Sergio Bernardes

MANAUS TROPICAL HOTEL / 1st VERSION

Called “the great experience” by Sergio Bernardes, the 400-room hotel is a 300-meter-diameter hemispherical cap lined with two layers of glass, one just below the other. Located in the center of the circumference, a cylindrical building measuring 26.20m in diameter and suspended from the ground by a 7.50m diameter vertical circulation tower receives eight panoramic elevators. All rooms have a privileged view.

According to Bernardes, the convection currents resulting from the heating of the air inside the dome, combined with the “turbo-venturi” effect caused by external winds coming from the proximity of the Rio Negro through the treetops, would reduce the temperature of the environment by 7° C and 30% humidity, thus creating an ideal microclimate for guests, protecting them from the threats of wild nature and the region’s hot and humid climate, without the isolation of the forest.

“The calculation of the transparent dome, whose rigidity would only be achieved by a metallic structure and special glasses, was made by engineer Jaime Mason, at the time, assistant to Engineer Paulo Fragoso, who had to develop appropriate theories, because at the time there were no solutions to such problems.”

Local:
Manaus, AM

Project date:
1963

Architecture:
Sergio Bernardes

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