SSS 10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium C Fontes & V Medeiros The maps of the modern city: Brasília and the phases of a fragmentary urban configuration 48:1 048 The maps of the modern city: Brasília and the phases of a fragmentary urban configuration Catarina Fontes New University of Lisboa; ISCTEIUL [email protected]Valério Medeiros Chamber of Deputies, National Congress; Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, University of Brasília; UNIEURO [email protected]Abstract The article encompasses the cartographical research of three different phases of Brasília’s Pilot Plan: conception (proposal sent by urban planner Lucio Costa in 1956 for the public contest), execution (executive project for the construction of the new Brazilian capital, inaugurated in 1960, after a series of adjustments) and metropolis (the current urban settlement – 2013, with its expansions and fringes). It is our intention to identify how the transformations undergone by Brasília, from its original project to the contemporary city, can be decoded using the available cartography as a snapshot of each time under scrutiny. The main question we aim to answer is: How the configurational urban changes over time affected the essence of the modernist conception and discourse applied in the new Brazilian capital, Brasília? As theoretical background, methodology and tools, we have chosen to use the Theory of Social Logic of Space strategies which allowed exploring the relations between urban configurations resulting from different morphological moments of the city, using axial maps and related variables. Moreover, the models produced are contrasted with historical data, which reveals the association between social dynamics and how they are materialized in space. Keywords Pilot Plan, space syntax, historical cartography, axial map, Brasília. 1. Introduction The cartography of the area corresponding to Brasília’s Pilot Plan (PP) is studied through a diachronic approach, considering as reference three plans which represent three different urban morphological moments: conception (1956), execution (1960) and metropolis (2013) (Figure1). According to the new Brazilian capital specific features, concerning the urban planning and the progressive transformation of the system, it matters to understand the correspondence between what was the political and sociological ideology on each moment and the morphology/configuration data provided through the Theory of The Social Logic of Space or space syntax (Hillier and Hanson, 1984; Holanda, 2002; Medeiros, 2013). The main research question is: How the configurational urban changes over time affected the essence of the modernist conception and discourse applied in the new Brazilian capital, Brasília? The comparison of the information from the three different periods aimed to understand if it was a continuous process between the key ideas for the planning and the way the contemporary city is
Transcript
SSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium
C Fontes & V Medeiros The maps of the modern city: Brasília and the phases of a fragmentary urban configuration
48:1
048
The maps of the modern city: Brasília and the phases of a fragmentary urban configuration
Catarina Fontes New University of Lisboa; ISCTE-‐IUL [email protected] Valério Medeiros Chamber of Deputies, National Congress; Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, University of Brasília; UNIEURO [email protected]
Abstract
The article encompasses the cartographical research of three different phases of Brasília’s Pilot Plan: conception (proposal sent by urban planner Lucio Costa in 1956 for the public contest), execution (executive project for the construction of the new Brazilian capital, inaugurated in 1960, after a series of adjustments) and metropolis (the current urban settlement – 2013, with its expansions and fringes). It is our intention to identify how the transformations undergone by Brasília, from its original project to the contemporary city, can be decoded using the available cartography as a snapshot of each time under scrutiny. The main question we aim to answer is: How the configurational urban changes over time affected the essence of the modernist conception and discourse applied in the new Brazilian capital, Brasília? As theoretical background, methodology and tools, we have chosen to use the Theory of Social Logic of Space strategies which allowed exploring the relations between urban configurations resulting from different morphological moments of the city, using axial maps and related variables. Moreover, the models produced are contrasted with historical data, which reveals the association between social dynamics and how they are materialized in space.
Keywords
Pilot Plan, space syntax, historical cartography, axial map, Brasília.
1. Introduction
The cartography of the area corresponding to Brasília’s Pilot Plan (PP) is studied through a diachronic approach, considering as reference three plans which represent three different urban morphological moments: conception (1956), execution (1960) and metropolis (2013) (Figure1).
