Brasília is undeniably an impressive city, which defies the traditional concept of what big cities – and a country’s capital – should be like.

Intending to move the Brazilian government from the coast to the center of the country, President Juscelino Kubitschek ordered, in 1956, the construction of an entirely new city from scratch, in the middle of an unpopulated area in the Brazilian savanna (cerrado).

The city and all the main residential and official buildings were built in only a few months, and less than four years after its construction had started, the city was officially inaugurated, replacing Rio de Janeiro as the Brazilian Federal capital city.

Brasília is the result of a modern urban project. When seen from above, the city’s urban plan resembles the shape of an airplane – with the main official sites spread across the main axis, the so-called Eixo Monumental, and the residential and commercial blocks geometrically forming both wings.

The city is, up to this day, a world reference in urban planning. Besides the uniqueness of its urban project, Brasília is also a world reference to modern architecture, which is evidenced in most of the official buildings.

For both reasons, as well as for its relevance as a model for modern cities, Brasília is the only city in the world built in the 20th century which has been awarded with the status of Historical and Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

Thematic Visual Identity

AMUN usually chooses a symbol from the Brasilia’s architecture representative monuments to design each edition’s visual image. In order to envision the 12th AMUN visual identity, two symbols have been selected: the National Museum of Brasilia; and the most typical tree from the central Brazil – the yellow type of the trumpet trees or the yellow Ipê.

The National Museum is a brand-new monument recently erected in the capital-city of Brazil.  Like almost all of the city’s architectural symbols, it has been designed by the popular Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. The National Museum is the ideal monument to represent AMUN 12th edition’s theme because it holds several temporary expositions, which are mostly cultural exhibitions. That being so, the museum not only is a representative monument from Brasilia’s architecture, but is also related to countless different identity-based cultural events.

The yellow ipê provides the thematic visual identity with the immensely important color element. Several ipê species can be found all over the Latin America. However, for perfect adapting to the dry climate typical of central Brazil’s environment, this beautiful yellow-flowered tree has been elected the most charming Brasilia’s official symbol.