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History
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The idea of a
Brazilian inland capital
was first mooted in 1789, and a century later (in 1891) the concept was written into Article 3 of the Republic's Constitution, which stated "from now on an area of 14,400 square kilometres will belong to the government for the creation of a new capital". Many sites were considered; indeed, in 1913 US President Theodore Roosevelt visited the western edge of the
planalto
and remarked that "any sound northern race could live here; and in such a land, with such a climate, there would be much joy of living". But the idea had to wait for fulfilment until 1956 when
Juscelino Kubitschek
became president, on the promise that he would build the city if he won the election. He had to get it finished by the end of his term of office, so work soon began in earnest.
The site was quickly selected by aerial surveys of over 50,000 square kilometres of land. In less than four years a capital city had to be planned, financed and built in the face of apparently insurmountable odds: the building site was 125km from the nearest rail line, 190km from the nearest airport, over 600km from the nearest paved road; the closest timber supply was 1200km distant, the nearest source of good steel even further. Still, in
Oscar Niemeyer
, the city's architect, Brasilia had South America's most able student of Le Corbusier, founder of the modern planned city and a brilliant designer of buildings. Alongside Niemeyer, who was contracted to design the buildings,
Lucio Costa
was hired for the awesome task of Brasilia's urban planning. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Brazil,
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