Brasília
the city of the future is 50 years old
Dr. Ing. Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Landscape Architect n Urban Research
[email protected]
Brasília
the city of the future is 50 years old
Brazil > positioning Brasília.
The makers of Brasília > the Modernism Trio.
Making Brasília true > the Construction of the City.
Urban future > Brasilia's urban structure. The Plano Piloto.
Past perspectives & Future challenges.
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Brazil
Area 8.514.876 km²
Population 191.000.000 (2007)
Population growth rate 1,4 %
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Brazil – Federal District & Brasília
Equator
Rio de Janeiro 931 km
São Paulo 871 km
5th biggest country
9th most populated > but low density 21 p/km2
young country > 30% of the population under 15 years of age
one of the most urbanised countries in the world – 85% pop living in cities
9th world economy, but
worst case of inequity in Latin America – Brasília is the worst case of inequity
in Brazil (UNO 2010)
• since 2000 16% less poverty (UNO report on poverty 2010)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
São Paulo 2005
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Carlos Leite “Building the Unfinished: Urban interventions in Sao Paulo in: Contemporary Urban
Design in Brazil “ (ed.: W. Siembieda; V. del Rio). Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2009
Brasília
Cities from scratch
Belo Horizonte (1898)
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Boa Vista (1946)
Palmas (1990)
Brasília
Brasilia – the long way of a new capital
1987
21.04. 1960
1959
1957
1956
1956
1922
1894
1893
1892
1891
1823
1822
1789
1755
UNESCO - World Heritage List
Officially named National Capital
Lake Paranoá
National competition for the masterplan
The location of the city fixed within the Federal District and NOVACAP –
enterprise for construction and urbanisation
Jucelino Kubitschek elected as president (1956 - 1961)
Laid of cornerstone
Brasília anchored in the Republican Constitution
Demarcation of geographical area of the later Federal District
Cruls - Report with recommendations the location of the city
Commission for exploration of central Brazil
Brasília - as the name of a new national capital
Brazil’s independency
Intention of a settlement away from the coast to home the Portuguese Crown
Earthquake and reconstruction of Lisbon/Portugal
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Brasilia – goals for a new city in central Brazil
 Security – a safe city against maritime riots, pirate attacks to home the Portuguese Crown
 Development hub – as a “driver” to bring economic dynamic into central Brazil
 More homogeneous distribution of the population
 Centralization - in Brasilia all institutions of the federal administration should be vis-àvis – in contrast to their chaotic distribution within Rio de Janeiro
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Demographic trends
Crescimento Demográfico
4th Brazilian City
2.606.885
3.000.000
2.500.000
2006 = 52,01%
new comers
2.000.000
1.500.000
1.000.000
500.000
12.283
0
1957
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
1959
1960
1970
1980
1991
www.ibge.gov.br/
1996
2000
2007
2009
Brasília
Building the city
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Source: Brasília, onten e hoje, 2010
Brasília
Building the city
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Source: Brasília, onten e hoje, 2010
Brasília
Building the city
1959
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Source: Brasília, onten e hoje, 2010
Brasília
Building the city
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
The makers of Brasília





Brasilia the city I invented – L. Costa
Jucelino Kubitschek (1902 -1976)
Oscar Niemeyer (1907)
Lúcio Costa (1902 – 1998)
Roberto Burle Marx (1909 – 1994)
Candangos
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Le Corbusier, Lúcio
Costa and Burle Marx,
Rio 1936
Brasília
The Modernism Core-Trio
2002
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
2007
2009
Brasília
The makers of Brasília
MES - Ministry of Education and Health
Rio de Janeiro (1936)
Lúcio Costa, Carlos Leão, Affonso Eduardo Reidy, Oscar Niemeyer, Roberto Burle Marx
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
The makers of Brasília
Parque da Pampulha
Belo Horizonte (1943)
Oscar Niemeyer & Burle Marx
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
The makers of Brasília
Candangos
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Source: História de Brasília, 1981 & Brasília, onten e hoje, 2010
Brasília
Plano Piloto
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Lúcio Costa’s Plano Piloto
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
História de Brasília, 1981
Brasília
Lúcio Costa’s Plano Piloto
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Urban scales
Residential
Services/retail
Bucolic/open space
Monumental
> Traffic
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Residential scale
Superquadras
Semi-detached dwellings
and terraced houses
terraced houses
Superquadras
3-storey buildings
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Residential scale
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Residential scale
Superquadras
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
SQS
120 superblocks
each 250 x 250 m
for 2,500 to 3,000 people
density of 50 p/ha
Source: Google maps
Brasília
Residential scale
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Residential scale
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Residential scale
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Plano Piloto vs. Periphery
Águas Claras
Taguatinga
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Cidades satélites
Evolution of land use in the Federal District
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Source: SDUH Brasilia. Programa de Transporte Urbano do Distrito Federal,
Brasilia, 2004
Brasília
Cidades satélites
Evolution of land use in the Federal District
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Source: SDUH Brasilia. Programa de Transporte Urbano do Distrito Federal,
Brasilia, 2004
Brasília
Cidades satélites
Evolution of land use in the Federal District
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Source: SDUH Brasilia. Programa de Transporte Urbano do Distrito Federal,
Brasilia, 2004
Brasília
Residential/retail scale
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Monumental scale – Monumental Axis
16 km of length
250 m width
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Monumental Axis
Praça dos Três Poderes - Square of Three Powers
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Monumental Axis
Praça dos Três Poderes - Square of Three Powers
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Supreme Court (1963)
Brasília
Monumental Axis
Praça dos Três Poderes - Square of Three Powers
Planalto Palace (1960)
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Monumental Axis
Praça dos Três Poderes - Square of Three Powers
Planalto Palace (1960)
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Palace of Justice(1970)