According to the new Brazilian capital specific features, concerning the urban planning and the progressive transformation of the system, it matters to understand the correspondence between what was the political and sociological ideology on each moment and the morphology/configuration data provided through the Theory of The Social Logic of Space or space syntax (Hillier and Hanson, 1984; Holanda, 2002; Medeiros, 2013). The main research question is: How the configurational urban changes over time affected the essence of the modernist conception and discourse applied in the new Brazilian capital, Brasília?
The comparison of the information from the three different periods aimed to understand if it was a continuous process between the key ideas for the planning and the way the contemporary city is
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used and interpreted by the present day society. The case of Brasília is especially relevant on this type of study once it was an ex-‐nihilo experience.
Two moments focused on this study are paradigmatic of the Brasília conceptual framework as the preliminary and ultimate plans that conveyed to build the city: 1) the sketch from Lucio Costa, winner of the Brasília’s Pilot Plan contest (opened on the 30th September, 1956), and 2) the execution project conducted by the Companhia Urbanizadora da Nova Capital do Brasil – NOVACAP, based on Lucio Costa’s plan, but introducing adjustments accomplished on the construction of the settlement, inaugurated on the 21th of April, 1960. The third moment concerns the contemporary scenario 55 years after the city was founded, on which the PP area was converted on the CBD of a major Brazilian metropolis, housing around 4 million inhabitants (Censo 2010/IBGE).
Figure 1: The three historical moments in comparison, left to right: conception (1956), execution (1960) and below is metropolis (2013). Sources: Costa (1991), <http://www.zonu.com>, Google Earth 2014. The north is up only on the satellite picture: to the remaining two it was decided to keep the original positions. Scales are not mentioned.
2. Methodological steps
The Theory of the Social Logic of Space supports the methodological procedures providing theoretical and practical framework to model the data used on the analysis which makes it possible to compare the information of the three different plans used to represent the three selected historical moments. Each plan was modelled to the correspondent axial map (cf. Medeiros et al., 2011) (Figure 2).
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There are many studies exploring the accuracy of axial maps on the interpretation of settlements diachronic moments (Trigueiro and Medeiros, 2000; Rigatti, 2005; Sudério and Medeiros, 2009). The article by Medeiros et. al. (2011), for example, focus on the urban growing on the cities of Porto (Portugal), Natal, Belém and Manaus (Brazil). The results have shown that if the axial maps are built from the most recent period to the most ancient one, they can provide important data on the ways expansions affect the relations between the different parts of a city, changing the potentials of movement and the corresponding urban dynamics.
About the present research, considering the available cartographic information’s, the process to build the axial maps could not be executed from the more recent one as usual because there are assumed structural differences between the three considered plans. Therefore, the analysis and modelling were not focused on the chronological transformations of the urban grid in expansion, but on the alterations of a) conception, b) implantation and c) consolidation.
It is important to mention that due to the detail differences in the three compared plans (justified on obvious matters of simplification in project as shown in the conceptual sketch by Lucio Costa), it is necessary to have this topic in mind while interpreting and comparing the analytical data on each case.
After having the axial maps of the three periods, the following basic space syntax variables were explored: a) connectivity (average quantity of connections between axial lines), b) number of lines (total of axial lines in each system), c) average line length (average length of axial lines in each system), d) global integration (average potential of accessibility for the system as a whole), e) local integration (average potential of accessibility evaluated in a local perspective), f) synergy (level of synchrony/correlation between the global and local properties of the system) and g) intelligibility (level of synchrony between connectivity and global integration for each line).
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Figure 2: The axial maps for the three moments of analysis (from above to below): conception (1956), execution (1960) and metropolis (2013). Scale not mentioned.
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3. Results: conception
Brasília’s Pilot Plan starts on the hand of the Brazilian architect and urban planner Lucio Costa, who wins the contest for the new capital. Costa joins the contest with a schematic sketch: even if not very detailed, it shows clear intentions of making Brasília a modern city. The proposed traffic organization, on a way it would flow quick and efficiently, justify the two great axes that cross the whole area intercepting each other in a central key point, defining in cross the basic system of circulation and zoning of the city’s zones. Lucio Costa (1991) says there was an intention to apply the French principles of traffic technic, including the elimination of crossroads. Besides, he provides central highways and lateral roads to the local traffic connecting the housing sectors disposed along the great axes.
