We designed the Michael Heizer Pavilion at a new open-air art museum in Minas Gerais, Brazil, to house two seminal works by the artist: Displaced–Replaced Mass and Negative Wall Sculpture #2. The project emerged through close collaboration with the curatorial team, representatives of the artist, and the museum’s founder, the pavilion is currently under construction.

The building is conceived as a simple and powerful spatial sequence. Two angled concrete walls form tall corridors that guide visitors toward the artworks, creating a gradual sense of compression, anticipation, and discovery. The sculptures are revealed only at the end of this movement, placed deep within the structure to heighten focus and intensity.

Built entirely in exposed concrete, the pavilion has a monolithic, almost temple-like presence. Its architecture is deliberately restrained, solid, economical, and precise, allowing the artworks to remain the central experience. A stepped datum along the exterior wall strengthens the structure, increases thermal mass where visitors linger, and reinforces the building’s grounded, monumental character. While Heizer’s works are formed from natural monoliths, the pavilion asserts itself as a clearly constructed, human-made counterpart. Carefully focused light isolates each sculpture, creating a concentrated and immersive encounter with the art.

The project is currently under construction and will be completed in the course of 2026.