Museum of Image and Sound, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Museum of Image and Sound in Rio de Janeiro takes the boulevard concept and turns it on its head—well, vertically, to be exact. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the firm behind New York's new High Line park, the seven-floor venue will fill an empty lot left behind by an infamous and rather seedy nightclub overlooking Copacabana Beach. The gently zigzagging structure, with an exposed walkway, will be a extension of the famous Copacabana promenade, a two-and-a-half-mile stretch of black and white mosaic completed in 1970. In addition to radio and photography archives, the building will include restaurants, bars, galleries, and a rooftop cinema; it's due to be finished in 2011. The hotels and restaurants crammed along this strip have monopolized the view of Copacabana for years, but by lifting the promenade off the street itself, Diller Scofidio + Renfro aims to allow regular Cariocas to get an eyeful of the scene down there, too.

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