DOUGLASCAIN

Brasília (or Brasilia as commonly spelled in English) is a fascinating gesture of modernism, with a unique history. Amidst an intense competition to redesign Brazil's Capital, President Juscelino Kubitschek awarded the grand prize to Urban Planner Lúcio Costa. Under Costa, the Architect Oscar Niemeyer created some of the most impressive forms in wildly imaginative structures. Brasília was completed in the remarkably  in 41 months, from 1956 when the plan was set in motion, to the grand inauguration April 21, 1960.

These photos I have collected are the works of Marcel Gautherot and René Burri. Gautherot, who was himself an architect, was an enthusiast of Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe. Gautherot was granted unprecedented access to the construction site of the building of Brasilia.

René Burri is a Swiss photographer noted for his photographs of political, historical and cultural events and also of key figures of the second half of the 20th century. His photographs of Brasília have become quite iconic.