JK took office as President of the republic on January 31, 1956. Three months later in Anápolis, on April 18, he signed the note 1234, directed to national congress, thus creating the Companhia Urbanizadora da Nova Capital Federal (the “City Planning Company for the New Federal Capital”). The proposal became law 2874 in September 19, 1956. After the law had passed, JK paid his first visit to the Planalto Central (Central Plateau). This was on October 2, 1956. In the middle of the vast Cerrado vegetation (a vegetation of sparsely distributed bushes and small trees), he encountered nothing but a strip of red soil, which carries railroads nowadays. At that time the strip was serving as a runway for airplanes, once opened by Bernardo Sayão. The area was quite deserted and the only inhabitants were members of a family that lived in a place close-by called Fazenda do Gama (“Gama’s Ranch”). Following his first trip, hundreds of construction services were carried out. JK went to the Planalto Central at least twice a week to supervise the clearing of the territory and its preparation for construction. His friends and advisors involved in the city's construction decided to build a place where the President could stay during his visits to the city. This way, the first building of Brasília was erected, the so-called Catetinho (the “little Catete”, the President's residence in Rio de Janeiro). The Catetinho was erected within ten days, between October 22 and October 31, 1956. In fact, the Catetinho was a symbol of the prevailing mood: the courage, the fraternization, and the determinedness. In the middle of all this, a public Pilot Plan Contest (Concurso do Plano Piloto) was launched to select the most appropriate urbanization project for the new capital. Twenty-six candidates presented their projects and the winner was—Lúcio Costa. His project was simple and easy to understand: Merely a few sketches on paper and some explanatory pages with all essential information. The rhythm of the city's construction gained speed. Day after day, people from various regions all over the country arrived. On May 3, 1957 Dom Carmelo Motta, archbishop of São Paulo at the time, celebrated the first mass in the future capital. It took place close to the Cruzeiro, the most elevated point of the square-shaped Distrito Federal (Federal District) in the presence of the country's highest dignitaries. The dynamics kept their pace, and residential as well as official government buildings were gradually constructed. The number of workers grew by the day. There had been merely 2,500 workers in Brasília in early 1957, but there were around 65,000 workers in early 1959. In addition to the workers' force and spirit, main responsibility for the speed of construction can be ascribed to Israel Pinheiro, the President of Novacap (Companhia Urbanizadora da Nova Capital ? the Company for Urbanization of the New Capital) and supervisor of the construction work, Bernardo Sayão, the chief engineer for communications on ground among other things, and Ernesto Silva, a pioneer who had always been involved with the new capital and carried out his job as one of Novacap's directors with admirable commitment. Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer are the two most eminent artists of the new capital. While the former had planned the city, the latter created the buildings that were to become part of it. The first residential nucleus of Brasília was Candangolândia. Houses there were made of wood and quite simple, built to host the employees at Novacap. This place was neither sufficient nor did it have the necessary infrastructure to ultimately erect a city in this region. With the workers, merchants from the most diverse businesses were attracted to the future capital. They were assigned lots in an area chosen by Bernardo Sayão where they could temporarily construct their businesses and residences. The place was nicknamed Cidade Livre (‘Free City’), since anybody who so wanted was allowed to settle there. And the city was born. People came, won a lot, and purchased wood with what they had, built their dwellings, their shops, pumped the water, made sewers, in short, they settled down. This place was to be demolished after the city's inauguration, once the area provided under the Plano Piloto (the initial urbanization plan) would yield sufficient space for everybody to live. However, none of this came about. The Núcleo Bandeirante still exists today, just as other cities at the outskirts of Brasília that were built to house those who did not have sufficient wealth to buy or rent a place in the area covered under the Plano Piloto. Brasília played a fundamental role in JK's government. His development policy, which promoted economic growth as the main objective, was embodied most clearly in the newly created capital. The construction of Brasília brought about important changes in the political, economic, and social structure of the country. Politically, it fostered the centralization of the federal administration. In economic respect the transfer of the capital to the interior of the country meant that the development processes was taken to the interior of the country too. Social changes were a direct consequence of these facts. The move of the capital created new employment opportunities and stimulated, to a degree, the migration from the big cities to the center of the country through settlements along the new roads. However, the place that most attracted those pursuing a new life was Brasília, which, from the very beginning of its construction, symbolized the hope for a better future. The so-called Candangos (early settlers of Brasília) arrived at the Planalto Central lonesome but full of ideals. They lived in neighborhoods made of dwellings or tents, and worked a daily average of 14 hours. They worked at the oddest times, during day and night, as the construction of the city was not to be interrupted. Workers faced many problems. The cost of living in the city was extremely high. Everything was expensive given the difficulty under which goods had to be shipped to the future capital. The road net was still precarious at the beginning of JK's presidency, not to mention the distances to be covered. Salaries were not always paid at regular times, and they were low compared to the prevailing commodity prices. In fact, the Candangos faced serious problems, which have lasted, in part, even until today. As mentioned earlier, the majority of the Candangos had no chance to live in the city that they were building. Instead they had to move to the outskirts where they started to constitute the main population of the satellite cities. The area set aside in the Plano Piloto became de facto reserved for the middle and upper classes. Brasília was inaugurated on April 21, 1960. Many of those who had been building it returned home. Others, however, stayed on, and still others continue to arrive in pursuit of a new life in a capital of hope. REFERENCE: TAMANINI, Brasília – Memória da Construção]