Lúcio Costa designed the original master plan for Brasília, Brazil’s capital inaugurated in 1960.
Costa won the 1957 national competition to plan the new capital, proposing an urban layout organized around two major axes. The result is often described as resembling an airplane or a bird in flight, although Costa emphasized the logic of a monumental axis and a residential axis rather than a literal picture. The plan separated civic, residential, commercial, and transportation functions on a large modernist scale.
Architect Oscar Niemeyer designed many of Brasília’s most recognizable buildings, including the National Congress, the Cathedral, and the Alvorada Palace. This division of roles sometimes leads people to credit Niemeyer with the entire city, but Costa was responsible for the winning urban plan. Brasília was inaugurated on April 21, 1960, under President Juscelino Kubitschek. The city’s modernist architecture and planning earned it UNESCO World Heritage status in 1987.