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Voyay walking tour

Bayfront Modernism in Motion

Follow Burle Marx’s curves from concrete gardens to Sugarloaf views

  • Rio, Brazil
  • 12 stops
  • 180 min
  • 6.3 km
  • Architecture

Free in the Voyay app

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Flamengo Park is far more than a beautiful strip of waterfront. Created on reclaimed shoreline, it is an ambitious modernist landscape where architecture, tropical planting, highways, recreation and Guanabara Bay were composed as one continuous public environment. Beginning at MAM Rio, you will move from Reidy’s monumental concrete frame into Burle Marx’s sculptural gardens. The route continues past civic memorials, sailing masts, model aircraft, playgrounds, skaters and football matches before reaching the engineered sands of Praia do Flamengo. Along the way, watch how planted masses create shade and outdoor rooms, how pedestrian curves guide movement, and how distant mountains become part of the garden. This is modernism experienced through footsteps, sea wind, sports and everyday carioca life rather than through museum galleries. The tour is ideal for architecture lovers, landscape enthusiasts, photographers and curious walkers who want to understand how Rio shaped a new shoreline. Finish at Botafogo Bay, where Sugarloaf, boats, towers and the planted waterfront form an unforgettable final composition.

Try the first stop

MAM Rio
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Free sample · Stop 1

MAM Rio

Reidy’s concrete frame turns tropical landscape and bay views into modernist architecture.

Affonso Eduardo Reidy designed MAM as architecture you can look through, not merely at. Beneath its monumental concrete ribs, open pilotis preserve a flowing connection among gardens, sky and Guanabara Bay. Walk lengthwise through the shadows and watch the building transform trees and distant mountains into carefully framed scenes.

The route

12 stops, in order.

  1. Stop 1 · Free sample

    MAM Rio

    Reidy’s concrete frame turns tropical landscape and bay views into modernist architecture.

  2. Stop 2

    Jardins do MAM

    Bold tropical plant masses soften concrete geometry beside Rio’s reclaimed shoreline.

  3. Stop 3

    Monumento aos Pracinhas

    Severe civic geometry rises above lawns, framing the reclaimed bayfront horizon.

  4. Stop 4

    Aeromodelismo do Aterro

    An unexpected aviation field shows modernism designed for specialized public recreation.

  5. Stop 5

    Marina da Glória

    Sailboats and mountain views animate the park’s working edge on Guanabara Bay.

  6. Stop 6

    Skate Park do Aterro

    Skaters reinterpret modernist concrete curves through speed, balance and contemporary culture.

  7. 7
    Stop 7

    Campos de Futebol

    Football fields turn monumental landscape design into vibrant everyday carioca culture.

  8. 8
    Stop 8

    Parque das Crianças

    A shaded playground expresses modernism’s optimistic promise of inclusive family leisure.

  9. 9
    Stop 9

    Praia do Flamengo

    An engineered beach makes Rio’s reclaimed shoreline feel surprisingly natural and effortless.

  10. 10
    Stop 10

    Teatro Carlos Werneck

    A modest puppet theatre embeds public culture within the park’s recreational landscape.

  11. Stop 11

    Monumento a Estácio de Sá

    A sharp stone triangle directs attention toward Sugarloaf and Rio’s contested beginnings.

  12. Stop 12

    Enseada de Botafogo

    Rio’s mountains, boats, towers and planted waterfront converge in one grand finale.

The app guides you from stop to stop with GPS and plays each story when you arrive.

Walk Bayfront Modernism in Motion

Free in the Voyay app

Get it in the app

Already have Voyay? Open this tour in the app