Brasilia seemed to be a case of expectation versus reality in our one day trip. Before the trip I had done some research on the Capital city noting its utopian organization around one monumental central axis. Although we were warned that it wasn’t a pedestrian friendly city I found it quite manageable to walk up and down the central access exploring all of the contemporary architecture it had to offer. However I do have to admit that the city has been optimized for transportation in that there are barely any pedestrian sidewalks, crosswalks, or bridges to use to cross the seven and eight lane highways that exist in the capital city. Although we were only able to explore the contemporary works done by Oscar Niemeyer and Roberto Burle Marx that existed on Exílio Monumental I found it very rewarding and inspiring to see these buildings in person. One negative of the trip was that we were only able to get into the cathedral as well as some of the museums and memorials. We were not allowed to enter any of the federal buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer, whether it be because they were closed to tourism during the week or because our dress attire was inappropriate for the building. Looking back I certainly would’ve dressed differently for the trip as it seems to be a completely professional city geared towards capitalalism and governmental activities. Another surprising aspect of Brasilia was that there were absolutely no food or shopping options other than one hyperdense cube. Upon entry we discovered that this hyperdense cube turned out to be a five-story shopping mall with one small section dedicated to a food court. After a long day walking up and down Brasilia the site of this food is comparable to a mirage in the Sahara. All in all, I have no regrets on the trip and I found it very exciting to travel on my own to the capital city and explore the contemporary works of a world renowned architect and landscape architect.
