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 Imagine
what it would be like touching down on
another planet, and you'll have some
idea of what confronts you when you
first arrive in BRASÍLIA : there
is a clinical, science-fiction logic at
work in the city. Other visitors have
had less kind things to say about the
city. Simone de Beauvoir, visiting in
1963 with Jean-Paul Sartre in tow,
described the place as "elegant monotony",
while the Royal Institute of British
Architects poked fun by renaming
Brasília "The Moon's Backside".
The city was intended for a
population of half a million by the year
2000. However, there are over two
million people living in and around
Brasília today and within twenty years
this could easily double. There are also
substantial and rapidly growing
shantytowns - which are euphemistically
named "pioneer settlements" - ringing
the ultramodern city. Most of the people
who live here do so for economic reasons.
A large service sector followed the
bureaucrats, diplomats and businessmen
into the new city and, behind that, a
whole trail of retailers and smaller
merchants arrived to compete for the new
markets.
Brasília's good points are all fairly
obvious architectural ones, but
there are other attractions, too.
Magnificent sunsets send a golden glow
over the twin concrete towers of the
National Congress building; pleasant
parks, popular for weekend picnics,
encircle the entire city; and in the
downtown zone, by the central bus
station, the lively atmosphere revolves
around a busy mess of people and trade.
Brasília's design also has a mystic
side to it. On Brazilian Republic Day -
April 21 - the sun rises through the
concrete "H" shape of the parallel twin
towers which poke out of the National
Congress building, provoking images of a
futuristic Stonehenge. Other curious
theories associate modern Brasília with
the stars, with the lost city of
Atlantis and with ancient Egypt's
pyramids and temples. The aerial view of
the city, a winged bird shape, is
vaguely reminiscent of the mystical
Egyptian ibis bird, and the cemetery is
laid out in the shape of a spiral -
life's symbol and essential pattern.
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Brasília
can be
as
alienating
as any
city
and,
unlike
most
other
Brazilian
cities,
people
here
seldom
stop or
smile to
acknowledge
a fellow
human
being.
Moreover,
on some
very
basic
points,
Brasília
has
certainly
failed
as a
planned
city.
Forty
years on,
although
people
are
certainly
grumbling
less
about
the
soullessness
of
Brasília,
no one
would
dream of
comparing
it to
Paris,
London
or Rio
for
nightlife
and
entertainment.
Many
officials
still
arrive
for work
on
Monday
and
leave
for home
on
Thursday
because
they
find the
city
either
too
oppressive
or just
plain
boring
at the
weekend.
At the
most
basic
level,
there's
a
distinct
lack of
street-corner
bars and
ad hoc
market
places,
things
which
provide
a major
social
hub
elsewhere
in
Brazil.
Instead,
there
are
simply
vast
areas of
empty
space,
massive
and
anonymous
office
or hotel
blocks.
Despite
this,
however,
there is
a
substantial
middle
class
living
and
working
happily
in
Brasília,
mostly
based
around
the
university
and the
civil
service
The
City
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Brasília's
overriding
attraction
is the
bizarre
environment
produced
by its
stunning
architecture
. The
blue sky
which
normally
hangs
over the
city
contrasts
well
with the
modern
buildings
and the
deep
red,
dusty
earth of
the
planalto.
There
are no
exceptional
museums
or
historical
sites;
it's the
city
itself
that's
on show,
which -
in many
ways -
is less
than
satisfying
since,
unlike
other
Brazilian
cities,
there is
little
human
contact
to be
made.
It's
a very
strange
place to
tour
around.
To some,
it
appeals
as a
futuristic
metropolis,
to
others
it seems
like an
open-air
prison,
but
perhaps
the most
apt
comparison
is with
a
gigantic
Rodoviária,
a great
concrete
complex
dominated
by road
systems.
Class
and race
barriers
do exist
here,
though
the most
obvious
dividing
line in
Brasília
is the
question
of car
ownership,
which
confers
status
and
power.
If you
haven't
got a
car,
you're
part of
the
underclass.
The open
spaces
are vast
and
daunting,
and
traditionally
no one
walks if
they can
help it,
but on
foot you
can get
a closer,
more
intimate
look at
the city. |
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