The History of Brasilia

Looking for photos and info about today's Brasilia? Try here!

The History of BRASILIA
Part I

Topics:

The History of Brasilia	Photos of the Construction
"Did you know?" Other planned cities Extreme Detail Curios about Brasilia Mayors and Governors FAQs	A little about: Juscelino Kubitschek Lucio Costa Oscar Niemeyer Israel Pinheiro And also...
Historical Documents	Related links and Bibliography

Please read this before copying
our texts to other web sites.

The purpose of these pages is presenting the abridged, albeit useful and accurate, history of our city. If you happen to have any additional information you'd like to e-mail us or if you know of any related web sites which might be of interest, please contact us!

Chronology

1823		José Bonifácio presents a bill to build a new capital and suggests the name "Brasília" for the new city. (1)
1883		Dom Bosco has his well-known dream.
1892		The Comissão Exploradora do Planalto Central, so-called "Cruls Mission" (2), is appointed; two years later, a 14,400 km2 area, deemed adequate for the future capital, is demarcated. This area became known as the "Cruls Quadrilateral".
1922	Sep 07, 1922	The fundation stone of the future Federal Capital of the United States of Brazil is laid; near the city of Planaltina, in the outskirts of the present-day Federal District.
1955	April 04, 1955	During a rally in the small town of Jataí (in the state of Goiás), presidential candidate Juscelino Kubitschek, in response to a voter’s question promises that, if elected, he will shift the federal capital to the central plateau.
	April 15, 1955	The New Federal Capital Locating Commission (which had been created in 1953) chooses the definitive location where Brasília will be constructed - the "Sítio Castanho". (3)
1956	April 18, 1956	Juscelino Kubitschek sends to Congress the Bill of Anapolis, proposing, among other things, the creation of NOVACAP (Companhia Urbanizadora da Nova Capital – New Capital Urbanization Agency); the name Brasília is also proposed.
	Sep 19, 1956	Congress unanimously enacts the Bill (Law #2,874). The edict for the Plano Piloto contest is published (September 30, 1956).
	Oct 22, 1956	Construction of the provisional presidential residency, the Catetinho, starts. It will be opened on Oct 31, 1956.
1957	Mar 15, 1957	Lúcio Costa’s project wins the contest (3). By this time, construction of the airport and of Palácio da Alvorada (presidential residency) had already started. That is, the construction of Brasilia started in 1956; the construction of Plano Piloto, following Lucio Costa’s project, started in 1957.
1958	August 05, 1958	The first streets are paved.
	June 05, 1958	Taguatinga, now the most important "satellite town", is founded. Although it was created as "the first satellite town", the so-called "Free Town" already existed. (5)
1960	April 21, 1960	Brasilia is inaugurated. The festivities started at 4:00 PM, April 20. At 09:30 AM, April 21, the Three Powers of the Republic simultaneously took seat in Brasilia.
1961 to 1964		Constructions nearly grinds to a halt during the presidency of Janio Quadros and João Goulart. From 1964 on, Castelo Branco and the other military presidents consolidate Brasília’s status as the de facto capital.
1962	April 21, 1962	The University of Brasilia (UnB) is officially inaugurated; first rector Darcy Ribeiro. (6)
1967	Mar 09, 1967	TV Tower inaugurated (7). The observation platform had already been inaugurated in April 1965.
1970	May 31, 1970	After more than ten years of construction, the Cathedral is inaugurated. (8)
1971	Nov 21, 1971	Conjunto Nacional first stage is inaugurated; it is the city’s first shopping center. (9)
1978	Oct 11, 1978	City Park is inaugurated. (10)
1981	-	Most of the city’s skyline is already built; among it is the Congress (1960), the TV Tower (1967), the Post Office (1977) and the Central Bank (1981). (11)
1987	Dec 07, 1987	UNESCO declares Brasília part of the world heritage.
1990	Oct 15, 1990	First elected Governor and local representatives. (12)
2000		The total population of the Federal District reaches 2 million inhabitants.
2002	Dec 15, 2002	Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge is inaugurated.
2006	Dec 15, 2006	The "Complexo Cultural da República"("Cultural Complex of the Republic"), designed by Oscar Niemeyer, is inaugurated.

