Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil Rio de Janeiro (CCBB Rio)
Galleries, theatres and cinemas in a domed former bank of 1906 on Rua Primeiro de Março.
The centre occupies a monumental neoclassical building on Rua Primeiro de Março in the historic core of Rio, begun in 1880 to designs by Francisco Joaquim Bethencourt da Silva and inaugurated in 1906 as the seat of the city's Commercial Association. Banco do Brasil bought it in the 1920s and used it as a branch until 1989, when it reopened as the bank's first cultural centre. The conversion kept the marble staircase, columns, ornament and the glazed dome over the central rotunda.
Spread over some 15,000 square metres and several floors reached from a top-lit atrium, the centre holds exhibition galleries, three theatres, a cinema and video room, an auditorium and a library. Programming is broad and largely free or low-cost, ranging from large touring surveys of Brazilian and international art to theatre seasons, film retrospectives, concerts and children's activities, which has repeatedly placed it among the most visited art venues in the world.
Highlights
- Glazed dome and top-lit atrium of the former bank headquarters
- Exhibition galleries on several floors around the rotunda
- Three theatres, a cinema, a video room and an auditorium
- Free or low-cost programme of exhibitions, film, theatre and music
