National Museum: between ruin and restoration

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the architectural proposals awarded in the Museu Nacional Vive project competition, organized in 2020 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) to recompose the building after the fire that occurred in September 2018. The analysis of the responses given to the problem of restoring the historic building, as well as the suggestions expressed in the tender notice, is  focused on identifying the degree to which these solutions make use of the heritage field repertoire, observing contemporary needs and readability in safeguarding the cultural asset under discussion. The questions, therefore, that emerge on the surface of the analyzes are evidenced by the questions: Is the Museu Nacional/UFRJ a ruin? To what extent do the solutions designed by the architects dialogue with the expression of the heritage defended by the Nara Conference (1994)? How are heritage values understood as inseparable from cultural manifestations, unique in their own characteristics, from collective memory values and, therefore, from the intangible meanings that guard heritage? Based on these questions, it is intended to shed light on the restoration of a monument that carries human contributions from different periods of the formation of the national identity, as well as its scientific function as the headquarters of the Museu Nacional, the first institution of this nature in the country.