Atiaîa Lighting Design - Memorial Brumadinho - Brumadinho - Brazil

2026-01-12

Brumadinho Memorial is a space based on the ethical commitment of symbolic reparation and memory for the 272 fatal victims of the collapse of a dam at Córrego do Feijão Mine, owned by Vale S.A. mining company. The tragedy occurred on January 25, 2019, in Brumadinho (MG), affecting 26 municipalities and releasing 12 million cubic meters of mining waste mud.

The memorial consists of an entrance pavilion, a grove, outdoor living areas, pathways to a sculpture-monument, a reflecting pool, Memory and Testimony exhibition rooms, and a space dedicated to the dignified storage of the victims’ corporeal segments.

Lighting was crafted to create an immersive, sensitive, and respectful atmosphere. It conveys information, brilliance, and presence, as it illuminates messages, symbols, and architecture, honoring the victims’ memory: a Poem, a crystal cluster, 272 ipê flowers, 272 stars in the lake (the lost "jewels"), a sculpture that cries over concrete walls mixed with the pigment of mining waste.

It is also a tool to illuminate those who visit, reflect, feel, and are transformed by this experience. Light guides the journey, defines highlighted planes, areas of brightness, and darkness.

Memorial Brumadinho is an act of resistance against oblivion, so that brutal events like this, against humanity and the environment, will never be repeated.

About Atiaîa Lighting Design

Founded in 2016 by Mariana Novaes, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, from Tupi-Guarani, Atiaîa means ray of light, which reflects luminosity. These qualities are sought daily in the practice and in its professional conduct. Their approach is integral, looking to contribute to the well-being and enchantment of those who enjoy the spaces. They design in collaboration with all disciplines and clients, with excellence: from the user's needs and experience, observation of contexts, inspired in light phenomena and space’s qualities. They are research driven, while attentive to detail and the technical depth of solutions.

Photo credit: Pedro Mascaro - Leo Drumond/Nitro