Built in just 41 months, the city was officially "put into operation" on April 21, 1960, although the idea of its construction dates back to the early 19th century: even then it was clear that the development of the inner states of Brazil, in all respects lagging behind the coastal regions, was clear. In this aspect, the new capital has fulfilled its role: for its connection with the ocean, a network of roads was built, along which new agricultural centers arose, mining and forestry intensified - all that allowed Brazil to rise to the modern economic level.
Brasilia also played an excellent representative role: its wide avenues, spacious squares and lawns and huge administrative buildings of bold shapes made an impression on the whole world, starting with the enthusiasm of the contemporaries of the city's creator, President Juscelino Kubitschek, and ending with the inclusion of its central area in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987, less than 30 years after the end of construction: the situation is unique for a monument of international importance.
The city was conceived as a social utopia, where ministers and workers will live in the same apartments in the same six-story buildings, go to the same churches and shops. The master plan of "Plano Piloto" resembles an airplane in its outlines (although its author Luciu Costa angrily rejected such an allusion, considering it ridiculous). Its “wings” (10 km) are residential areas, divided into zones, “super-quadras” and “quadras” quarters. There are no street names, so a typical address looks like SQN 202 Bloco A apto. 208, which stands for "northern super-quadra 202, block A, apartment 208". The residents themselves believe that it is so very easy to find the desired house - it is enough to know the arithmetic.
Along the "fuselage" (6 km) is drawn the avenue "Monumental axis", part of which is the Esplanade of ministries with 17 buildings of these institutions; on the site of the cockpit is the Square of Three Powers with the best buildings of Oscar Niemeyer - the buildings of the National Congress and the Supreme Court and the presidential palace. Also on this line are located the Cathedral of Our Lady, the National Museum and the Library, completed after 1960; like many other public buildings in Brasilia, these are the works of Oscar Niemeyer, and the last two, created in the 21st century, caused some public outrage. According to critics, the architect himself violated the integrity of his creation, which no longer belongs to him, but to humanity.
However, these buildings were foreseen in the general plan, so their appearance seems to be quite legitimate. Much more serious is the problem of something that was not at all originally intended: the belt of satellite cities surrounding the capital, partly consisting of slums. It is there that most Brazilians live: a total of 2.6 million, and the residential areas of the Costa were designed for 600 thousand people. The first slums - and the first poor people of the utopian city - appeared even before 1960: a huge number of workers from all over the country came to the gigantic construction, primarily from the impoverished northeast; in the capital, they were able to find work, and soon their families moved to them.
Brasilia is the richest city in the country, so laborers still come there in search of a better life, and then stay forever. Strong social stratification, the contrast between the central part of the capital and the suburbs forced Niemeyer to call this urban planning experiment a failure. However, this problem, typical for the country as a whole, could not have been solved by means of architecture - even in a separate new city taken in the middle of the steppe, but Brasilia has other negative features inherent only to it. For example, the transfer of all state institutions, the headquarters of the largest public and commercial organizations there has caused serious damage to the well-being of the old capital - Rio de Janeiro, from which, it is believed, he has not recovered until now. Another difficulty is the remoteness of the capital and the "servants of the people" who have settled there from their voters (most of the Brazilians live on the coast). This was clearly shown during the military dictatorship (1964-1985), when public protests took place in Rio and São Paulo, without disturbing the government in Brasilia. Also, this situation contributes to rampant corruption in the highest echelons of power, creating a sense of impunity. Shortly before the city's 50th anniversary celebrations, a metropolitan governor was arrested on bribery charges, the first Brazilian official of this rank to be imprisoned while in office.
There are also more specific problems. The scale of the city is not designed for pedestrians, and it is difficult to do without a car there, despite the rather efficient public transport system. The service sector and infrastructure are poorly developed there. Back in the 1990s, institutions operated from Tuesday to Thursday, as on Friday, working residents flew to the coast, returning only on Monday: there was absolutely nothing to do in Brasilia on weekends. Now the situation has improved, but not much.
However, the residents of the capital, primarily the middle class, love their city for its relative prosperity: it has the highest standard of living in Brazil. It also has an element of God's chosenness that flatters them: in the 19th century, the Italian Saint John Bosco had a vision of a prosperous new city located between 15 and 20 degrees south latitude on the shore of an artificial lake. Brasilia fits this description (it is located at the Paranois reservoir), so John Bosco was chosen as her patron saint. However, the value of Brasilia is not limited to this and is about the same thing for which UNESCO noted it: this unique city was and remains a monument to social optimism and self-confidence of “classical modernism”, which was already declining in the early 1960s.
The integrity and scale of this architectural work makes it an unparalleled example of both urban planning of the 20th century and the national version of the style, which caused both attempts to imitate and reject all over the world. And Brasilia can also be viewed as an instructive example of the interaction of the rational design of its creators and the spontaneous, organic influence of the human community inhabiting it - interaction with very ambiguous results. As they say, to Yuri Gagarin, the new Brazilian capital seemed like another planet, but whatever the appearance of its buildings, it is on Earth - and this leaves its mark.
