Brasília: the construction of an example

Abstract

This article discusses the construction of Brasília and its historical legacy, focusing on the links between Modernist ideologies and the structures of political power which dominated Brazil during the late 1950s. Brasília was presented at the time as the embodiment of the Modernist ideal of rational city planning, a socialistic experiment in using architecture to change society; but, since then, the city has largely failed to fulfil the ideals envisaged by its planners. Instead, the new capital came to be appropriated by the military governments of the 1960s and 1970s as a symbol of their own authoritarian power, a purpose to which it was well suited, it is argued, due to the inherent authoritarianism of the ideological currents that generated it. The article looks at the legacy of this unique example of high Modernism for the fields of architecture and urban planning, concluding that, ironically enough, Brasília’s style has triumphed over its substance.