On the Eixo Monumental (axis East-‐West), Lucio Costa suggested to locate the civic and administrative functions of local and national government and also the cultural buildings. The Eixo Rodoviário (axis north-‐south) was focused on housing, based on the superquadra concept (superblock). The intersection of the two axes would be the urban geographical and active centre where banks, hotels, commercial and cultural buildings should be located.
The axial map related to the conception plan (Figure 3) has 274 lines (axial lines), with an average length of 1.024,03 meters. The connectivity variable shows that the Eixo Monumental (Esplanada dos Ministérios) gets 21 connections, as the most connected one. To the variables of global and local integration, the axial line that gets the most expressive results is again the Esplanada dos Ministérios on Eixo Monumental, being the potentially most accessible axis – what highlights the symbolic appeal of the road related to the new capital ethos.
On a global level, the system shows a high centrality on the intersection of the two structural axes (Monumental and Rodoviário). Lucio Costa established on the report handed with the plans (Relatório do Plano Piloto) that it was his intention to create an agglomeration centre on the intersection of the two axes were he suggested the creation of a major transportation platform (Costa, 1991).
The intelligibility presents a very low value of 28,5% (as reference, there is study between several cities by Medeiros, 2013: for a sample of 44 Brazilian cities, the average is 15,2%). However the synergy expresses that there is a synchrony between global and local properties, reaching 70,9%.
Figure 3: The axial map for the conception (1956): integration (Rn) (Max:1,284; Average: 0,798; Min:0,211) / Main axes (adapted). Scale not mentioned.
Eixo Monumental
Eixo Rodoviário
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4. Results: execution
The executive project results of several adjustments made to the original plan of Lucio Costa. It is the matrix to the construction of the proper urban space inaugurate on the 21st of April 1960. The adjustments made are based on the reviews from the jury of the contest: 1) No purpose for a big amount of land located between the governmental centre and the lake; 2) The airport was located too far away; 3) The farthest part of the lake and peninsulas not predicted to be used for housing; 4) Absence of regional perspective, so it was necessary to assume the possibility of urban growth (Holford, 1957).
Besides that, the location of the plan was moved closer to the lake in order to avoid illegal occupation of these empty lands (Sabbag, 1985 apud Barki, 2005). This implied that Eixo Rodoviário was drawn in a more accentuated arch and shorter than originally (Sabbag, 1985 apud Barki, 2005).
The total number of lines used to build the axial map is 807, with an average length of 791,29 meters. The variable of connectivity shows the most connected axial lines are located on both extremes of Eixo Rodoviário. As represented on Figure 4, the most integrated axial lines at a global level are again part of the Eixo Rodoviário connecting the whole system with the regional road that leads to the outskirts and pre-‐existent cities (Planaltina, Brazlândia, Taguatinga, Gama, Sobradinho, etc.). The Eixo Rodoviário is assumed as the most accessible axis of the system. The value of intelligibility already low in the previous plan is now reduced to 18,1%. The synergy also declines, reaching 60,8%.
Figure 4: The axial map for the execution (1960): integration (Rn) (Max:1,035; Average: 0,686; Min:0,143) / Main areas (adapted). Scale not mentioned.
5. Results: metropolis
Nowadays, Brasília’s Pilot Plan is the CBD of a metropolitan area that reaches 3.845.267 inhabitants (Censo, 2010), including the Federal District and twelve municipalities of Goiás State on the surroundings. 44,46% of the inhabitants of DF work on the area of the Pilot Plan, what implies a daily movement that converges to the heart of the Brazilian capital city.
More than fifty years after the inauguration, the urban centre is nearly completely built. Often there are debates about the transformations on a city still not completely consolidated and the requirements to fulfil and keep the classification as a world cultural heritage by UNESCO.
Eixo Rodoviário
Peninsulas
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Back to the configurational model, there were 4.841 lines used to build the axial map while the average line length was 270,25 meters. The most connected axial line is located on the Eixo Rodoviário – Asa Sul and has a value of 35.
