Palácio do Planalto, Presidential palace in Brasília, Brazil.
Palácio do Planalto is the official workplace of the President of Brazil, located on the Praça dos Três Poderes in Brasília. The building has a flat roof and a facade of dark glass panes in a grid, with slender white columns that curve outward at the top into V-shaped supports. A reflecting pool with Japanese carp lies in front.
Construction of the Palácio do Planalto began on 10 July 1958 under Construtora Rabello S.A., with structural calculations by Joaquim Cardozo that let the base barely touch the ground. President Juscelino Kubitschek inaugurated it on 21 April 1960, the same day as the new capital, before a crowd and foreign leaders. A restoration ordered by President Lula da Silva in March 2009 was completed on 24 August 2010 at a cost of R$ 111 million. On 8 January 2023 rioters stormed the palace and destroyed works including Bruno Giorgi's bronze O Flautista.
The name refers to the Brazilian Highlands, the central plateau where Brasília stands. The columns along the façade, called "velas" (candles), are a variation on those of the Palácio da Alvorada, set crosswise to the building. From the ramp and the parlatorium, the president and visiting heads of state address the public on the Praça dos Três Poderes.
Visitors can enter the building every Sunday between 9.30 am and 2 pm, but advance registration is required. The colonnades are freely accessible, but the office rooms themselves remain closed outside official guided tours.
A shallow reflecting pool surrounds the columns and optically doubles the height of the facade through reflection. This mirroring reinforces the floating impression of the roof and makes the whole structure appear even lighter.
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