Great Cities
Part 1
1. What were the problems that Brasilia was designed to solve?
One of the main reasons why Brasilia was built is because Brazil did not want its capitol city to be located by the sea and have a major port. So the wanted to focus on developing the resources inside of the nation and keep them close to home. The other reason was because it backed up the promise of Juscelino Kubitschek the president of Brazil in 1956.
2. What did the architects and planners envision for the new capital city and why? What is their plan reflect about what they thought about human beings and modernity?
The architects wanted to build the city of tomorrow and be the basis of they way the world built its cities. They wanted free standing buildings so nothing was touching and could be its own design. They changed the way people used their houses and roads. They didn’t build a system of streets but just highways that had roads lead to the backs of buildings. They gave no thought to they way people currently lived in their country but strived to change every aspect of the way they lived instead. They built the city for a new society of Brazilians.
3. How was the Brazilian government able to build the city so quickly? What early problems emerged?
When the plan to build was approved by the government thousands of laborers flocked to the build site. They worked night and day for 41 months and designed the buildings the way they wanted them to be. The problems people found as they moved in were that there was no place to walk because there were not streets. The buildings looked the same so it was hard to distinguish what was a restaurant from an apartment building. The children played in the front of the building because there were no streets to avoid. It was a totally different place to the people who migrated first and did not use the buildings the way the builders intended. They ignored the front door and chose to be closer to the road by the back door....