The values for integration reinforce the eccentric character identified to the area of Brasília’s Pilot Plan by Holanda (2001). The axial map (Figure 5) shows that the most integrated axial lines correspond to the road linking the Pilot Plan area to the outskirts (the group of satellite cities). The intelligibility is very reduced, reaching only 1% (Brazilian average is 15,2%), while synergy gets half the value, from 60,8% (executive plan) to 31,2%.
Figure 5: The axial map for the metropolis (2013): integration (Rn) (Max:1,321; Average: 0,787; Min:0,275) / Main areas (adapted). Scale not mentioned
6. Comparative Results and Discussion
Comparing the results of the three selected moments (Table 1 summarizes the values for the selected variables), it is possible to make a prospect on how the potentials inherent to each variable developed through the three scenarios: conception, execution and metropolis.
Table 1: Summary of the configurational variables from the axial maps.
The average values of connectivity are similar on the three situations (notwithstanding a decrease on the contemporary situation) and the maximum does not grow in the proportion of the increase of the number of lines (Figure 6). We can conclude that the new axes are located in the system without
Average Length of Lines (meters) 1024.03 791.29 270.25
Peninsulas
Eixo Rodoviário
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intersecting the basilar axes of the conceptual plan. Therefore, the consolidation does not promote the articulation of the different parts, keeping the hierarchy of fluxes and the correspondent contingency intended on the plan.
The variable of global integration presents very close values on the three plans, however, when comparing the axial maps (Figure 2) it is possible to realize: a) the most integrated areas move from Esplanada dos Ministérios to the geometric centre of the Pilot Plan on the moment of conception, b) then the core in the geometric centre spreads its accessibility on both directions of the Eixo Rodoviário in the execution map, and c) and finally the regional perspective emphasizes the lines that connect the Pilot Plan area to the surrounding settlements.
Figure 6: Comparison of the variables a) connectivity, b) global Integration (Rn) and c) local integration on the three scenarios.
These results match with the contexts inherent to each plan. Lucio Costa assumes Brasília as a monumental city focusing its symbolic character while the new capital of Brazil. The executive plan adjusted by NOVACAP, on the other hand, included new areas for housing (Sabbag, 1985 apud Barki, 2005). At this point the Eixo Rodoviário becomes the most integrated axial line of the system, once this axis is devoted to housing by distributing the superquadras, organizing per excellence the residential function. So the concerns about housing are, in a way, both shown on NOVACAP’s intentions and the values offered by the axial map. Nowadays, the outskirts of Brasília shelter most of the population matching the results from the last axial map, where the relevant axes appear as the roads that lead to out of the Pilot Plan area.
The number of lines increases in a significant proportion from the first to the second moment (274 to 807), and from the second to the third one (807 to 4.841), while the average length of line decreases (Figure 7). It is justified by the fact that while the conception plan only contained the great structural axes, with increasingly more detail, the second and third plans include hierarchically less important and shorter axes (like those interiors to each superblock).
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Figure 7: Comparison of the variables a) number of lines, b) average length of lines, c) intelligibility and c) synergy on the three scenarios.
The values of intelligibility are significantly low on the three plans (specially on the metropolis scenario), what shows a lack of concern about the legibility of the space the bigger the system is. The values of synergy from the first to the third plan points to a progressive loss of the relations between local and global system, while the city consolidates and spreads (Figure 7).
7. Conclusions
Lucio Costa (1991) assumes that Brasília starts from two axes that intersect each other, afterwards the urban planner states the importance of adapting the axes to the topography, the water resources and solar exposition. These foundation two axes keep their importance on organizing the urban system until nowadays: they are the highly accessible lines and work as structural arteries. Eixo Monumental and Eixo Rodoviário have thrived to be hierarchically the most important communications axes, developed with the consolidation of the urban settling, maintaining in essence the conceptual idea of Lucio Costa to organize the urban space.
On the first two plans representing the former phase of the city, the global integration shows that the geometric centre tends to match the active centre by being one of the areas in red on the axial maps. The third map, however expresses a different reality where the roads leading out of the Pilot Plan are the most integrated, moving the active centre in relation to the geometric centre.
