Pampulha Modern Ensemble


World Heritage Identification Number: 1493

World Heritage since: 2016

Category: Cultural Heritage

Transboundary Heritage: No

Endangered Heritage: No

Country: 🇧🇷 Brazil

Continent: Americas

UNESCO World Region: Latin America and the Caribbean

Map

A Visionary Urban Project: The Pampulha Modern Ensemble

The Pampulha Modern Ensemble, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016, represents a remarkable example of mid-20th century modernism in urban planning and architecture. Located in the district of Pampulha within Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais State in Brazil, this cultural and leisure center was conceived as part of a visionary garden city project initiated in 1940.

More to come…

UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

The Pampulha Modern Ensemble was the centre of a visionary garden city project created in 1940 at Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais State. Designed around an artificial lake, this cultural and leisure centre included a casino, a ballroom, the Golf Yacht Club and the São Francisco de Assis church. The buildings were designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer, in collaboration with innovative artists. The Ensemble comprises bold forms that exploit the plastic potential of concrete, while fusing architecture, landscape design, sculpture and painting into a harmonious whole. It reflects the influence of local traditions, the Brazilian climate and natural surroundings on the principles of modern architecture.

Encyclopedia Record: Pampulha Modern Ensemble

The Pampulha Modern Ensemble is an urban project in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state of Brazil. It was designed around an artificial lake, Lake Pampulha, in the district of Pampulha and includes a casino, a ballroom, the Golf Yacht Club and the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi. The buildings were designed by the architect Oscar Niemeyer, in collaboration with the landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx, Brazilian Modernist artists, and structural engineer Joaquim Cardozo.

Read more on Wikipedia

Additional Site Details

Area: 154 hectares

UNESCO Criteria: (i) — Masterpiece of human creative genius
(ii) — Significant interchange of human values
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape

Coordinates: -19.8519444444 , -43.9736111111

Image

Image of Pampulha Modern Ensemble

© Daniel Raposo, CC BY-SA 4.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)

About World Heritage Explorer

World Heritage Explorer is an independent educational project designed to uncover and share the richness of our world’s cultural and natural heritage. Dive into detailed site profiles, immersive imagery, interactive maps, and tools that help you explore UNESCO World Heritage Sites across the globe. Drawing extensively on open data sources, the project delivers authoritative, well-structured information for learners, educators, travelers, and younger explorers alike.

Learn more

Country Information: Brazil

Flag of Brazil

Official Name: Federative Republic of Brazil

Capital: Brasília

Continent: Americas

Population (2024): 211,998,573

Population (2023): 211,140,729

Population (2022): 210,306,415

Land Area: 8,358,140 sq km

Currency: Brazilian real (BRL)

Country Data Sources

Last updated: January 18, 2026

Portions of the page Pampulha Modern Ensemble are based on data from UNESCO — World Heritage List Dataset and on text from the Wikipedia article Pampulha Modern Ensemble, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes made. Additional original content by World Heritage Explorer (WHE), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. WHE is not affiliated with UNESCO or the World Heritage Committee. Legal Notice. Privacy Policy.

Open Data for an Open World