* If you want to see pictures of the places and buildings mentioned above, please visit this page.

The Assembly was dissolved by Pedro I (Emperor of Brazil) before the Bill was enacted.
The Comission was formed because article #3 of the 1891 Constitution, which established that an area of 14.400 square km should be delimited in the Central Highland, for the construction of the new capital. The comission was headed by astronomer Luís Cruls.
"Sítio Castanho" was one of 5 areas of 1000 Km² (247,104 acres) indicated by an American Company, "Donald J. Belcher", as the most appropriate ones for the construction of the new capital. Brazil's President Getúlio Vargas had created the "Comissão de Localização da Nova Capital Federal" (New Federal Capital Locating Commission) in 1953, and since 1954 Marechal José Pessoa became president of it.
There were 41 entries, presented by 26 contestants. To find more about the other projects, click here.
Originally, the so-called Cidade Livre ("Free Town"), built in 1956, would be demolished after Brasília was built. Hence, the oldest "satellite town" built with such intent is Taguatinga. However, the three oldest "satellites" are Núcleo Bandeirante (formerly known as Cidade Livre - "Free Town"), Planaltina and Brazlândia. Planaltina and Brazlândia, founded 1859 and 1932 respectively, already existed long before Brasília was built, but became "satellites" nonetheless. Some other "satellites" inauguration dates: Sobradinho (May 13, 1960); Gama (October 1960); Guará (April 21, 1969); Ceilândia (1971). Ceilândia was named after CEI – Companhia de Erradicação de Invasões (Invasion Eradication Agency).
The law that created the University of Brasília Foundation was enacted in 1961. That’s why some sources quote UnB was created in 1961, notwithstanding it was not operational until 1962.
The TV Tower was designed by Lúcio Costa himself. It is, as such, one of the few important buildings not designed by Niemeyer.
Some sources incorrectly state the year as being 1967. See Myths and Untruths about Brasilia.
N.B.: in 1988-1989 the Cathedral underwent some significant restoration, in which the visible concrete structure was painted white. Stained glass (white, green and blue) replaced the old plain glass panes.
Conjunto Nacional opened November 21, 1971. It was subsequently expanded twice; the new sections opened April 24, 1975 and September 19, 1977 respectively. Parkshopping opened to the public November 08, 1983.
The original name of the Park was "Parque Rogério Pithon Farias". It was subsequently changed to "Parque Sarah Kubitschek".
The ECT’s (Post Office) building was built between May 08, 1976 and May 31, 1977; Central Bank’s building opened September 08, 1981.
As of 1986, the first senators and federal representatives had already been elected.

Mayors and Governors

The Federal District had 12 mayors between 1960 and 1969, when the First Amendment changed the status of that position to Governor. In the table below, only those who remained in office for over a month are listed.

As you can see, the first mayor was Israel Pinheiro; the first governor was Hélio Prates. Joaquim Roriz was appointed Governor his first term; he was elected for his second term.

17/04/60 to 31/01/61	Israel Pinheiro
22/08/62 to 06/04/64	Ivo de Magalhães
18/05/64 to 15/03/67	Plínio Reis de Cantanhede Almeida
31/03/67 to 30/10/69	Wadjô Gomide
04/11/69 to 15/03/74	Hélio Prates da Silveira
27/03/74 to 28/03/79	Elmo Serejo Farias
28/03/79 to 02/07/82	Aimé Alcebíades da Silveira Lamaison
02/07/82 to 03/04/85	José Ornellas de Souza Filho
08/05/85 to 20/09/88	José Aparecido de Oliveira
20/09/88 to 12/03/90 and from 15/11/90 to 01/01/95	Joaquim Domingos Roriz
01/01/95 to 01/01/99	Cristovam Ricardo Cavalcanti Buarque
01/01/99 to 01/01/07	Joaquim Domingos Roriz
Since 01/01/07	José Roberto Arruda

Notes:

- dates are in dd/mm/yy format;

- some of the above dates differ (by a few days) from the two sources used.

© Augusto Cesar B. Areal, 1997-2007.

All rights reserved. Do not copy: make a link or create yourself!

Homepage (Brasília's Home Page)

Send e-mail

Visitors of these specific pages: since Nov 20, 1997.