Dating to 1960 and produced by the Standard Oil Company, Tangent Films, Robert W. Schofield and Leona Carney, this profile of the new city of Brasilia shows the construction of Brazil’s “City of Hope”. The film celebrates architect Oscar Niemeyer and planner Lúcio Costa. At 2:00 the Congressional Center skyscrapers are shown along with House and Senate chambers. At 2:21 the Supreme Court building and at 2:43 the Museum of Brazil is shown. At 2:58 are the 11 ministries for the administration of the government. At 3:30 the Presidential home Alvarado Palace. At 4:42 superblocks (self contained urban blocks for housing and commerce) are shown. Other sights include a church (5:48), the Inauguration Day festivities (6:30 and following) including President Kubitschek arriving in the new city, sites of new embassies (8:50), and the airport (9:17). At 9:25 petroleum, which is of course the business of Standard Oil, is mentioned as crucial to the city’s success. At 9:51 highway networks are shown being built with the city declared a “motorist’s dream.” At 10:30 a “temporary Brasilia” is shown which includes new businesses to support a growing economy. At 11:00 construction by hand and with machines is shown. At 12:26 a huge form is shown for construction of one of Neimeyer’s modern buildings.
In 1955 Juscelino Kubitschek was elected president of Brazil. In 1956 he initiated the planning and construction of the new capital. In 1957 an international jury selected Lúcio Costa’s plan to guide the construction of Brazil’s new capital, Brasília. Costa’s plan was not as detailed as some of the plans presented by other architects and city planners. It did not include land use schedules, models, population charts or mechanical drawings, however, it was chosen by five out of six jurors because it had the features required to align the growth of a capital city. Costa used a cross-axial design indicating the possession and conquest of this new place with a cross often described by some as a dragonfly, an airplane or a bird. Costa’s plan included two principal components, the Monumental Axis (east to west) and the Residential Axis (north to south).
The Monumental Axis was assigned political and administrative activities and is considered the body of the city with the style and simplicity of its buildings, oversized scales, and broad vistas and heights, producing the idea of Monumentality. This axis includes the various ministries, national congress, presidential palace, supreme court building and the television and radio tower.
Building Brasília was part of Juscelino’s “fifty years of prosperity in five” plan. Already in 1892, the astronomer Louis Cruls, in the service of the Brazilian government, had investigated the site for the future capital. Lúcio Costa won a contest and was the main urban planner in 1957, with 5550 people competing. Oscar Niemeyer was the chief architect of most public buildings, Joaquim Cardozo was the structural engineer, and Roberto Burle Marx was the landscape designer. Brasília was built in 41 months, from 1956 to April 21, 1960, when it was officially inaugurated.
Brasília is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located atop the Brazilian highlands in the country’s center-western region. It was founded on April 21, 1960, to serve as the new national capital. Brasília was planned and developed by Lúcio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer and Joaquim Cardozo in 1956 to move the capital from Rio de Janeiro to a more central location. The landscape architect was Roberto Burle Marx. The city’s design divides it into numbered blocks as well as sectors for specified activities, such as the Hotel Sector, the Banking Sector and the Embassy Sector. Brasília was chosen as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its modernist architecture and uniquely artistic urban planning. It has also been named “City of Design” by UNESCO in October 2017 and has been part of the Creative Cities Network since then.
All three branches of Brazil’s federal government are centered in the city: executive, legislative, and judiciary. Brasília also hosts 124 foreign embassies.
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