Selected Topics in Architecture – Modern Architecture in the Embassy Sectors: Brasília’s International Building Project

The move of Brazil’s capital from Rio de Janeiro to the new city of Brasília in the 1960s was envisioned as a physical representation of the passage to the economic and political future of a rising nation.  The new city was intended to be overtly modern, and Oscar Niemeyer’s iconic buildings defined it from the outset.  But his work did not stand alone – the construction of embassies in Brasília allowed for a nearly unprecedented gathering of international talent, and all were tasked to create facilities that both represented their own countries and paid respect to their Brazilian hosts.  In this session, we will explore the embassy compounds in Brasília that collectively mark the architectural modernism of the 1960s and 1970s.