Alvorada Palace: history and curiosities

O Alvorada Palace It is the official residence of the President of the Republic of Brazil and has 7000 square meters of modernist architecture designed by Oscar Niemeyer, great Brazilian architect. In addition to serving as a home, it also houses other official appointments. His first project was rejected by Juscelino Kubitschek, then president of Brazil, for not being so magnanimous.

Read too: Planalto Palace — the seat of the executive branch of Brazil

Topics of this article

  • 1 - Summary about the Alvorada Palace
  • 2 - Who lives in Palácio da Alvorada?
  • 3 - What can you do at Palácio da Alvorada?
  • 4 - History of the Alvorada Palace
  • 5 - Architecture and features of the Alvorada Palace
  • 6 - Five presidents who have lived in the Alvorada Palace
  • 7 - Curiosities about the Alvorada Palace

Summary about the Alvorada Palace

  • O President lives in the Alvorada Palace.

  • In addition to being a residence, the palace is also used for official government engagements and is open to the public.

  • The Alvorada Palace was the first construction to be completed in Brasilia, the new capital.

  • Like other works in the capital, it was designed by Oscar Niemeyer and had the first project rejected by JK.

  • FHC, Lula, Dilma, Temer (for a short time) and Bolsonaro have all lived in the Alvorada Palace.

  • The rheas have lived there since the beginning. The gardens also have a fish pond and trees of Brazilian fauna.

Who lives in the Alvorada Palace?

The Alvorada Palace, in Brasilia, Federal District, and the official residence of the president of the republic from Brazil.

What is done at Palácio da Alvorada?

The Palace of Alvorada serves as housing for Brazilian President during his term, being his official residence for four years. It is also open to the public. Granja do Torto is the official country house.

The palace is located in the so-called Presidential Palace Sector, in Praça dos Três Poderes. This is also where the Presidential Office is located. Granja do Torto, on the other hand, has the characteristics of a country house and is located on the outskirts of the Plano Piloto in Brasília.

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History of the Alvorada Palace

The Palace of Alvorada Construction began in April 1957 and it took a year and a half (18 months) to get ready. The project was designed by Oscar Niemeyer, and the work was carried out by Construtora Rabello, under the command of engineers Joaquim Cardozo and Darcy Amora Pinto. It was the first masonry work to be completed in Brasília, the new capital, with the objective of modernizing and interiorizing the country, a pioneering project of the government of Juscelino Kubitschek.

The planned city was inaugurated in 1960 and was part of the Plan of Goals of the then president of the republic. Although the works had only started during this period, the idea of ​​transferring the capital — and that it occupied the Central Plateau — had existed among rulers since the time of Floriano Peixoto, who sent expeditions to the place.

Brasilia represented, not only for the state of Goias, but also for regions Midwest It is North, the arrival of roads and other symbols of the modernity intended by these governments.

Alvorada Palace during its construction.
Alvorada Palace during its construction.

Architecture and characteristics of the Alvorada Palace

The Palácio da Alvorada has three floors: basement, ground floor and second floor. It has 7,000m². O project is by Oscar Niemeyer, in the modernist style, which characterizes the other works of the architect and the capital.

The first proposal presented by him was rejected by the then president, JK, with the justification that it was not as monumental as he would have liked. The curved columns in the external area are reminiscent of the hammocks placed around colonial houses. This format gave rise to the symbol that today makes up the coat of arms of the Federal District.

Around, there are reflecting pools that reflect the building., giving more breadth to the horizontal construction covered in marble and with glass curtains. Inside, there are several works of art that represent Brazilianness and Brazilian culture.

Hall of the Palácio da Alvorada.
Hall of the Palácio da Alvorada.

Five presidents who have lived in the Alvorada Palace

Since it was built for that purpose, the Alvorada Palace became the official residence of the presidents and president since JK, who lived there. As his successor, Jânio Quadros, she preferred Granja do Torto.

Of the military presidents, only João Figueiredo did not want to live there and also chose the official country house.

In the New Republic, Collor he lived neither in one nor in the other. The Palácio da Alvorada was under renovation, and he said it did not adapt to the residence located in Fazenda do Torto. Thus, he lived in Casa da Dinda, property of his family in Brasília. Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Dilma Rousseff It is Jair Bolsonaro lived in Alvorada.

Read too: Vice presidents who took office in Brazil

Curiosities about the Alvorada Palace

  • The first child to live in the Alvorada Palace was “Michelzinho”, son of Michel Temer (2016-2018), who stayed at the residence for a short time, preferring to return to Palácio do Jaburu, where there are lived as deputy.

  • To the emus they were placed there at the time of its construction and still inhabit the gardens, which also have a pond with fish.

  • In the basement there is an auditorium for 30 people, games room, storeroom, pantry, kitchen, laundry and the administration of the palace.

  • On the ground floor there are rooms for official government appointments.

  • Only on the second floor is the residential part of the palace constituted, with four suites.

  • The palace garden contains trees typical of the Brazilian flora, such as the brazilwood, which gave the country its name.

  • The name came from JK, in his speech: “From this Central Plateau, from this solitude that will soon become the brain of the high national decisions, I launch once more on the future of my country and I look forward to this dawn with unshakable faith in its great destiny.”|1|

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|1| Available here.

By Mariana de Oliveira Lopes Barbosa
History teacher

Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:

BARBOSA, Mariana de Oliveira Lopes. "Alvorada Palace"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/brasil2/palacio-da-alvorada.htm. Accessed on April 9, 2023.

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