Brasilia Brazil

When the building of Brasilia, Brazil's capital city, started in 1956 it was considered a landmark in the history of town planning. Oscar Niemeyer, a famous Brazilian architect, is responsible for the advanced urban planning of the city that was completed in only 3 years during the reign of President Juscelino Kubitschek. The intentions of Niemeyer were to have every element, such as the layout of the residential and administrative neighbourhoods, and the symmetry of the buildings throughout the city be imaginative and innovative.

If you're interested in architecture I definitely recommend travelling to all of Niemeyer’s official buildings. The intentions behind the building of the new capital of Brazil – the city of Brasilia was to have a pre-planned, futuristic city. Now known as the “City of Tomorrow,” Brasilia is the embodiment of modern architecture and engineering.



History of Brasilia

Brasilia became the capital of Brazil on April 21, 1960, after being changed from Rio de Janeiro. The reason for this decision was because Rio de Janeiro is located on the coast of Brazil. This close proximity to the sea made Rio de Janeiro vulnerable to attacks and raids by the French, Portuguese and the Dutch. Another reason for the change was to create more awareness of, and develop of, the interior of Brazil. Since Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo are the two largest cities, people often forgot about the heartland of the country.

Brasilia was specifically built to be the Capital of Brazil. There was a contest held to determine what the city would look like. A total of 26 competitors entered the contest and 41 projects were presented. Lucio Costa, an urban planner from Brazil, was chosen as the winner of the 1957 contest for the design of Brasilia’s Pilot Plan.

Lucio Costa’s Pilot Plan was modeled in the shape of an airplane. Brasilia's design was separeted into four districts. These four districts were: a monument disctrict, a residential district, a gregarious district, and a bucolic district. The Pilot Plan's intention was to abide by Le Corbusier’s letter of Athens. This letter contains the four basic tenets for an ideal city. First, the city must be well ventilated and put residences near green spaces, and away from workplaces; second, industrial buildings shall be distant from the cities residential and commercial areas; third, there must be exclusive space for cultural activities, near residential areas; fourth, there must be a separation of the circulation of vehicles and pedestrians.