The project of Brasília, an objective soon to be towering above the goals of the “Target Plan" (“Meta-síntese do Plano de Metas”), arose from a proposal of Juscelino Kubitscheck's in his first speech as a Presidential candidate on April 4, 1955, in Jataí, Goiás state. A young man named ‘Toniquinho’ (little Tony) asked JK whether he would, if elected President, fulfill the clause in the constitution that mandated to transfer the capital from the coast to the interior of the country. JK replied affirmatively. It is said that JK’s dream to build a new capital was born at this very moment. Over the course of its history, Brazil had three different capitals: Salvador (1549-1763), Rio de Janeiro (1763-1960), and Brasília. The former two cities were chosen because of their respective strategic locations, each of which was considered excellent at its time. Various reasons led to the transfer of the capital to Brasília—the promotion of national integration being the strongest among them. In fact, the idea to transfer the capital to the interior of the country was very old. As early as the 18th century, in 1789 to be precise, the Inconfidentes Mineiros (the “Renegades from Minas Gerais state”) proposed a republic independent of Portugal, the capital of which should be “São João del Rey.” In 1815, Hipólito da Costa, the London editor of a Portuguese-language newspaper, the Correio Braziliense (Brazilian Post), wrote a series of articles. The articles listed the disadvantages of a capital on the coast and reinforced the idea of transferring it to the interior of the country, this time with the intention to foster national integration. The journalist's ideas became part of Brazil’s first Constitution, when Brazil declared its independence in 1822. Among the fathers of the constitution is José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva, a passionate proponent of the idea to transfer the capital to the interior of the country. He suggested names too: “Brasília, Petropólis, or whatever name else.” In 1839, Adolfo de Varnhagem took up again the almost forgotten idea. For almost twenty years, Adolfo de Varnhagem fought in articles and books for the realization of the transfer of the capital. He suggested that the future capital be located in the area between Lagoas Formosas, Feia, and Mestre d’Armas in Planaltina, a town in Goiás state. In 1883, a noteworthy incident occurred in Italy: A priest named D. Bosco had a visionary dream. Led by an angel, he passed through all of South America. The part of D. Bosco’s dream which favored the construction of Brasília in the Planalto Central (Central Plateau) said: “Between the 15th and 20th degree latitude, there was quite extended and quite wide a bay, which opened at one point where it formed a lake. At this moment, a voice began to say repeatedly. ‘When you come to extract the hidden mines in the middle of these hills, the promised land will appear here, where milk and honey will flow. It will be an inconceivable wealth.’” With the proclamation of the republic in 1889, Marechal Deodoro da Fonseca appointed a commission to elaborate a constitution for the new regime. This constitution was proclaimed in 1891 and mandated in its third article that “from today on, the Union shall own, in the Planalto Central (Central Plateau), an area of 14,400 square kilometers (5,000 square miles), in which the future capital of the country is to be established.” The expression Planalto Central gave rise to a heated dispute between the citizens of Goiás and those of Minas Gerais about the area to which the capital should be transferred. Citizens of Minas Gerais understood that a considerable part of the Planalto Central fell within the borders of Minas Gerais and argued that the Triângulo Mineiro (the cattle-rich “city triangle” of Minas Gerais) would be a more suitable area to build the capital, given its fertile soil and network of railroads, than the plateau of Goiás, with its poor soil, a lack of roads, and a distance of more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) to major construction material suppliers. This contest lasted until the site of the new capital was finally determined during JK’s presidency. In 1892, the Comissão Exploradora do Planalto Central (the “Central Plateau Exploration Commission”) was formed under engineer Luiz Cruls’ chairmanship. With a team of doctors, geologists, pharmacists and botanists, he conducted a study of the region that the constitution described, delimited the area, and presented his report to the government in 1894. However, disputes should last. At the centennial celebration of Brazil’s independence in 1922 a further step was taken towards the transfer of the capital to the interior of the country: The foundation stone of the new capital was placed in Planaltina, a town in Goiás state. In the years to come, Brazil underwent various changes: two constitutions were proclaimed—one in 1934 and one in 1937, but the idea of transferring the capital lived on. With the overthrow of Getúlio Vargas’ government in 1945, a new constitution was elaborated which, once again, mandated the move of the capital to the interior of the country. Subsequently, a new Comissão de Estudos (a “Study Commission”) was established to determine the location of the new capital. The commission’s chairman was General Poli Coelho, whose report presented in 1948, considerably enlarged the envisaged area to 77,250 square kilometers (2,700 square miles). Based on this report, President Dutra authorized the start of construction work for the future capital. Yet, the discussion in congress remained unresolved for five more years. Only in 1953, during Vargas’ second presidential term, congress authorized conclusive studies to determine the location of the country’s new capital. After all, a Comissão de Localização da Nova Capital Federal (a “Commission for the Location of the New Federal Capital”) was formed—this time under General Caiado de Castro’s chairmanship. In early 1954, he contracted the US company “Donald J. Belcher and Associates” which specialized in aero-cartography (topographical analysis through air photography). The firm selected five construction sites within an area of 50,000 square kilometers (17,500 square miles) and proposed the Sítio Castanho as the most adequate location among these five sites to build the new capital. With Vargas’ suicide in 1954, Café Filho took over as President and alluded to a transfer of the federal capital in a message to congress. Marechal José Pessoa succeeded General Caiado de Castro as chairman of the location commission. José Pessoa, too, opted for the Sítio Castanho as the construction site. At the same time, JK started campaigning for presidency and took on the challenge to build the country’s future capital in short time. REFERENCE: TAMANINI, Brasília – Memória da Construção