Building Brasília: “fifty years of progress in five”

Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil until 1960, when the architectural marvel called Brasília was hacked out of the scrub of the altiplano. President Juscelino Kubitschek, known to everyone as JK, was elected in 1956 and used all his political skills and power of the purse to make this bold dream come true. JK called for “fifty years of progress in five,” exhorting the Brazilian people to do the impossible and build a new center of government in the deserted interior of the country.

Many men left the drought-stricken Northeast states to pursue the promise of good jobs and to be part of something bold and modern, fulfilling the dream written on Brazil’s flag: order and progress. These men, and a few women, came to be called candangos. The term was originally derogatory but later came to represent the courage and spirit of those who worked tirelessly to make President JK’s vision a reality.

The construction site in the middle of the country, in the state of Goiás, was really like the Wild West for workers, who lived in shacks and tents and worked for months on end without any time off. Workers were paid in cash because there were no banks or other institutions. The president lived and held cabinet meetings in a simple wooden building until the presidential palace Palácio da Alvorada was built, the first official government building inaugurated in 1958.

Brazil’s modernist miracle was designed by architect Lúcio Costa, with buildings by Oscar Niemeyer and bold landscapes by Roberto Burle Marx. The city is recognized internationally as a remarkable achievement and has been called a modern wonder of the world.