After the carefree, party atmosphere in Rio, Jon heads inland to the capital, Brasilia. A dramatic contrast to Rio de Janeiro, Jon focuses on the architecture of this modernised city. If Rio is the extravagant, Italian sports car, Brasilia would be the luxury, German sedan (if that sedan was designed by Scandinavians).
Words | Jon Reid
Here is the background – sometime in the mid 20th century, the Brazilian government decided to move the capital from Rio to a location perfectly in the middle of the country. At the time, there was no settlement at all. They hired the preeminent architect in those days, Oscar Niemeyer, to plan the city and to design the bulk of the buildings. A top down view of the city reveals the shape of an airplane. In one wing is the hotel district, in another is the commercial district. Parallel roads run down the middle of the plane with six lanes in each. The area along these two roads (The Twin Axis of Power) is the hub of the city, including the cathedral, museums, a theatre and government buildings.
I’ve never been to a city as meticulously designed
I can’t imagine how much it must have cost to build a capital city in the middle of nowhere with a special leaning towards unique design. A friend of mine commented that the city reveals a problem with design – for it to look good, it needs a lot of negative space, which makes it too far to walk to most places.
I’m a huge fan of design over practicality and this negative space created the perfect environment for architectural photography. Taxis were easy to find in Brasilia as well as being affordable, so don’t be put off by the distances.
The gospel principle with architectural photography is to always photograph in the blue hour, that time after sunset but before night falls. Unfortunately, I was only spending one evening in Brasilia and could only cover one building in the blue hour (more like 20 minutes near the equator).
It’s almost as if Oscar Niemeyer anticipated this problem. Most of the buildings are painted a brilliant white, which contrasts beautifully against a midday sky. Additionally, the cement surrounding the buildings created a large reflector, giving the appearance of softer light.
As you can see in these pictures, the blue hour photos are still superior, but as a compromise, I was happy to photograph in midday light.
As a final comment on the city, I should mention that Brazil is an economic super power. If you exclude Alaska, Brazil is larger than the United States. Brasilia is an expression of this wealth and power.
On Oscar Niemeyer’s designs, they seem to be loved and hated in equal measure. To me, that is should be the goal of design – to be noticed and to cause a reaction. Nothing is universally loved. At best, it will be universally tolerated. In my opinion, it’s much better to be noticed and hated than to cause indifference. It is impossible to be indifferent to Oscar Niemeyer’s ‘Bond villain’ lairs.
Next stop in Jon's Journal will be Buenos Aires, Argentina. Giving us a unique guided tour of the best parts to visit.
