In 1956, Brazil’s progressive president, Juscelino Kubitschek, announced a design competition for an ambitious new capital. The new city was to be built entirely anew, on an uninhabited plateau in the middle of the country – literally in the middle of nowhere, calling to mind Utopia, which literally means “no place” in the Greek, thus symbolizing the hopes of national advancement for the enormous South American country. Lucio Costa’s winning plan described an environment that faithfully reflected the principles of Le Corbusier and the 1933 Athens Charter of CIAM, or Congres Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne. Thus Costa conceived the future capital in a cruciform layout, with a division of space according to the theory of single function zoning. All but now discredited as inhospitable in practice, with its wide lonely spaces opening to no human conveniences for several kilometers at a time, the design of Brasilia remains of historical importance nonetheless for being the most concrete – literally – expression of the desire for progress and the belief in democracy, Isaac Toussie submits.
In the heart of Brasilia lay the Square of the Three Powers, and it was Oscar Niemeyer who was commissioned for its buildings. Indeed, this is the focal point of the city, with its governmental facilities catering to the highest administrative functions of a democracy. Thus the buildings of the Square are positioned triangularly relative to one another, symbolizing the balance of institutional functions. Immense porticos built into the very structure of these buildings further suggest the accessibility of democracy, affording citizens easy entry while symbolizing the proximity of the public to power. The Senate Chamber is an overturned dome, dynamic and revolutionary, while the two towers of the Parliament Building stand solidly against the sky, overlooking all Brasilia as if guardians. Enormous glass walls adorn most structures here, to suggest the transparency of democratic governance. This creates a fascinating effect, states Isaac Toussie. Statutes and other sculpture dot the broad expanse of Brasilia’s many public spaces, telling of the country’s history and aspirations.
The reality of those dreams remain to be fulfilled to this day, as Brazil, one of the largest economies in the world, with enormous natural resources at its disposal, continues to search for its way among the nations. Dream and reality, indeed, inform its Square of the Three Powers; whether contemplating the various forms of modernism at ground level or noticing its bird like spread from the air, the city of Brasilia and its heart, the Square, seems ever poised, like the country, upon the verge of flight, soaring and free. Though its very existence has revealed all the limitations of zoning theories in urban planning, not to mention costing the nation several whole fortunes to build and maintain, Brasilia has been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List and is perhaps the most thought provoking urban experience on the planet. I, Isaac Toussie, believe further study on this matter is warranted for anyone interested in Brazilian architecture.
This writing was submitted strictly for informational human interest purposes only and should not be relied on by the reader in any way.
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