Brasília
I visited Brasilia in September, 2025, after having planned to photograph there since the ’80’s. It was one of the top targets for a future project on planned cities, “Capitals: The Architecture of State”. It is always fascinating to see how the ideals of planners and designers become materialized, then bent as humans adapt the armature provided to their own real world needs. As might be expected there are gaps between the conception and the lived evolution of this city, but the story of its imagining and construction are breathtaking nonetheless.
Catedral Metropolitana de Brasília, design by Oscar Niemeyer, opened 1970. Statues of apostles are by Alfredo Ceschiatti. The Federal District was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.
Interior of the Catedral Metropolitana de Brasília, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, 1970.
On the site of Catedral Metropolitana de Brasília, design by Oscar Niemeyer, 1970.
Interior entrance hall of Palácio do Planalto, the office of the president, design: Oscar Niemeyer, inaugurated 1960.
Palácio do Planalto, the office of the president, design: Oscar Niemeyer, inaugurated 1960.
Entrance hall of Palácio do Planalto, the office of the president, design: Oscar Niemeyer, inaugurated 1960.
Palácio do Planalto, the office of the president, design: Oscar Niemeyer, inaugurated 1960.
Palácio do Planalto, the office of the president, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, side view.
Itamaraty Palace, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, inaugurated 1970
Itamaraty Palace, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, inaugurated 1970
Itamaraty Palace, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, inaugurated 1970
Entrance hall at Itamaraty Palace, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, 1970
Entrance hall at Itamaraty Palace, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, 1970
Interior, Itamaraty Palace, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, inaugurated 1970
The roof-level space of Itamaraty Palace, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, 1970
The Itamaraty Palace roof garden, designed by Roberto Burle Marx.
The National Congress, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, 1960, has a dome above the Senate chamber, and the inverted dome above the larger Chamber of Deputies. The adjacent twin 27 story towers house the administrative offices.
The National Congress. In 1987 Brasilia was declared a UNESCO world heritage site: the first UNESCO site less than 100 years old, and the first of Modernist design, by Oscar Niemeyer, with the city plan by Lúcio Costa.
The Chamber of Deputies, The National Congress, 1960.
The National Congress, observation gallery of the Chamber of Deputies
The Salão Negro, Solenn entrance, the National Congress, Brasilia
The National Congress, main floor public space.
The National Congress, has a dome above the Senate chamber, with an inverted dome above the larger Chamber of Deputies. Administrative offices are in the twin twenty-seven story towers. Designed by Oscar Niemeyer, 1960.
The Senate Chamber, the National Congress, 1960.
The JK Memorial, 1980, dedicated to Juscelino Kubitschek (1902–1976), 21st President of Brazil and the founder of Brasília, Brasil's capital since 1960. Designed by Oscar Niemeyer, with the sculpture by Honorio Pecanha.
The University of Brasilia, Central Library, designed by architect José Galbinski, 1968, inaugurated in 1973.
Memorial of Indigenous Peoples, design by Oscar Niemeyer, 1987, inspired by the Yanomami malocas, or communal houses.
The Brasília Palace Hotel designed by Niemeyer, inaugurated in 1958, was one of the first buildings completed in the new capital. A major fire in 1978 left the hotel an empty shell for over 20 years until its reopening in 2005.
The Brasília Palace Hotel designed by Niemeyer, 1958, on the shore of Lake Paranoa, Brasilia.
The Brasília Palace Hotel, facing the lake, Lago Paranoa.
Reception lobby, The Brasília Palace Hotel
Food vendor in the automotive wrecking neighborhood of Taguatinga Norte, Brasilia.
A prospective customer at auto recyclers in Taguatinga Norte, a satellite town of Brasilia.
Auto recyclers in the satellite town, Taguatinga Norte, Brasilia.
Taguatinga Norte, a satellite town of Brasilia.
Blanket salesman in Vila Planalto, an unplanned neighbourhood, not far from the center of Brasilia.
An eery roadside stop, on route DF-085, featuring fast food and gaming, the “Transplantas Garden Center - Taguatinga”, in the sprawling Western outskirts of Brasilia.
An eery roadside stop, on route DF-085, offering gaming, fast food, and the “Transplantas Garden Center - Taguatinga”, in the sprawling Western outskirts of Brasilia.
Igreja Cristã Maranata, a small church in the town of Scia, on the periphery of Brasilia.
A wedding takes place at the Nossa Senhora de Fátima Church designed by Oscar Niemeyer, 1958, the first place of worship in Brasília. This residential neighbourhood, Asa Sul, is south of the Monumental Axis , included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.