This South American City Becomes the Architecture Capital of the World

The Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro is now the World Capital of Architecture by 2020, thanks to UNESCO. It is the first time the group ever gave a distinction as important as this. In a press release they posted on their website, Rio will be the center for debates on the perspectives of cultural heritage, culture, architecture and urban planning. It will also be the host for the World Congress of Architects which happens every three years.

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The city breeds an exciting mixture of historical and cutting edge architecture. From places like the Santiago Calatrava’s Museum of tomorrow, Parque Lage, Old Cathedral, Oscar Niemeyer’s Niteroi Museum of Contemporary Art and Christian de Portzamparc’s Cidade das Artes is a testament of its diversity in structure and design.

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The Niteroi Museum is probably the best building to represent the Rio’s innovative capabilities. With it’s bright red and distinctive saucer-shaped walkway resembling a UFO and a cliff-side location, it tops the list of must-see places for travelers around the globe. Today, the structure has hosted major events like fashion shows for luxury brands like Luis Vuitton which made it more prominent in the eyes of the world.

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Rio De Janeiro produced not only great buildings but also builders like world-renowned architect Oscar Niemeyer, one of the fathers of the 20th-century modernism. The city is truly a gift to the world and a deserving recipient of UNESCO’s World Capital of Architecture.

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I Sometime before his inauguration in 1929, Herbert Hoover bought around 164 acres worth of land in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to use as a presidential retreat, naming it Rapidan Camp. After failing to win his re-election in 1932, he donated it to the government, hoping his successors will use them well. However, Rapidan instead became part of Shenandoah National Park in the mid-1930s.
II The Little White House in Key West, Florida, was famous for holding presidential meetings while the U.S. president spends some winters there. It began in 1946, where Harry S. Truman was recommended by his doctor to spend his vacation in a warm place. It eventually became a public museum in 1987 on New Years Day.
III In 1950, prior to his presidency, Dwight Eisenhower bought a farm spanning 189 acres in Pennsylvania, right next to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Starting from 1953, as soon as he was inaugurated as the 34th U.S. president, he has used the farm as his go-to retreat until his death in 1969. Two years before his death, Eisenhower donated the place to the National Park Service.
IV Prior to becoming a National Historic Park in 1980, Lyndon Johnson, the 36th U.S. President, acquired this place from a relative in 1951, back when it was rundown. Ever since he became president, the ranch prospered and even raised high-quality cattle. Johnson back then would always drive his guests around in a Lincoln convertible.
V Richard Nixon had an affinity for waterfront estates, as shown in the purchase he made in Key Biscayne, Florida. was a ranch-style home that was bought in the same year he started his presidency. Dubbed the Winter White House, it included a floating helipad and a private beach, both were which were paid for by the government.
VI Before Camp David became the go-to U.S. presidential retreat, it was originally called Hi-Catoctin, a camp for federal government agents and their families. However, it was renamed to Shangri-La in 1942 by Franklin Roosevelt and converted into a presidential retreat. It was only given its current name when Eisenhower became president, naming it in honor of both his father and grandson.

This South American City Becomes the Architecture Capital of the World

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