Some people will hate Brasilia, but I am unapologetically going to state I thought it was awesome. Brasilia contains some of the finest buildings I have ever visited, and in the Planalto Palace (for exterior) and the Itamaraty Palace (for interior) perhaps the two most beautiful I have ever seen. I was originally going to qualify that by saying "most beautiful modernist building" but I really can't think of any other buildings I have thought to be more perfect. The clear simple elegance of the forms is then enhanced by playful, almost baroque flourishes such as the flared columns or exquisite spiral staircase.

As a fan of modernist architecture and especially of Oscar Niemeyer's work I am predisposed to liking this site, throw in that it was my first South American WHS, my personal site visit 250, and that I have a couple of politics degrees to give context to the buildings, then things were very much stacked in favour of a tour around the Brazilian capital. However even my high expectations were surpassed, the fact that the majority of them were open and welcoming on free guided tours really added to our enjoyment.

Now I fully appreciate not everyone will share my enthusiasm for the work of Oscar Niemeyer, nor be as able to gloss over some of Brasilia’s failings. However the sheer quantity of world class structures in one city will hopefully entertain even those not fully enthralled by minimalist repetition.

The one thing that came as a surprise was how nice the residential aspects of the city felt, (I admit I had already mentally drafted a section on the failure of the urban plan and its lack of thought for human inhabitants). We went off to explore the southern wing on our first night, making use of the new metro system. The large housing blocks seemed very welcoming and came with lots of communal resources in their immediate surroundings. Then we started to get an idea of how everyday life worked. Every few blocks there were high streets with shops, bars and some surprisingly trendy restaurants, it turns out hipster burger joints are as big here as they are in Kreuzberg, Flagstaff and Brixton.

There are some downsides; the big distances, reliance on taxis, grim area between metro station and southern hotel district, most food options being in shopping malls!?! However as the saying doesn't go “Brasilia wasn't built in a day” and hopefully as the city evolves these issues can start to be rectified, the metro line is a good start.

I really loved Brasilia, whilst its exceptionally friendly and welcoming population is fighting to humanise its massive scale, the astounding beauty of many of its major buildings is enough for me to put this amongst the best world heritage sites I have visited.

[Site 9: Experience 7]