Here’s a post from a gadling friend Blaine
Zuver who has been traveling in
Brasilia, Brazil
(Thanks Blaine!):
Planned utopian cities were the dream of many a 1950’s urban planner. Luckily most of them remained dreams. However,
the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer’s
Jetsonian masterpiece became reality when it was finished in 1961.
Seen from the air at night the city resembles a giant jet plane.
The entire city is laid out into sectors. In the “Pilot Area” is the Presidential Palace double buildings next to
flying saucers. Government buildings go down the fuselage. The wings are residential. All shopping is on e center, all
hotels in another sector, etc.
Life is calm and pleasant – no traffic, garbage, pollution and very little crime – in other words not like
Brazil at all. Unfortunately there is little of Brazil’s excitement and culture. Like New Yorkers forced to work in
Albany, government workers pack the planes south to Rio and São Paulo every Thursday night and back again on Monday
morning.
For those who enjoy modern architecture and urban planning, Brasilia is a must see.