Revisiting Brasilia

Mar 9

Pat Finn, a high school English teacher and a freelance writer on art and architecture, says, “The urban planning of the 1950s wasn’t perfect. But we need something like it if we are going to solve the housing crisis today.” This led him to revisit the master-planned city of Brasilia and write an article posted by Architizer.

He notes the faults or problems with Brasilia. And then he asks and answers several rhetorical questions.

Is Brasília really less workable than, say, Los Angeles? The latter is also car-dependent but has far more congestion. And is the class segregation in Brasília really worse than in Rio? Are isolated housing blocks really worse than favelas? And if Brasília failed to achieve its aims, does this mean it wasn’t even worth attempting?

Finn’s answers these questions with a resounding NO!

After reading the article, you may find that you have changed your perspective on Brasilia, or at least you will learn more about the place.

H. Pike Oliver

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, H. Pike Oliver has worked on real estate development strategies and master-planned communities since the early 1970s, including nearly eight years at the Irvine Company. He resided in the City of Irvine for five years in the 1980s and nine years in the 1990s.

As the founder and sole proprietor of URBANEXUS, Oliver works on advancing equitable and sustainable real estate development and natural lands management. He is also an affiliate instructor at the Runstad Department of Real Estate at the University of Washington.

Early in his career, Oliver worked for public agencies, including the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research where he was a principal contributor to An Urban Strategy for California. Prior to relocating to Seattle in 2013, Oliver taught real estate development at Cornell University and directed the undergraduate program in urban and regional studies. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, the American Planning Association and a founder and emeritus member of the California Planning Roundtable.

Oliver is a graduate of the urban studies and planning program at San Francisco State University and earned a master’s degree in urban planning at UCLA.

https://urbanexus.com

Revisiting Brasilia

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