Brazilian City Where There Are No Traditional Intersections or Corners

Written by Bruno Teles

Published on 01/04/2025 at 12:53

Brasília: cidade brasileira onde não há cruzamentos tradicionais nem esquinas

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Brasília Is The Only Planned Brazilian City Designed To Eliminate Traditional Intersections In Most Of Its Territory. Designed By Lúcio Costa, With A Layout Inspired By An Airplane, It Was Recognized By UNESCO And Remains A Global Reference In Modern Urbanism.

Have you ever imagined driving through a Brazilian city without intersections, without having to stop at every corner or compete for right of way in the middle of traffic? It seems out of this world, but this city exists — and it is the capital of Brazil. In Brasília, the road system was designed to avoid traditional intersections, replacing them with roundabouts, tunnels, and expressways that ensure fluidity, safety, and a lifestyle quite different from the rest of the country.

This model, which may seem strange to first-time visitors, was meticulously planned back in the 1950s. And to this day, it impresses architects, urban planners, and tourists from all over the world.

Brasília: The Brazilian City That Was Born From Paper

Inaugurated on April 21, 1960, Brasília was designed by Lúcio Costa and built with a strong influence from the modernist architecture of Oscar Niemeyer. The Pilot Plan, shaped like an airplane seen from above, was designed to ensure that different functions of the city — housing, work, leisure, government — were separated into specific sectors and connected by fast ways, without interruptions by intersections.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Superblocks: The Heart Of A City Without Intersections

The concept of superblock is another point that differentiates Brasília. They are residential blocks designed with:

Large green areas
Public schools
Local commerce easily accessible
Low-speed internal streets

Each superblock functions like a miniature neighborhood, and the goal is for residents to find everything within a short walk from home. With this, the Brazilian city tries to reduce the need for long travels and prioritizes collective well-being.

And Mobility?

Although it is efficient for cars, Brasília today faces criticism regarding public transport and active mobility. With large distances between sectors, it is difficult to get around on foot or by bicycle. And since the city was designed for private cars, the bus and metro system needs improvements to meet current demand.

Even so, the model is still considered a global reference in urban planning. So much so that Brasília was declared a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 1987, thanks to the boldness of its layout and the integration between architecture, landscaping, and mobility.

Curiosities About The Most Planned Capital In Brazil

The Monumental Axis is the widest road in the world, at 250 meters wide
The Pilot Plan was chosen through a public contest and beat more than 50 proposals
There are no traditional traffic lights on the central axis
The airport is aligned with the “cockpit” of the airplane imagined by Lúcio Costa
The National Congress, Palácio do Planalto, and Supreme Court are located side by side, in the same sector

Brazilian City Where There Are No Traditional Intersections or Corners

Brasília Is The Only Planned Brazilian City Designed To Eliminate Traditional Intersections In Most Of Its Territory. Designed By Lúcio Costa, With A Layout Inspired By An Airplane, It Was Recognized By UNESCO And Remains A Global Reference In Modern Urbanism.

Brasília: The Brazilian City That Was Born From Paper

Superblocks: The Heart Of A City Without Intersections

And Mobility?

Curiosities About The Most Planned Capital In Brazil

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has ceased to be a climatic phenomenon and has become a biological system that feeds on itself, with 8,000 kilometers in length, 37 million tons of algae, and scientists confirm that it is now permanent.

A British company has installed in the middle of the ocean the world’s first floating platform that generates electricity 24 hours a day from the temperature difference between the surface and the depths of the Atlantic, without relying on wind or sun.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

Engineers had to pour concrete mixed with tons of ice throughout entire nights in the Dubai desert to erect the Burj Khalifa; any carelessness could clog the pipes half a mile high.

The James Webb telescope spotted a planet 700 light-years from Earth with mornings full of sand clouds and nights with clear skies, the temperature difference between the two hemispheres reaches an impressive 170 degrees.

Government allows and new RG can be requested on the phone and delivered at home; Brazilians will be able to use the National Identity Card to enter 8 South American countries

US closes $4.16 billion deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to “flood” low Earth orbit with a satellite constellation capable of tracking planes, missiles, and aerial threats.

With the thaw opening up the Arctic’s underground, Greenland is preparing for a drilling campaign in search of oil in the remote Jameson Land basin.

Considered depleted by many people, Alaska is experiencing an unexpected oil revival and reigniting the oil companies’ race for the Arctic ice.

Cingoli, in the Marche region, won the RAI’s Il Borgo dei Borghi contest and gained prominence for its medieval architecture, expansive landscapes, and preserved authenticity.

Brazilian City Where There Are No Traditional Intersections or Corners

Brasília Is The Only Planned Brazilian City Designed To Eliminate Traditional Intersections In Most Of Its Territory. Designed By Lúcio Costa, With A Layout Inspired By An Airplane, It Was Recognized By UNESCO And Remains A Global Reference In Modern Urbanism.

Brasília: The Brazilian City That Was Born From Paper

Superblocks: The Heart Of A City Without Intersections

And Mobility?

Curiosities About The Most Planned Capital In Brazil

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has ceased to be a climatic phenomenon and has become a biological system that feeds on itself, with 8,000 kilometers in length, 37 million tons of algae, and scientists confirm that it is now permanent.

A British company has installed in the middle of the ocean the world’s first floating platform that generates electricity 24 hours a day from the temperature difference between the surface and the depths of the Atlantic, without relying on wind or sun.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

Engineers had to pour concrete mixed with tons of ice throughout entire nights in the Dubai desert to erect the Burj Khalifa; any carelessness could clog the pipes half a mile high.

The James Webb telescope spotted a planet 700 light-years from Earth with mornings full of sand clouds and nights with clear skies, the temperature difference between the two hemispheres reaches an impressive 170 degrees.

The Paraguay River Waterway, a natural route for transporting soybeans from the Midwest to the Atlantic via the La Plata Basin, is finally moving towards auction after years of being stalled.

In China, thousands of BYD employees live in cities built around electric car factories, with schools, gyms, courts, and internal transportation, in a model where one can wake up, work, and live without ever leaving the complex.

In the bed of the Tocantins River, one of the largest rock removals ever undertaken in Brazil will explode and remove kilometers of submerged rock to permanently open cargo navigation through the Pedral do Lourenço.

Mason shows the right way to build a sidewalk and garage ramp so they don’t sink, crack, or lose the coating after a few months.

To shorten a crossing that is currently done by sea from five hours to half an hour, the Philippines is building a 32-kilometer bridge over the water connecting the provinces of Bataan and Cavite.

Government allows and new RG can be requested on the phone and delivered at home; Brazilians will be able to use the National Identity Card to enter 8 South American countries

US closes $4.16 billion deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to “flood” low Earth orbit with a satellite constellation capable of tracking planes, missiles, and aerial threats.

With the thaw opening up the Arctic’s underground, Greenland is preparing for a drilling campaign in search of oil in the remote Jameson Land basin.

Considered depleted by many people, Alaska is experiencing an unexpected oil revival and reigniting the oil companies’ race for the Arctic ice.

Cingoli, in the Marche region, won the RAI’s Il Borgo dei Borghi contest and gained prominence for its medieval architecture, expansive landscapes, and preserved authenticity.