Editing Brasília (section)

=== Architecture and urbanism ===
[[File:BrasiliaBanNacional.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Brazilian Flag]] and the National Congress in spring]]

At the Square of Three Powers, Brazilian architect [[Oscar Niemeyer]] and Brazilian structural engineer [[Joaquim Cardozo]] made buildings in the style of modern Brazilian architecture.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.homestratosphere.com/oscar-niemeyer-design/ |title=Oscar Niemeyer |date=25 May 2022 |access-date=28 May 2022 |archive-date=8 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808172617/https://www.homestratosphere.com/oscar-niemeyer-design/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Congress also occupies various other surrounding buildings, some connected by tunnels.

The National Congress building is located in the middle of the [[Monumental Axis|Eixo Monumental]], the city's main avenue. In front lies a large lawn and reflecting pool. The building faces the [[Praça dos Três Poderes]] where the [[Palácio do Planalto]] and the [[Supreme Federal Court]] are located. The Brazilian landscape architect [[Roberto Burle Marx]] designed landmark modernist gardens for some of the principal buildings. In residential areas, buildings were built that were inspired in French modernist and bauhaus design.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/11688-review-of-roberto-burle-marx-brazilian-modernist |title=Roberto Burle Marx - Brazilian Modernist |access-date=28 May 2022 |archive-date=28 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528175343/https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/11688-review-of-roberto-burle-marx-brazilian-modernist |url-status=live}}</ref>

Although not fully accomplished, the "Brasília utopia" has produced a city of relatively high quality of life, in which the citizens live in forested areas with sporting and leisure structure (the ''{{lang|pt|superquadras}}'') surrounded by small commercial areas, bookstores and cafés; the city is famous for its cuisine and efficiency of transit.<ref name="global.britannica.com">{{cite web|url=http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/77841/Brasilia|title=Brasília - Britannica|date=21 September 2023|access-date=20 September 2014|archive-date=21 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121160852/https://www.britannica.com/place/Brasilia|url-status=live}}</ref> Even these positive features have sparked controversy, expressed in the nickname "ilha da fantasia" ("fantasy island"), indicating the sharp contrast between the city and surrounding regions, marked by poverty and disorganization in the cities of the states of [[Goiás]] and [[Minas Gerais]], around Brasília.<ref name="global.britannica.com"/>

Critics of Brasilia's grand scale have characterized it as a modernist bauhaus platonic fantasy about the future:
[[File:Brasilia aerea eixo monumental.jpg|thumb|The [[Monumental Axis]]]]
[[File:Vista_aérea_da_Asa_Sul_em_direção_ao_Lago_Sul.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of South Wing (''Asa Sul'') district]]
[[File:Brasilia_aerea_torredetv1304_4713.jpg|thumb|[[Monumental Axis]] and [[Brasília TV Tower]]]]

{{Blockquote|Nothing dates faster than people's fantasies about the future. This is what you get when perfectly decent, intelligent, and talented men start thinking in terms of space rather than place; and single rather than multiple meanings. It's what you get when you design for political aspirations rather than real human needs. You get miles of jerry-built platonic nowhere infested with [[Volkswagen]]s. This, one may fervently hope, is the last experiment of its kind. The utopian buck stops here.|author=[[Robert Hughes (critic)|Robert Hughes]]|title=''[[The Shock of the New]]''|source=Episode 4: "Trouble in Utopia", (1980)}}

====Notable structures====
The [[Cathedral of Brasília]] in the capital of the Federative Republic of Brazil, is an expression of the atheist architect [[Oscar Niemeyer]] and the structural engineer [[Joaquim Cardozo]]. This concrete-framed [[hyperboloid structure]], seems with its glass roof reaching up, open, to the heavens.

The cathedral's structure was finished on 31 May 1970, and only the {{convert|70|m|2|abbr=on}} diameter of the circular area were visible. Niemeyer's and Cardozo's project of Cathedral of Brasília is based in the [[hyperboloid]] of revolution which sections are asymmetric. The hyperboloid structure itself is a result of 16 identical assembled concrete columns. There is controversy as to what these columns, having hyperbolic section and weighing 90 t, represent, some say they are two hands moving upwards to heaven, others associate it to the chalice Jesus used in the last supper and some claim it represent his crown of thorns. The cathedral was dedicated on 31 May 1970.

