Few places in the world offer such an expansive, extraordinary composition of Modernist architecture as the Brazilian capital. Part of a handful of Modernist clusters around the world – such as, for example, Le Corbusier's Chandigarh in India – Brasilia combines the gravitas, drama and scale of the International Style with the glamour and power of a country's beating heart, conceived right from the start as the embodiment of modern Brazil.
This year, Brasilia, which was created from scratch, celebrates its 60th anniversary, having been inaugurated on the 21 April 1960, following nearly four years of construction in the heart of the South American country. Featuring a grand urban plan by Lúcio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer as its iconic principle architect and Roberto Burle Marx as the landscape designer, the majestic city also includes works by lesser known internationally – yet no less important – modernists, such as João Filgueiras Lima (Lelé) and Ícaro Castro Mello.
Today, the city remains the country's administrative centre, composed around a monumental axis, in a monumental civic scale. The National Congress and the Supreme Federal Court are there, as well as the official residence of the President of Brazil.
Now, Brasilia is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site and photographer Paul Clemence created and shared with us a series capturing the beauty of Brasilia's timeless classics, such as the National Congress (1958), the Palace of Justice (1962) and the Metropolitan Cathedral (1959) – all sleek lines, sweeping curves and clean contrasts, against the blue, sunny South American skies.
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Soviet brutalist architecture: beyond the genre's striking imageSoviet brutalist architecture offers eye-catching imagery; we delve into the genre’s daring concepts and look beyond its buildings’ photogenic richness
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Tour a warm and welcoming modernist sanctuary set on the edge of a Los Angeles canyonThe Rustic Canyon Residence by Assembledge and Jamie Bush brings together the very best of mid-century influences, with an added slice of contemporary Californian craft and style
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Restoring São Paulo: Planta’s mesmerising Brazilian brand of midcentury ‘urban recycling’Brazilian developer Planta Inc set out to restore São Paulo’s historic centre and return it to the heyday of tropical modernism
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Tour this Bel Vista house by Albert Frey, restored to its former glory in Palm SpringsAn Albert Frey Bel Vista house has been restored and praised for its revival - just in time for the 2025 Palm Springs Modernism Week Preview
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A new exhibition marks Chandigarh’s modernist legacy‘Celebrating the Capitol’, an exhibition of photographic work by architect Noor Dasmesh Singh, opens just in time for the famed modernist Indian city’s anniversary
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All aboard Casa Quinta, floating in Brazil’s tropical rainforestCasa Quinta by Brazilian studio Arquipélago appears to float at canopy level in the heart of the rainforest that flanks the picturesque town of Paraty on the coast between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
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Join our tour of London Zoo, its modernist architecture and moreLondon Zoo is a well-established magnet for younger visitors, but there's plenty for the architecture enthusiast to admire too; our tour explores its modernist treasures for guests of all ages
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La Grande Motte: touring the 20th-century modernist dream of a French paradise resortLa Grande Motte and its utopian modernist dreams, as seen through the lens of photographers Laurent Kronental and Charly Broyez, who spectacularly captured the 20th-century resort community in the south of France
