Watch Modern Times Wonders - Brasilia

Brasilia is Brazil's capital city and was constructed in the nineteen fifties in futuristic style, a veritable playground for both planners and architects and also a considerable challenge for both builders and civil engineers. The general idea had been to transform what could have been fifty years of building work into just five, but they actually achieved it in just four!Brasilia was recognised as a symbol of outstanding design and in 1987 it was designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.The Congresso Nacional is the city's most famous building complex, Oscar Niemeyer's personal masterpiece, with a dome and bowl linked by two towers and corridors with photo galleries and countless government offices that form a mighty centre of administrative power.The Palacio Da Alvorada was one of the first structures to be built in the city and is located in a fine position on an artificial lake. The president's one hundred and ten metre long private residence can only be viewed from the outside under the watchful eye of the military.The pedestrianised monument, Panteao Da Patria Tancredo Neves, is adorned by a fine white dove. A memorial to democracy in esoterically inspired Bauhaus architecture.Brasilia: yesterday's imaginative and bright new tomorrow or, as described at the inauguration of the city, 'a monument to a foregone future!'