By becoming a metropolis, in morphological terms, the impact of the central area is reduced as new surrounding areas develop their own centralities. The new expansion zones surrounding the Pilot Plan create a considerable impact by moving the original centralities to the roads, dividing the original settlement and the outskirts of the city. Therefore, the conceptual plan of Lucio Costa, which assumed an urban system highly dependent on the articulations provided by the two main axes (supposed to feed the gradually less important roads to the general circulation), is, at the scale of the metropolis, reverted. It results from the new axes which appear not necessarily in continuation of the two original ones, but sometimes gaining higher potential to connect the whole urban system at a metropolitan scale.
The significant decrease of the values of intelligibility and synergy reflect the mazy character of the new axes added along the decades (also in the superquadras). Based on the Theory of the Social Logic of Space, we can assume the city lost legibility with the new roads added on the system, generally organized without intersecting the main axes, in dead-‐end structure.
The level of detailed increased on the plans reflects that, even though Lucio Costa thought Brasilia to have two very connected axes, the high dependency of those to lead to each superquadra, for instant, and the dead-‐end structure adopted in all of them, conditioned the general legibility issue of the urban system.
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As the superquadras tend to live turned to the inside like an unit gathering the main services for everyday life, granting somehow its independency towards a need for central services. The zoning adopted by Costa matching the ideals of the modern urbanism is dichotomized between the functioning of the superquadras tending to be self-‐sufficient and the need for the car to reach the central sectors of the PP (the governmental zones, the main shopping areas, etc.).
We conclude, answering the research question – How the configurational urban changes over time affected the essence of the modernist conception and discourse applied in the new Brazilian capital, Brasília? – that the changes to the first Pilot Plan proposal by Lucio Costa affected in a way some of the original ideas from the urban planner.
As a start, the discourse based on the creation of bigger parcels of land in both peninsula areas (Lago Sul and Lago Norte neighbourhoods), to accommodate a specific public in the housing market, created the mote for segregation within the PP. Even if the superquadras tend to be structured turned to its interior, they are connected through the Eixo Rodoviário granting its integration to the urban system as a whole. These new housing zones did not share this organizational principle, disrupting the connection with the main axes. Also the configuration of the peninsula land would have been a condition per se, in a way suitable for the self-‐segregation process of the social stratum which was accommodated in Lago Sul and Lago Norte (high income).
In summary, the construction of new residential areas using originally unexpected urban land, the expansion of the road network and also the fact of moving the whole plan towards the Paranoá Lake changed the history of the contemporary urban system affected the city’s organization conceived by Lucio Costa.
However, if we look in an overall perspective, the structural logic of the two main axes prevails through all the phases and still appears on nowadays settlement, even with the metropolization process. The two axes highlight both the symbolic (Eixo Monumental) and everyday life (Eixo Rodoviário) characters of Brasília.
Even if the centrality of the PP could lose some emphasis with the metropolization process, through space syntax it is shown that somehow the two main axes defined in the original plan survived not only as still relevant axes for circulation (specially within the PP area) but also as a symbolic reference to the image its inhabitants have of what is Brasília.
Besides that, the dominance of one axis to the other, however, is inverted from the conceptual plan (where Lucio Costa put the emphasis on the symbolic axis) to the second and third plans that show the Eixo Rodoviário connected with the superquadras the main axis of the city and everyday life. The results shown by the axial maps are just potential but they seem to match the intentions of those who had the responsibility to create a new city. On the contemporary urban framework, the potential shown by the configurational model also matches the metropolization phase of the city where the Pilot Plan becomes a small piece of a big city.
Classified as world cultural heritage by UNESCO since 1987 and CBD of the fourth biggest city of Brazil, Brasília’s Pilot Plan is usually a highlight on academic and political debated concerning its preservation and expansion. The conclusions obtained reinforce the need of new strategies to understand and interpret the modern city towards the harmony between the ideals of the past and the needs of present and future societies who happened or chose to live in a city classified by UNESCO and designed to be a national capital.
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