At the end of the ''[[Monumental Axis|Eixo Monumental]]'' ("Monumental Axis") lies the ''Esplanada dos Ministérios'' ("Ministries Esplanade"),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aboutbrasilia.com/maps/esplanada-ministerios.php|title=Esplanada dos Ministérios - map - Brasilia|website=aboutbrasilia.com|access-date=27 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305055530/http://www.aboutbrasilia.com/maps/esplanada-ministerios.php|archive-date=5 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> an open area in downtown Brasília. The rectangular lawn is surrounded by two eight-lane avenues where many government buildings, monuments and memorials are located. On Sundays and holidays, the Eixo Monumental is closed to cars so that locals may use it as a place to walk, bike, and have picnics under the trees.

''[[Praça dos Três Poderes]]'' ([[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] for ''Square of the Three Powers'') is a plaza in Brasília. The name is derived from the encounter of the three federal branches around the plaza: the Executive, represented by the [[Palácio do Planalto]] (presidential office); the Legislative, represented by the [[National Congress of Brazil|National Congress]] (Congresso Nacional); and the Judiciary branch, represented by the [[Supreme Federal Court (Brazil)|Supreme Federal Court]] (Supremo Tribunal Federal). It is a tourist attraction in Brasília, designed by [[Lúcio Costa]] and [[Oscar Niemeyer]] as a place where the three branches would meet harmoniously.

[[File:Fotos produzidas pelo Senado (36736219051).jpg|left|thumb|[[Praça dos Três Poderes]] (Three Powers Plaza)]]
[[File:Homologação do tombamento de obras do Niemeyer (34321040524).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Palácio da Alvorada]]]]

The [[Palácio da Alvorada]] is the official residence of the [[president of Brazil]]. The palace was designed, along with the rest of the city of Brasília, by [[Oscar Niemeyer]] and inaugurated in 1958. One of the first structures built in the republic's new capital city, the "Alvorada" lies on a peninsula at the shore of [[Lake Paranoá]].
[[File:Meteoro - Palácio Itamaraty.jpg|left|thumb|Itamaraty Palace facade]]
The principles of simplicity and modernity that in the past characterized the great works of architecture motivated Niemeyer. The viewer has an impression of looking at a glass box, softly landing on the ground with the support of thin external columns. The building has an area of 7,000 m<sup>2</sup> with three floors consisting of the basement, landing, and second floor.

The auditorium, kitchen, laundry, medical center, and administration offices are at basement level. The rooms used by the presidency for official receptions are on the landing. The second floor has four suites, two apartments, and various private rooms which make up the residential part of the palace. The building also has a library, a heated Olympic-sized swimming pool, a music room, two dining rooms and various meeting rooms. A chapel and heliport are in adjacent buildings.

The [[Palácio do Planalto]] is the official workplace of the [[president of Brazil]]. It is located at the [[Praça dos Três Poderes]] in Brasília. As the [[Politics of Brazil|seat of government]], the term "Planalto" is often used as a [[metonym]] for the executive branch of government. The main working office of the President of the Republic is in the Palácio do Planalto.

The President and his or her family do not live in it, rather in the official residence, the [[Palácio da Alvorada]]. Besides the President, senior advisors also have offices in the "Planalto", including the [[Vice-President of Brazil]] and the [[Chief of Staff of Brazil|Chief of Staff]]. The other Ministries are along the [[Monumental Axis|Esplanada dos Ministérios]]. The architect of the Palácio do Planalto was [[Oscar Niemeyer]], creator of most of the important buildings in Brasília. The idea was to project an image of simplicity and modernity using fine lines and waves to compose the columns and exterior structures. The Palace is four stories high, and has an area of 36,000&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup>. Four other adjacent buildings are also part of the complex.