An event and some tugs-of-war: the International Seminar on the Creation of New Towns, 1958

Abstract

This article discusses the International Seminar on the “Creation of New Towns”, held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1958, promoted by the Instituto Brasileiro de Educação, Ciência e Cultura [Brazilian Institute of Education, Science and Culture], with the collaboration of the International Union of Architects, the Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil [Brazilian Institute of Architects] and the Companhia Urbanizadora da Nova Capital [Urbanization Company of the New Capital]. Through this transnational, multidisciplinary and interinstitutional event, this article seeks to understand some of the disciplinary tensions in the dispute to legitimize the ways of thinking about and creating new cities, focusing on the strategies mobilized by architects and urban planners. The analysis is mainly based on official records of the seminar and on news items published by the daily press in Rio de Janeiro, which provide us with multiple versions of what took place.