ABSTRACT
Hidden beneath Brasilia’s most civic of public spaces, the Praça do Três
Poderes, there is an underground gallery called Espaço Lucio Costa. It was
designed by Oscar Niemeyer in 1989 in order to memorialize both the winning
entry of the 1957 design competition for Brazil’s new capital and its author,
Lucio Costa. Niemeyer suggested this space in response to the minister of
culture’s inquiry about eventual locations where a 5050 model of Brasilia
could be housed.1 The model had been built as an exact replica of what the city
looked like in 1987 when UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site. The
search for its permanent residency thus became the pretext for Niemeyer to
find a solution that would give Costa “the tribute owed to him by the city” and
be so discrete as to neither offend his modesty nor “inconveniently” compete
with the Plaza’s principal monuments.1 Niemeyer’s proposal consisted of a
letter and a few sketches, all describing an underground space the function of
which was to house the model, and the project with which the competition
was won, including an illustrated text and a master plan. The subterranean
room is accessed through a wide stairway, the opening of which is concealed
behind by a low U-shaped bench. A marble plaque marks the entrance and ded-
icates the space to “Lucio Costa, Creator of Brasilia’s Master Plan.” One is
subsequently led to a somber room almost entirely occupied by the model.
