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In the new capital of Brazil, Brasília, inaugurated in 1960, the Legislative Power, which has accumulated 180 years of parliamentary work up to now, was bestowed a new siege: the Congresso Nacional Palace The author of the project, architect Oscar Niemeyer, has thus defined the architectural conception of his work:
“Architecture does not constitute a simple matter of engineering, but a manifestation of the spirit, of imagination and poetry

In the Congresso Nacional Palace, for instance, the composition ensued from these criteria: of the conveniences of architecture and urbanism, of volumes, of open spaces, of the visual opportunity and of perspectives, and specially of the intention to assign monumentality by the means of the simplification of its elements and the adoption of pure and geometric forms From those stem the whole project and the seizing of local features so that, at the level of the flanking roadways, there could be a monumental esplanade above whose plane would rise the two domes (one facing up and the other down) in accordance with the hierarchy that should characterize the palace

One has to admit that, though having pushed the threshold of architectural creativity and engineering skills (and patience), the endeavor would not have been accomplished, say the critics, were not for the magnanimity of the public maecenas Some investments pay their price