The city is a total experiment, a pure product of two great minds, the architect Oscar Niemeyer and the urban planner Lucio Costa. At time of the creation of the new state of Brazil, in 1956, the creation of a completely new capital felt necessary to the first president of Brazil, Juscelino Kubitchek de Oliveira. Wanting to avoid the mess of Rio, to create a city that would be the representation of the energy and the capacity of the young new nation, he proposed a design competition. Over the next four years, in an incredible attempt to complete his vision before the end of his mandate, the capital arose in the middle of the stampa, more than a thousand kilometers inland.
Laid out in the shape of an airplane or a bird, the city plan divides the city in various parts. Along the main axis are found the Ministries, and in its wings, the housing. These wings are composed of quadras (or neighborhoods), which are in fact a repetition of similar buildings raised off the ground, separated by small commercial streets.
This is a sketch from Costa (found here)
In Brasilia, streets do not really have a name, but the neighborhood has a number, and a building, a letter or a number. The city was meant to have no need for lights or stop signs, as if round-abouts and highways were sufficient. There is no intersection, or street corner. And in most occasions, it is not possible to turn left.
Yuri Gargarin would have said upon landing in Brasilia: "I feel as if I stepped on the surface of another planet".
The city is also an architecture laboratory experimenting with Le Corbusier's principles, with modern lines, brise-soleils, large canopies, raw concrete and raised volumes off the gound.
In other words, this is an utopian city. A city built from ideals and a vision, a vision that maybe today appears to be outdated or even inadequate for our times and our lifestyles. Yet it was a real visionary experiment. I would suggest you read here or there for more insights. And I will post more later.
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