Cultural Complex of the Republic, Modern cultural center in Plano Piloto, Brazil

The Cultural Complex of the Republic (Complexo Cultural da República João Herculino) consists of two buildings on the Eixo Monumental: the National Museum Honestino Guimarães, a white concrete structure with a 25-metre-radius dome and four floors, and the National Library Leonel de Moura Brizola, with 14,000 square metres of reading rooms and an auditorium. Both were designed by Oscar Niemeyer and inaugurated on 15 December 2006, his birthday.

The complex is named after João Herculino de Souza Lopes, an educator and politician who founded the Centro de Ensino Unificado de Brasília. Its two buildings were inaugurated on 15 December 2006, the birthday of their designer Oscar Niemeyer. The National Museum's construction began in 1999 and took seven years, while the library, though inaugurated in 2006, only opened to the public on 12 December 2008. The complex is listed at district level by law no. 47 of 1989 and nationally and internationally as part of Brasília's Urban Ensemble.

The museum building is named after Honestino Guimarães, a student leader killed under the military dictatorship, and it holds temporary art exhibitions plus lectures and seminars. The library honours Leonel Brizola, the only politician to govern two different Brazilian states, and opened to the public on 12 December 2008 with about 40,000 volumes available for loan.

The two buildings sit along the Eixo Monumental and can be visited on foot one after the other, making it easy to combine both in a single outing. It is worth checking the schedules of each institution separately before your visit, as they may not match.

The National Museum sits on a platform built over a reflecting pool, which gives the building the appearance of floating on water when seen from a distance. This effect is most visible in the morning light and often catches first-time visitors off guard.