Casa do Baile

Casa do Baile is a landmark in Belo Horizonte designed by Oscar Niemeyer, part of the Pampulha Modern Ensemble built around Lake Pampulha in the 1940s. It opened in 1943 as a restaurant and dance hall and now serves as an architecture and design center. Its curved forms integrate with the natural landscape and it is protected at municipal, state, and national levels.

Don't miss

• The undulating concrete canopy supported by columns that shades an outdoor promenade and ends in a small amoeba-shaped volume with decorative tiles.
• The layout of two intersecting circles, one housing the main hall and the other the rear service area.
• The artificial island setting in Lake Pampulha, reached by a concrete bridge.
• The surrounding landscape designed by Roberto Burle Marx, integrating the building with the lakefront.
• The building's fluid curves, often compared to Baroque style, complementing the lake's natural curves.

Tickets & tours

Ways to visit Casa do Baile

Cheapest way inInhotim - one of the largest open air museums in the World4.6★ · 48 travelers~10 hoursFree cancellationFrom$135 per personSee dates →

Know before you go

• The building is part of the Pampulha Modern Ensemble, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2016.
• It now functions as a center for architecture, urbanism, and design, hosting exhibitions and educational programs.
• The landscape was designed by Roberto Burle Marx, so notice the integration of greenery with the architecture.

A bit of history

Commissioned by then-mayor Juscelino Kubitschek in 1942, the building was designed by Niemeyer using reinforced concrete to create sweeping curves. It sits on an artificial island in Lake Pampulha, connected by a concrete bridge. After gambling was banned in 1946, the adjacent casino closed and the Casa do Baile soon stopped operating as a restaurant. It reopened in 2002 as a center for architecture, urbanism, and design. In 2016 it became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Pampulha Modern Ensemble.