Trend-setting forming of the Museum of Tomorrow in Brazil

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The Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava, is well known for his pursuit of uniqueness. Under his leadership, Rio de Janeiro's harbour area is receiving a new landmark: the Museum of Tomorrow. This futuristically designed building is the central component of the ambitious Porto Maravilha urban development project which has been designed to transform Rio's historical waterfront into a thriving cultural and residential landscape by the start of the 2016 Olympic Games. Located on the highly prominent Pier Mauá, Calatrava's sculptural structure extends 300 m into the sea being surrounded on three sides by water. The cantilevered roof and facade with moving elements ensure optimum air conditioning. The two storeys are connected by means of inclined ramps and have a total area of 5,000 m²; when open, the museum will showcase trend-setting exhibitions and technologies.

International 3D teamwork

In order to allow the complex in-situ concrete design of the museum to become a reality, PERI planned, produced and delivered more than 3,500 project formwork elements, mostly double-curved 3D formwork units. For the comprehensive formwork and scaffolding planning, as well as the assembly of the formwork elements, international PERI teamwork has been responsible throughout. For the 3D planning at the PERI headquarters in Weissenhorn, the German engineers were supported by experienced specialists from the PERI subsidiaries in Spain and Poland. The respective assembly plans and data provided the basis for the dimensionally accurate CNC-controlled cutting of the formwork units and final assembly. Both took place over a period of only 13 months through assembly operations at PERI's Brazilian headquarters in São Paulo. Here, CNC woodworking equipment was used to process around 60,000 m² chipboard to create the formwork units in two-shift operations – the decisive basis for the single and double-curved formwork elements. In Brazil, 25 formwork erectors ensured that between 10-20 ready-to-use customised elements were delivered to the site every day – just-in-time according to the construction schedule.

Three-dimensional forming with system

In order to be able to cost-effectively realize such exceptional formworking tasks, PERI engineers used a high proportion of system components for their complex project solution. In the main, VARIO basic elements were selected which also allowed efficient handling on the jobsite – similar to system formwork. In addition, three PERI supervisors have been available throughout to provide support for the extensive formwork operations.

In particular, the close cooperation between PERI engineers and the construction management team guaranteed that the high technical and logistical requirements could be met on time frame and within budget. On the basis of a well thought-out, modular system concept, solutions were developed together at a very early stage as well as determining the details of execution. Planning, assembly and material allocation were precisely timed and coordinated within the PERI project management process to perfectly match the construction progress.