Brasilia beyond the Pilot Plan sector: memories from the satellite towns

The sculptural shapes designed by Oscar Niemeyer and the wide open views of the Pilot Plan sector outlined by Lúcio Costa are the iconic images of Brasilia. But, in statements by migrants who experienced the early days when the satellite towns were being built, …

The capital meant something very different from what was envisaged on architects' drawing boards or in political speeches.

Those migrants who moved to Brasilia in search of work on the building sites clearly recall the climate of enthusiasm at that time but they also talk about the anxieties and difficulties facing them both then and now.

The plan drawn up by Lucio Costa for the new capital adopted concepts and instruments of urban and regional planning in vogue at that period. It was based on the creation of a central nucleus with an orderly layout and limited dimensions – the Plano Piloto – implicitly presupposing growth through satellite cities also ordered and in the midst of a green belt.

“Wherever you were going, you'd arrive dirty, the old buses, the worst ones they had, were just dumped here [Ceilândia], old buses that were rubbish, with a load of dust blowing in onto everyone” (Ilton Ferreira Mendes, 2002)

““The idea of a satellite is that it depends on something, but we don't depend on anyone [in Taguatinga], and seeing as we help [each other], we can ditch the word satellite” (Francisco Soares Pereira, 2004)

Legally purchasing a plot of land in a satellite town was seen as a triumph but it could cause the breakdown of long-standing, valuable support networks in the illegal settlements.

Even as the satellite towns became established, the residents' feelings of instability and precariousness were clear in their' tales of frequent moves. Sometimes they were just looking for new jobs or new places to live but other moves involved forcible relocation or the authorities imposing urban planning on areas that were already occupied.  

Their stories tell of a periphery undergoing rapid transformation, suggesting that either the area would be tolerated or ignored by the authorities or it would become a target for control measures and attempts to impose urban planning..

“people worked a lot but they moved around a lot, too. At that time, people were always moving around.” (Vicente Paulo de Souza,1995).

Many residents remember the day when they moved from the illegal settlements to a satellite town. Each wooden shack was dismantled and transported in a Novacap truck to the plot in the new center. It then had to be rebuilt so they'd have somewhere to live initially. 

From Lúcio Costa's perspective, the vegetation of the Cerrado savanna acted as a backdrop for the Praça dos Três Poderes (Square of the Three Powers), enabling him to express the symbolic contrast between the constructed civilization and the natural environment. In the memories of the satellite town residents, the savanna was a hostile environment that they had to endure in the early days of living in areas without any urban attributes.

“they [the authorities] dumped us in the middle of the savanna. We had no water, no electricity, no transport, nothing” (Hélio Dom Bosco Bonifácio, 2004).

Novacap technicians, administrators, and bosses also gave interviews explaining the urban planning design for the satellite towns and sometimes criticizing the disruptions to that planning. 

Several of the people interviewed recalled the water spouts, taps, springs, and creeks where they'd go to collect water, wash clothes, or take a bath. Often located on the outskirts of the planned design, these were places where people could socialize. This was particularly the case for women, whose daily lives were taken up with water-related tasks.

Several stories place more emphasis on the ties of solidarity than on the conflicts and problems they faced, reinforcing their shared narrative about the value of community when building a new place to live.

While this code of mutual help was instrumental in organizing groups and ensuring survival, there were also residents who were less dependent on these support networks, although that made building a house in the satellite town more difficult for them.  

 Plots in the satellite towns were granted by Novacap on a provisional basis until the legal status of the land could be definitively sorted. Ownership of land required it to be occupied and the residents' stories mention the ever-present risk of having their land or shack occupied by other people.

Public facilities, albeit scarce in the early days, were landmarks that lent their names to streets and places but some names also came from everyday, more mundane locations in the urban landscape.

Part of creating this frame of reference for naming places included recalling characters who played a key role in setting up and organizing life in each of these communities, especially representatives from religious and welfare organizations.

These memories of the contributions made by each of the satellite towns to the history and shaping of Brasilia highlight the need to give them greater political attention and provide them with urban facilities. After all, these references to the past are just another way of expressing the problems and concerns facing these communities today.

In the present-day metropolis, new ways of experiencing and viewing the capital city are emerging and the traditions of that first migrant group are merging with broader cultural references. Brasilia is more than simply a collection of modern buildings and monuments: it is a symbolic creation that is being continuously shaped by different groups and individuals.