Brasília
Monumental Axis
Congresso Nacional – Nat. Congress (1960)
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Monumental Axis
National Congress (1960)
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Monumental Axis
Itamaraty – Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1965)
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Monumental Axis
Esplanada dos Ministérios
Ministries’ Esplanade (1960)
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Monumental Axis
Metropolitan Cathedral (1960)
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Monumental Axis
Metropolitan Cathedral (1960)
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Monumental Axis
National Museum (2006)
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
National Library (2006)
Brasília
Monumental Axis
National Theater (1966, 1981)
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Monumental scale
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Monumental Axis
Espanada dos Ministérios, 2003
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Monumental Axis
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Services/retail Scale
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Services/retail Scale
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Services/retail Scale
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Bucolic scale
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Bucolic scale
Biome - cerrado
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
www.agencia.cnptia.embrapa.br/
Brasília
Bucolic scale
Biome - cerrado
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
www.agencia.cnptia.embrapa.br/
Brasília
Bucolic scale
Urban landscape
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Bucolic scale
Parque da Cidade, Burle Marx (1978)
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Bucolic scale
Praça dos Cristais, Burle Marx (1978)
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Traffic – from a connecting function to a mono-functional space
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Source: SDUH Brasilia. Programa de Transporte Urbano do Distrito
Federal, Brasilia, 2004
Brasília
Traffic – from a connecting function to a mono-functional space
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Federal District – 21Administration unities
Source: Análisis del Merado de Suelo Urbano en el Distrito Federal
y su Entorno Inmediato. Washington DC, Cities Alliance, 2004
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Source: Conteos de Población 1996 y Censo Demográfico 2000.
Instituto Brasileño de Geografía y Estadísticas
Brasília
Federal District
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Source: SDUH Brasilia. Programa de Transporte Urbano do Distrito Federal,
Brasilia, 2004
Brasília
Past perspectives
Mobility
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
Past Perspectives & Future Challenges
Population distribution (2000) - IBGE
+ Example of urban efficiency
+ City of the future
+ A new capital with a strong urban image,
to
unite Brazil. DF provided Brazilians with a source
of pride and a symbol of hope
+ High standards of infrastructure and urban
services in health, education, recreation, and
open space
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
 Most dispersed and fragmented of the Brazilian
cities, with a metropolis structured by enclosed cells
connected by highways or roads
 Plano piloto  cidades satélites > no planning efforts
applied in the periphery
 The costs of Brasilia have never been calculated
Development hub > greater success. The city not
only connected the rest of the country together
with it's central location and superb highway
network, but it provided a growth centre for Brazil
to expand westward and to tap it's vast interior
resources
 Periphery growing without much control and
standards and poor in urban services
Brasília
Past Perspectives & Future Challenges
+ Example of urban equity,
in a modern way of life,  Strong spatial and social segregation > poor in the
integrating of all social classes
periphery, far away from job opportunities
+ Small city (500,000) for civil servants,
parliamentarians and government officers
+ Strict land use plan > residential areas saturated
since 2005
+ Passive housing strategies (natural ventilation
and lighting, use of sunscreens and appropriate
materials for the climate)
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
 Metropolitan area with 3,600,000 inhabitants in
three different states
 Brasilia's influences exceeded the limits of the
Federal District > it must now be understood and
further developed in a new metropolitan dimension
 Urbanised areas for commercial/retail uses not
claimed yet > National Heritage and UNESCO
 Building as usual
Brasília
Past Perspectives & Future Challenges
Employment distribution (2002)
+ Strong urban identity > unity of building forms,
and monumental civic public spaces
+ High living standards in DF
90% of population served by treated water and
85% connect to sewage treatment system
+ 70% jobs and facilities concentrated in Brasília
10% of the population of Federal District
= High traffic levels + dependency on cars
= roads + landscape fragmentation
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
 Loose, informal urban structure, eclectic building forms
and materials, and a lack of urban landmarks and civic
spaces
 Creation of equal living conditions in the whole of the
Brasília metropolitan area, while further developing the
plano piloto without endangering its UNESCO status,
which the inhabitants are proud of
 Promote the economic diversification in the DF and
create employment independent of the public sector
Brasília
Past perspectives
+ City embedded in an open and generous
landscape
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
 Continuous claim of landscape for urban uses, loss
and fragmentation of the cerrado
 A chicaned structure and badly maintained public
spaces make difficult to walk and cycle
 Claim of open spaces for car parking
 Cidades satélites > Low standards in neighbourhood
green and open spaces
• Provide the periphery with quality public spaces and
civic buildings to promote the population’s sense of
belonging;
• UNESCO > Delimitate the buffer zones and create
a legal framework for protecting the cerrado
Brasília
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Source: www.g1/globo.com
Brasília
Thank you for your attention!
Carlos Smaniotto Costa
Brasília
CURITIBA
 Low income housing is at the border of the corridors
 Similar population and density than metropolitan Brasilia (2.5 million and 57p/ha)
 Distance to downtown is 3 times lower than Brasilia – below 7,5 km
 Less dispersion and shorter distances to CBD result in much smaller networks and
shorter trips
 Investment decisions tend to be disarticulated and vulnerable to arbitrarily
 With a motorized level that is 21.3% higher than metropolitan Brasilia (DF) Curitiba’s
gasoline and ethanol consumption is 24% lower
Magalhães, F. (2009) What can be done to improve cities’ performances?
Interamerican Development Bank, Brasília/Washington
Carlos Smaniotto Costa