Amazon Science Museum Architectural Complex | Studio Arthur Casas

Emerging as an Forestry City in the heart of the world's largest tropical forest, this circuit of multi-dimensional programs surrounds and supports the Amazon Science Museum (MuCA) – an institution that promotes an efficient and sustainable ecosystem while combining science, public authorities, civil society, and private initiative altogether in order to bring innovation, enhance the bioeconomy through biotechnology, and unlock the full potential of the local community.
Through the revitalization of local structures and the creation of new facilities in Vila Americana in Belterra city (Pará, Brazil) – a former village created by Henry Ford in 1930’s –, the architectural complex designed by Studio Arthur Casas underscores the preservation and legacy of local nature and culture, aiming to host a forest civilization in modern times.
Far more than a museum, MuCA offers the first Advanced Jungle Laboratory in the Amazon (and largest open-air laboratory on the planet), conducting studies with animals, plants, and microorganisms of high biological relevance for the development of wild foods, biocosmetics, and phytopharmaceuticals. From this context arises the need for a comprehensive complex of hospitality, infrastructure, education, leisure, culture, tourism, and administration, as well as the relocation of public buildings (that currently occupy buildings soon to be repurposed to accommodate schools, laboratories, accommodations), in order to support the demands of the significance that this center holds for the region. MuCA bets that, through science, it is possible to empower the local population to engage in bioeconomy entrepreneurship.
This is just the beginning of a practical approach to ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) in the world’s most biodiverse territory. MuCA intends to generate value and benefits beyond economic results, prioritizing sustainability linked to human, natural, social and financial capital. It combines both private - such as companies Vale and Biossance - and public - as Federal University of Western Pará (UFOPA) - institutions to support the project. Only an integrated and balanced initiative between different spheres can amplify the positive impacts and thus ensure that sustainable development reaches its full potential.
With the aim of preserving culture and nature, the Amazon Science Museum Architectural Complex is built upon four pillars: the forest, the city, the economy, and the population.
Architecture serves as the conduit to interconnect the city, the forest, and the people through spatial design, creating environments for debates, education, and the advancement of science and sustainability in collaboration with multiple agents. Therefore, the support of local communities and entrepreneurs, equally invested in preservation, is crucial for establishing these foundational standards.
Sustainability, in particular, is meticulously integrated throughout the entire complex, employing technological solutions for water, waste, energy, and mobility management. Key strategies include wastewater treatment utilizing ozone nanobubbles in three central station cores, a comprehensive recycling and waste sorting chain, the establishment of a manual or automated waste sorting center in the agroforestry area, the implementation of sustainable solar energy with local generation, the creation of a solar farm center in the agroforestry area, and the promotion of electric vehicles (tuk-tuks) and bicycles at four central locations (MuCA, hotel, school, administrative village, city hall).
As an intrinsic facet of sustainable research, these initiatives represent tangible efforts in transforming this complex into a thriving, sustainable city in the heart of the Amazônia forest.
The Amazon Science Museum Architectural Complex includes a Tapajós Food Culture Center; Casa 3, a guest residence; and two hotels. The project preserves the existing school, expanding it into a Sustainable International School. New auxiliary buildings on nearby terrains, such as the Club House, Beach Club, and Bungalows are proposed. Public uses are centralized in the Administrative Villa, while the MuCA building is placed at the complex's center.
Where Ford workers once extracted rubber from Amazonian woods, the Amazon Science Museum Architectural Complex now considers the local community, offering a renewed sense of values and history. The donation of this architectural concept to Vila Americana represents a rethinking of culture, community, and sustainability at architectural, furniture, and urbanism levels—constructing a green city that unites researchers, students, tourists, and the local population toward a shared purpose.