The Construction of Landscape in Planned Brazilian Cities

References and Transformations from Petrópolis, Belo Horizonte, Goiânia, Brasília, and Palmas (19th and 20th Centuries)

Abstract

The study takes an approach to the organization of the landscape in the urban plans of new cities (intentionally created cities, “ex novo”) in Brazil that served as references throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. These models imported from Europe were applied to the plans of Petrópolis in 1845, Belo Horizonte in 1894, and the link between the 19th and 20th centuries, Goiânia in 1934, Brasília in 1960, and finally Palmas in Tocantins in 1988, adding physical and environmental constraints. The tradition of planning and building new cities is a fundamental aspect of the formation of Brazil, its culture and especially the occupation of its territory. These insertions, plus environmental constraints, became part of urban plans in an attempt to organize the space. These currents spread in the technical and academic environment combined with exchanges of experiences. The investigation is characterized as a historiographical study that identified and organized the contribution of the major lines of architectural thought on landscape throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The methodology is based on the study of urban projects that have materialized in the national territory.