--- title: Brazil's Capital by Oscar Niemeyer: A Futuristic Past description: Dmitri Kessel photographed the architecture of Brasília, the new capital of Brazil, for LIFE Magazine canonical: https://time.com/3826417/oscar-niemeyer/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-08T12:00:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:41.144Z og:title: Brazil's Capital by Oscar Niemeyer: A Futuristic Past og:description: Dmitri Kessel photographed the architecture of Brasília, the new capital of Brazil, for LIFE Magazine og:url: https://time.com/3826417/oscar-niemeyer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd4b6c7c397bad47/6987eba4cd6848097909d939/150416-oscar-niemeyer-10.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Oscar Neimeyer's Pálacio do Planalto, 1961. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Brazil's Capital by Oscar Niemeyer: A Futuristic Past twitter:description: Dmitri Kessel photographed the architecture of Brasília, the new capital of Brazil, for LIFE Magazine twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd4b6c7c397bad47/6987eba4cd6848097909d939/150416-oscar-niemeyer-10.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See the Futuristic Architecture of Brazil's Past by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Aug 8, 2016 12:00 PM UTC  Oscar Neimeyer's Pálacio do Planalto. Oscar Neimeyer's Pálacio do Planalto.Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Aug 8, 2016 12:00 PM UTC As all eyes turn to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Olympics, the Brazilian city will try to present its best face—a [somewhat controversial](http://time.com/4428030/crises-rio-olympics/) one—to the world. But the [new buildings ](http://www.wired.com/2016/08/games-rios-stadiums-wont-rot-theyll-transform/)that will host the games aren’t the first examples of a Brazilian city transforming itself in short order. In fact, it’s nothing compared to what happened in the late 1950s, when the nation’s capital moved from Rio to Brasília. As LIFE [explained](https://books.google.com/books?id=0lMEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA120#v=twopage&q&f=false) in 1958, “the building of a new Brazilian capital has been an article of the constitution of the republic since 1891, when it was already apparent that Rio de Janeiro, crowded between sea and mountains, could not forever serve a nation with so vast a hinterland.” Oscar Niemeyer was the architect selected to design the first buildings of the new capital—in a location that was then so remote that the workers had to be airlifted in before the roads were built. Niemeyer was known for what LIFE in 1959 [summed](https://books.google.com/books?id=Wz8EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA56&dq=oscar%20niemeyer&pg=PA56#v=onepage&q=oscar%20niemeyer&f=false) up as “startling designs of poured concrete.” Dmitri Kessel photographed his work in Brasília for the magazine, though most of these images would never run on its pages. Even a half-century later, it’s easy to see why their stark facades and swooping lines would be chosen to bring a nation into the future. The city was officially [established](http://time.com/vault/issue/1960-05-02/page/26/) in 1960. “Until Brasília, I regarded architecture as an exercise to be practiced in a sporting spirit and nothing more,” Niemeyer, who died in 2012, once [said](http://time.com/vault/issue/1958-07-28/page/50/). “Now I live for Brasília.”  Cathedral of Brasília (framework) designed by Oscar Niemeyer. Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Oscar Niemeyer architecture, Brazil. Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Oscar Niemeyer architecture, Brazil. Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Men play soccer in front of buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil. Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Oscar Niemeyer's architecture, Brazil. Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Oscar Neimeyer designed twin towers for Congress in Brasília. Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Oscar Neimeyer's Pálacio do Planalto facade. Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Oscar Niemeyer's architecture, Brazil. Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sculpture head of ex-president and Brasília builder Juscelino Kubitscheck by Oscar Neimeyer. Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Oscar Neimeyer's Pálacio do Planalto. Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Oscar Niemeyer's architecture, Brazil. Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  National Congress of Brazil, designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer. Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Palácio da Alvorada, designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer. Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Portrait of Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in his self-designed home, 1959. 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