National Congress of Brazil

브라질 국회의사당

The National Congress Palace is the building in Brasília, Brazil, where the country's national parliament, the National Congress, meets. It was built in 1960 and designed by the architect Oscar Niemeyer, in the modernist style.

See it on the 3D globe →

At a glance

Country: Brazil
Location: Brasília, Brazil
Built: 1960
Height: 100 m
Type: Government building

Quick answers

Where is National Congress of Brazil?

National Congress of Brazil is in Brasília, Brazil.

When was National Congress of Brazil built?

National Congress of Brazil was built in 1960.

How tall is National Congress of Brazil?

National Congress of Brazil is about 100 m tall.

Oscar Niemeyer's modernist parliament: twin towers flanked by an upturned and a downturned dome.

Its shape is easy to spot: two tall office towers stand side by side in the middle, and next to them are two large domes, one turned upside down like a bowl and the other facing the other way, like a bowl turned over. The palace is about 100 metres tall and has 28 floors. It stands on the Square of the Three Powers in Brasília, a city that was planned and built from scratch to become Brazil's new capital.

Why Brasília?

Before the 1960s the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies met in separate buildings in Rio de Janeiro, then Brazil's capital. When the Pilot Plan competition for the new capital ended, Lúcio Costa's winning design placed the Congress at a very prominent spot. The Chamber of Deputies moved to Brasília in the early 1960s, a process that took years. Many people think of it as the most famous image of Brasília.

Where does it stand?

In his plan, Costa described the Square of the Three Powers as a triangle in which each branch of government occupies a corner. The legislative palace was placed at the vertex of this triangle. The square was set higher than the Esplanade of the Ministries, and the Congress building was designed with a front toward every direction, facing both the Esplanade and the square.

Fun facts

Brasília, where it stands, was built from scratch and became Brazil's capital in 1960.
Brasília became Brazil's capital in 1960, the same year the Congress palace was built.
The palace has two towers and two domes.
The city was planned from scratch.
The building has a front facing each direction.