Background Image
Previous Page  50 / 64 Next Page
Information
Show Menu
Previous Page 50 / 64 Next Page
Page Background

50

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 Brasilia 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 Brasilia designed by

Oscar Niemeyer, showing its likeness to the

wings of a bird.

Aerial view of central axis in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.