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The Zenith Passage of the Sun in the Plan of Brasilia
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
To cite this version:
The Zenith Passage of the Sun in the Plan of Brasilia
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
(Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino)
Published in enviro.philica.com
AbstractIn this article we show that the Monumental Axis of Brasilia is oriented along the sunrise direction on the days during which it happens the zenith passage of the sun. This fact could be a mere coincidence. However, since the plan of the town is considered as highly symbolic, this alignment could have been intended as a good omen for the town, to reach the zenith of prosperity and power.
Brasilia is the federal capital of Brazil, founded on April 21, 1960. The capital was planned by Lucio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer designed its civic buildings, and Roberto Burle Marx was the landscape architect. In 1957, an international jury selected the layout proposed by Costa, in spite of the fact that his plan was not as detailed as the plans presented by other architects. It “was chosen by five out of six jurors because it had the features required to align the growth of a capital city" [1,2]. The initial plan proposed by Costa was transformed over time, but most of its features have survived [2].
Figure 1. Brasilia as seen from the International Space Station (Courtesy NASA).
Figure 2. Brasilia from Google Earth, oriented as in the Pilot Plan drawn by Lucio Costa.
The crossed layout of the town is often described as a dragonfly, an airplane or a bird [1,2]. In the framework of an architectural perspective, the airplane-shaped plan was certainly an homage to Le Corbusier [2]. About the symbolism of Costa's design of Brasilia, we find other information in [5]. There, it is told that in the cross of the town, besides the above-mentioned symbols, some scholars have also found "a reference to the cross of the early Portuguese conquerors, the bow and arrow of the native populations of Brazil, or the jet shape as a symbol for future innovation" [6]. In the case of the bow and arrow, the arrow is the Monumental Axis and the bow the Residential Axis.
Figure 3: Using SunCalc.org, we can determine the zenith passages of the sun. Here it is shown the sunrise
direction on February 5 (yellow line). The red line represents the direction of the sunset. The shaded area contains the apparent motion of the sun during the year.
Figure 5: Simulation of the sunrise on February 5, observed from the western end of the Axis (TV tower and
buildings included).
In the tropical zone, the zenith passage of the sun had influenced the ancient architectures [7]. Therefore, we can consider that also the plan of Brasilia was influenced by the sun and its zenith passage. Of course, the fact that the directions of the Axis and of sunrise are so close could be a mere coincidence; however, since the plan of Brasilia is considered as having a highly symbolic meaning, the alignment of the Monumental Axis could have been intended as a good omen for the future life of the town, that of reaching the zenith of prosperity and power.
References
[1] Epstein, David (1973). Brasilia: Plan and Reality: a study of planned and spontaneous urban development. University of California Press. ISBN 0520022033. OCLC 691903.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brasília
[3] Wong, Pia (1989). Planning and the Unplanned Reality: Brasilia (Master of City Planning, 1988). IURD Working paper series. 499. University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Urban & Regional Development. OCLC 21925988. [4] Deckker, Thomas (2016). Brasília: Life Beyond Utopia. Architectural Design. 86 (3): 88–95.
doi:10.1002/ad.2050. ISSN 1554-2769. [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lúcio_Costa
[5] Barnitz, Jacqueline, & Frank, Patrick (2015). Twentieth-Century Art of Latin America: Revised and Expanded Edition. University of Texas Press. p. 188. ISBN 9781477308042.
[6] Sparavigna, Amelia Carolina (2017). The Zenith Passage of the Sun and the Architectures of the Tropical Zone. Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering Journal, 10 (May), 1-12.
Information about this Article
Published on Wednesday 14th February, 2018 at 20:33:04.
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