Metropolitan Cathedral under construction, Eixo Monumental, Brasilia

NOTES: The city of Brasilia was planned and developed in 1956 with Lucio Costa as chief urban planner and Oscar Niemeyer as principal architect. It formally became the capital of Brazil in 1960 and is the seat of all three branches of the Brazilian government. Construction on the cathedral began in 1959 and the concrete-framed hyperboloid structure was completed in 1960. The cathedral was consecrated in 1970.