Invisible Brasilias: The contest for the Plano Piloto
Introduction: Get to know how the brazilian federal capital was created
A new capital
Juscelino Kubitschek assumed the presidency of Brazil in January 1956. The goal-synthesis of his election campaign was the promise to transfer the federal capital from Rio de Janeiro to a new city in the Central Plateau of the country.
The idea was quite old
The territory had already been chosen in 1894, during the so-called Cruls Mission, when a large quadrilateral was demarcated with ideal geographical and landscape characteristics for the city. The definitive sites of the Federal District and Brasilia would become smaller portions of that area.
The "Plano Piloto" contest
was launched in September 1956, a few days after the Congress approved the transfer law of the capital. The jury was composed by the Brazilians Israel Pinheiro, Oscar Niemeyer, Luiz Barbosa and Paulo Antunes, as well as the foreigners William Holford, André Sive and Stamo Papadaki.
The public notice
stipulated the deadline of March 11, 1957 for the submission of proposals by the bidders. The projects were to include the basic layout of the city, as well as dimensions of the urban infrastructure and some projections of the socio-economic development of the surroundings.
Pre-defined buildings
began to be built even before the result of the contest: in addition to the airport and the Paranoá Lake dam, the locations of the Brasília Palace Hotel, the Alvorada Palace and the Our Lady of Conception Chapel were predetermined.
The result of the contest
was announced in March 1957, after the jury’s rapid evaluation. Of the twenty-six proposals submitted, only seven were classified: one winner and one 2nd place, two projects tied for 3rd and 4th place, and three tied for 5th place.
Lúcio, the winner
Lúcio Costa’s Pilot Project was the winner of the contest, which resulted in the construction of Brasilia, the Federal Capital. Known worldwide, the city has historical importance and is considered an icon of modern architecture and urbanism.
The other projects
that did not win the contest have remained invisible to the eyes of history. The intention of the exhibition is to re-present these projects and to value their contributions to the history of Brasilia and to the modernist production of the time.
The exhibition
presents the seven finalists of the contest through media that allow an immersive experience in the proposed cities. The intention is that the projects are contemplated through the eyes of the citizen who would inhabit them.
360° images
of some sectors of each city allow the visitor to enter the proposed projects in order to visualize these cities if they had been executed.
Each city
was virtually modeled based on the information present in the maps, models and descriptive reports delivered by each of the finalist teams. Occasional interpretations were made to enable the insertion of the projects in a virtual reality.
The architectures
of each city were represented taking into account the sketches and models of the proposed projects and, in the absence of further information, from the concepts of modern architecture.
Get to know the finalist projects:
1° - Lúcio Costa
2° - Boruch Milman and team
3°/4° - Rino Levi and team
3°/4° - MM Roberto and team
5° - Milton Ghiraldini and team
5° - Henrique Mindlin and Giancarlo Palanti
5° - Vilanova Artigas and team
Datasheet:
Sponsorship: Fundo de Apoio à Cultura - FAC
Realization: Museu de Arte de Brasília - MAB
Authorship and Idealization: Danilo Fleury and Maíra Guimarães
Curatorship: Danilo Fleury, Maíra Guimarães and Rogério Carvalho
Expography: Coarquitetos , Danilo Fleury and Maíra Guimarães
Production: Curatorship of Cultural Projects, Leonardo Gois
Graphic Design: Coarquitetos, Danilo Fleury and Maíra Guimarães
Collaborators: Giovana Martins, Marcela Budó, Marcos Paulo Cruz and Lucas Patriota
Bibliographic references:
BRAGA, Milton. O concurso de Brasília: sete projetos para uma capital. Museu da Casa Brasileira, 2010.
FICHER, Sylvia; BATISTA, Geraldo Nogueira; LEITÃO, Francisco; FRANÇA, Dionísio Alves de. Brasília: uma história de planejamento In RODRÍGUEZ, Eduard, e FIGUEIRA, Cibele Vieira A (Brasilia 1956 - 2006, de la fundación de una ciudad capita l al ca pital de la ciudad) Lleida: Milenio, 2006. pp. 55-97.
GUIMARÃES, Maíra Oliveira. Uma capital para um lago, um palácio e um hotel. In: VI Encontro da Associação Nacional de Pesquisa e Pós-graduação em Arquitetura e Urbanismo. 2020.
SILVA, Elcio Gomes da. Os palácios originais de Brasília Tese (Universidade de Brasília). Brasília, 2012.
TAVARES, Jeferson. Projetos para Brasília 1927-1957. IPHAN, 2014.
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