Brasilia
Brasilia, a capital created ex nihilo in
the centre of the country in 1956, was a landmark in the history of town
planning. Urban planner Lucio Costa and architect Oscar Niemeyer
intended that every element – from the layout of the residential and
administrative districts (often compared to the shape of a bird in
flight) to the symmetry of the buildings themselves – should be in
harmony with the city’s overall design. The official buildings, in
particular, are innovative and imaginative.