Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil Rio de Janeiro

CCBB Rio de Janeiro occupies the historical address of No. 66, Rua Primeiro de Março, in the center of the city, a building with neoclassical lines that, in the past, was connected with business. Materializing the project of Francisco Joaquim Béthencourt da Silva (1831-1912), architect of the Imperial House, and founder of the Society for Propagation of the Fine Arts and of the School of Arts and Trades. • Inaugurated as headquarters of the Commercial Association of Rio de Janeiro, in 1906, its rotunda hosted the Public Bonds Exchange. In the 1920s, the building was bought by Banco do Brasil, and it was remodeled to become headquarters for the bank. This function made the building emblematic in the national financial scene; it was used as such until 1960, when it was replaced by the Central Branch of Rio de Janeiro, and later by the Primeiro de Março branch. • In late 1980, rescuing the symbolic and architectural value of the building, Banco do Brasil decided to convert it into a cultural center. The adaptation project preserved the refinement of the columns, the ornaments, and the marble that rises from the foyer to the staircases, while redesigning the dome over the rotunda.
Inaugurated on October 12, 1989, CCBB Rio de Janeiro quickly became one of the most important cultural centers of the country. It is the most visited center in Brazil and the 21st in the world, according to the ranking by the English publication The Art Newspaper (April/2014). The building has a constructed area of 19,243 m². CCBB occupies 15,046 m² of this total, with several spaces for different cultural attractions, such as music, theater, cinema, and exhibitions. Additionally, it has a library and a video library, and hosts the Historical Archive and the Banco do Brasil Museum.