemplated, in addition to the economic, cultural, religious and aesthetic aspect, the important social aspect.

The building is owned by the Belo Horizonte City Hall and was restored. Currently houses the Reference Center of Architecture, Urbanism and Design.