Brasilia

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Brasília from space, November 1990

Niemeyer's Cathedral

Brasília is the capital city of Brazil with a population of 2,282,049 http://www.ibge.gov.br/. It is famous for its urban planning, daring architecture and rapid population growth. It is located in the Brazilian Federal District. In English, the diacritical mark on the í is often omitted and the name written Brasilia.

Location

Climate

Maximum temperatures average 28°C (82°F). During the dry season the temperature decreases and can reach daily lows of 13°C (55°F) in July. Maximum averages of 25°C (77°F) are the norm.

The average temperature is 20.5°C (69°F). The hottest month is September, with an average high of 28°C and an average low of 16°C (61°F). The coolest month is July, with an average high of 25°C and an average low of 13°C. The monthly difference between the average high is around 3°C (37°F) and the average low 5°C (41°F).

The absolute minimum registered was 0.6°C (34°F) and the maximum absolute 34.1°C (93°F).

Government

A planned city

History

From 1763 to 1960 Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil, and resources tended to be centred on the south east region of Brazil. Brasília’s geographically central location made for a more regionally neutral federal capital. The idea of placing Brazil’s capital in the interior dates back to the first republican constitution of 1891, which roughly defined where the federal district should be placed, but the site itself was not defined until 1922. Brasília’s location would promote the development of Brazil's central region and better integrate the entire territory of Brazil.

According to legend, in 1883 the Italian priest Don Bosco had a prophetic dream in which he described a futuristic city that roughly fitted Brasília's location. Today, in Brasília, there are many references to this educator who founded the Salesian order. One of the main cathedrals carries his name.

Design

The basis of the plans of the city was a simple cross. In the word of Costa: the project "was born from the primary gesture of someone who signs a place of take its ownership: two axis crossing themselves in right angle, the sign of the cross, itself". [link] However, the cross had to be adapted to the local topography, as there was already plans for the artificial lake, and the city gained the shape of an aeroplane.

The fuselage of the aeroplane contains the ministries, government buildings, the senate and chamber of deputies and a futuristic cathedral, designed by Oscar Niemeyer. There is also a tall television tower, with spectacular views of the city and the lake.

The wings of the aeroplane are named the North Wing and South Wing: each is roughly 7 km. in length. The avenue between the lake and the wings, called L4 Sul or L4 Norte, depending on which wing it’s on.

National Congress

A wide, high-speed avenue, called the Eixo Rodoviário, connects the two wings by passing under a central bus station, where the banking sector (Setor Bancário) and hotel sector (Setor Hoteleiro) are located. The 100s and 300s addresses are on the west side of the Eixo, and 200s and 400s are on east side. There are residential areas on these streets made up of blocks of flats, named Super Quadra Sul or Super Quadra Norte. The blocks are filled with three or six-storey buildings. Each has eleven buildings, identified by letter, with schools and churches in areas placed in between them. Commercial streets typically separate Superquadra blocks from each other. Green space and trees make these areas very pleasant to inhabit, and residents of the city affirm that it is one of the best cities in which to raise children. #redirect

There is also a zoo close to the airport with animals native to the Cerrado area. Embassies, recreational clubs and luxury homes surround the lake, and an enormous park, called the 'Parque da Cidade' (City Park), gives much-needed space for cycling, jogging and contact with nature.

One major criticism of Brasília is that it was not designed on a pedestrian scale. Pedestrians were not taken much into consideration during the advent of the motor age, when the city was developed. In the original plan there were no traffic lights - all cars travelled over overpasses and through tunnels to avoid intersecting traffic. Today, with 200 thousands people living in the Plano Piloto (the Pilot Plan), the plan soon became out-dated, but the city found a solution in education: thousands of pedestrian stripes were painted in every street, shortening the way of the pedestrians. A metro has been built recently to alleviate these problems, but there are several unfinished stations yet. A line was completed for the South Wing, which continues to the major satellite city of Taguatinga. Whilst public transportation is almost plentiful, the car remains popular as a means of transportation in Brasília.

Another criticism of Brasília is the displacement of poor residents too far away in satellite towns like Santa Maria, São Sebastião, Gama, Ceilândia and Sobradinho. Buses and a surface rapid transit system connect these cities to the centre. Inhabitants of these satellite towns live in conditions inferior to those of the Pilot Plan due to the last years habitation policy adopted by Governor Joaquim Roriz, in which people from other poor regions of the country were attracted to the capital in exchange for a little estate, overfilling the Federal District boundaries. When one talks of Brasília, these satellite cities are rarely taken into consideration, even though their population far surpasses that of the Pilot Plan. Some, like Taguatinga, are now larger than Brasília itself.

According to the original plan -- which Brasília must follow -- the city is constantly under construction.

UNESCO has declared Brasília a World Heritage Site.

Famous people

• President Juscelino Kubitschek
• Kaká, footballer
• Lúcio, footballer
• Renato Russo, singer

References

World Heritage Sites in Brazil