A city of superblocks
Masterplan. Authors’ redesign.Museu de Arte de Brasília - MAB
Vertical city
The project concentrated most of the residential areas in eighteen very tall buildings. As a result, the plan occupied a small area near the lake. In addition to the large buildings, a town center and a civic center were planned, both located on the shores of the lake.
A walk
The approximate maximum distance between the residential blocks and the city center would be approximately 2 km, allowing easy access on foot. The city's main roads would be elevated highways, so that the ground would be free for pedestrians.
If we compare
the project with Lúcio Costa’s Pilot Project, we will see that the city proposed by Rino Levi would occupy the area between the Pilot Project and Paranoá Lake, where the club sectors and Vila Planalto are today.
View of a square. Authors’ rendering.Museu de Arte de Brasília - MAB
Buildings and houses
In addition to the superblocks, other buildings made up the residential scale of the project. While the center would host the superblocks of apartments, a large area on the south shore of the lake would house single-family homes.
Neighborhood units
would be composed of a set of three superblocks around a local commercial center, where services such as schools, shops, hospitals and sports courts would be located.
Eighteen superblocks
would house most of the city’s population. The buildings would have one hundred floors and be 400m long. Each of them would be composed of a group of thirty-two buildings connected by elevated streets, which would contain the daily services.
Spot the difference
of scale between a superblock and a six-storey block in Brasilia, as proposed by Lúcio Costa.
Streets on high
The elevators would be vertical streets connecting the first floor to the commercial floors. These floors would include the daily services and access elevators to each residential building.
Let’s see the view
of a public square located on one of these elevated streets.
Tap to explore
360°
You are in the residential sector.
View of the commercial sector. Authors’ rendering.Museu de Arte de Brasília - MAB
All in the center
The city would have an urban center where ministries, municipalities, commercial buildings, hotels, cultural facilities, central market, cathedral and bus station would be located.
Let's get to know
this central area, which concentrates various city facilities and services.
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360°
You are in the commercial sector.
View of the government sector. Authors’ rendering.Museu de Arte de Brasília - MAB
The civic and government center
would be a little away from the center, on the main peninsula of the lake. There would be a large esplanade for parades and a monumental square, the site of the palaces of the three powers.
In the Three Powers Square
would be the Legislative, Executive and Judiciary palaces, integrated with the Alvorada Palace and the National Hotel, both previously allocated by the public notice of the contest.
Want to take a closer look?
The Three Powers Square would be surrounded by monuments and, in the background, we would see the immense superblocks.
Tap to explore
360°
You are in the government sector.
To find out more about the contest, click here: Introduction
Get to know the other finalist projects:
1° - Lucio 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.