Myopia in the crystal ball--Brasilia, Brazil

I went to Brazil´s fascinating capital, Brasilia ("A Vision Of The Future" or "Urban planning without consideration of the human element"). It is a result of collaborative effort of Oscar Niemeyer, his mentor Lúcio Costa, and the president at the time Juscelino Kubitschek. On a plot of land in the middle of nowhere (and I DO mean 'NOWHERE') JK decided to move the capital HERE (from Rio).

The city was designed in the shape of an airplane, with curved wings. Each 'sector' had its particular purpose, and the buildings were all to have a particular (Modern) look. It would unify the look and function of the city. The layout of the city would group like functioning buildings together. For instance, hotels and shopping are in the same sector. And you will NEVER find a grocery store in that zone, because zoning prohibits it.

Down to the footprint of the hotel (how wide and tall the hotel can be) , all was planned by Niemeyer and Costa. It´s a bit big-brothery, it´s very industrial, it´s not at all human-scale, it IS meant to impress (as most capitals ARE), and it does deliver.

The following photos are mostly from a FANTASTIC architecture tour of the city:

Me in front of one of my favorite sculptures, “Os Candangos”, by Bruno Giorgi, created to honor the workers who created the city (Brasilia, Brazil)

Taken from the observation platform of the TV Tower, looking up (Brasilia, Brazil)

Brasilia is becoming a victim of its own success. It was designed "looking toward the future". In that future, Niemeyer envisioned that everyone would have cars, and hence walking spaces would be unnecessary. A few results of this strategy a) everyone DOES have cars and congestion is worse in Brasilia than anywhere else in Brazil, b) Being a pedestrian is DANGEROUS. The roads are huge--WIDE AND STRAIGHT, which means HIGH speed limits. AND, there are virtually NO stoplights (traffic circles, cloverleaves, yields so that cars only must slow, rarely stop). c) There are huge grassy areas over which pedestrians MUST trod (because so few people can actually afford cars), and this results in huge dirt trails all over the place. (Brasilia, Brazil)







Yours truly in front of the National Cathedral. Over my R shoulder are Mark, Luke, and John (Matthew is camera-shy) (Brasilia, Brazil)









Not even the bus stop enclosures could avoid being "designed" in a modern way. (Brasilia, Brazil)

Dom Bosco Church (Brasilia, Brazil)

I have complained about them before, and I´m likely to complain about the again... And maybe even NOW. These are the clever little devices the Brazilians use to keep people from getting on a bus without paying the manditory $US 35c fare. It also keeps anyone from CONVENIENTLY getting on the bus that´s carrying luggage. It also keeps people from being able to exit the bus safely if there´s a fire. Have I mentioned I hate these turnstiles? (Brasilia, Brazil)