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MAJOR NATIONS IN A GLOBAL WORLD: BRAZIL
and experts consider it an outstanding example of modern urban planning and
design. The city was conceived by Lucio Costa, an urban planner, and architect
Oscar Niemeyer, in 1956. The two men wanted Brasília to have a
symmetrical
design.
A GIANT OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE
As amodernist, Oscar Niemeyer broke rankswith themore established
classical architects of his day, employing clean, simple lines in his
buildings and designing futuristic looking structures, including a flying-saucer
shaped museum in Rio. In 1943, Niemeyer’s work was introduced to the world
in a special exhibition on architecture in Brazil at the Museum of Modern Art in
New York City. People were so taken with his designs that in 1947 he was asked
to collaborate with several others in designing the United Nations complex.
From the air, the city looks like the out-
stretched wings of a bird. That’s because the city
is centered on what is known as the Monumental
Axis, which links the government and adminis-
trative buildings. The most amazing buildings in
The original city plan for Brasília designed by
Oscar Niemeyer, showing its likeness to the
wings of a bird.
Aerial view of the central axis in Brasília, the capital of Brazil.