Palácio da Alvorada, Presidential residence in Brasília, Brazil.

Palácio da Alvorada is the official residence of the Brazilian president, on a peninsula at the margins of Paranoá Lake in Brasília. The long, low rectangular building has a flat roof with a wide overhang on slender columns, a glass facade with vertical slats behind it, and white curved columns that flare outward to meet the roof. Its exterior is clad in marble, and the columns touch the ground at one vertex, giving the impression that the building floats.

President Juscelino Kubitschek commissioned Oscar Niemeyer to design the building, completed in 1958 before the official inauguration of the new capital. Kubitschek himself moved in as the first president and used the site as a symbol for the renewal of Brazil.

The name Alvorada means dawn and was chosen to symbolize the beginning of a new era for Brazil. Visitors can view the architecture from outside, while the interior serves primarily for official functions.

The grounds are not open to the public without prior authorization, but the exterior view can be observed from the road or across the lake. The best perspectives come from points along the waterfront, where the columns and water interact.

The Entrance Hall's golden wall bears a phrase by Kubitschek dated October 2, 1956, about the central plateau becoming the centre of national decisions. The library holds 3406 works, and three old maps hang there: South America (1645), Brazil (undated) and the Captaincies of Brazil (1656).