Lucio Costa: Brasilia's Superquadra

by Fares el-Dahdah

Nearly half a century after its inception, the city of Brasilia, designed by Lucia Costa and Oscar Niemeyer, and based on Le Corbusier's plans, continues to be one of the world’s most widely debated architectural projects. Envisioned as an egalitarian, harmonically conceived environment, the city was designed to foster collectivity and integration. Central to this effort was the idea of the "Superquadra," large neighborhoods, each with their own schools, shopping and entertainment complexes. The latest volume in the CASE series published in collaboration with Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, this study of the Superquadra looks anew at this utopian concept, analyzing both its strengths and weaknesses. It features a rare interview with planner Lucia Costa as well as essays exploring the historical and cultural contexts of Brasilia, day-to-day life in the city, and its technical complexities and realities. Rare sketches by Costa as well as stunning historical and contemporary illustrations round out this comprehensive look at the past and future of an important experiment in urban living.

140 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 2005

Reviews

[Thomson Dryjanski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fine if you only want an architectural angle, less interesting if you are interested in urbanism and humanity.

[Javier Rosales]

This book for me is the bets in Architecture

[Guy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an outsider who has had a casual interest in Brazil, I would like to recommend this book for reasons the authors perhaps did not intend.

While it appears to be a very specialized book aimed architects and planners, it (perhaps unintentionally) serves as an amazing transect through the Brazil of the period, with appearances by major public figures like Niemeyer, Costa and Roberto Burle Marx but in a presentation that inevitably also focuses on the experience 'on-the-street' of the population of Brasilia.

It considers all of this through the lens of international, national and local politics, culture and criticism. The book is also loaded with quality photos and illustrations. It does not tell the whole story of Brazil or Brasilia, but it teases out several significant threads. Any other book would be hard pressed to pack as effective a snapshot of a time and place into a mere 100 pages.

I am including it on my personal 'five foot shelf'.