Brasilia hosts the 11th Brics Parliamentary Forum, a symbol of modernist architecture and international diplomacy
The 11th Brics Parliamentary Forum will be held in Brasilia, at the emblematic National Congress Palace, bringing together legislative representatives from the group's 11 member countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran. The Brazilian capital, which embodies the ideals of modernity, integration, and urban planning, will be the setting for central debates on legislative co-operation and political articulation between the parliaments of the Global South.
Founded in 1960 to be the country's new capital, Brasília is a landmark of modernist architecture and urbanism, conceived as a utopia built in the middle of the Central Plateau, under the slogan of development and internalisation. Conceived by then president Juscelino Kubitschek, the city was designed by two of the greatest exponents of Brazilian culture: urban planner Lúcio Costa, responsible for the aeroplane-shaped urban layout - the Plano Piloto - and architect Oscar Niemeyer, author of the bold, sculptural forms that mark the seats of the Three Branches of Government.
The design of Brasilia broke paradigms. With clean lines, expressive curves and pure volumes, the city incorporated the principles of the modernist movement, combining functionality and aesthetics. In 2025, the city turns 65 and is the first to be recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Even today, Brasilia represents a unique urban experiment that fuses art, politics, and idealism.
The symbolic and physical centre of the city is the Praça dos Três Poderes (Three Power’s Square), where the Planalto Palace, the Supreme Court and the National Congress Palace are located. The latter, home to the two houses of the Brazilian legislature - the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies - is one of Niemeyer's most iconic works. Its two domes - the concave one for the Chamber and the convex one for the Senate - balance on a raised platform which, in the original designs, was called the people's square, representing the basis of democracy.
Inspired in part by the United Nations building in New York - which Niemeyer also co-authored - the National Congress is a symbol of diplomacy and political representation. Its interiors are home not only to the country's main legislative debates, but also to an artistic collection of great importance, with works by Athos Bulcão, Marianne Peretti, Di Cavalcanti, Anna Maria Niemeyer, among other key names in Brazilian art. In 2021, the building was definitively listed as a cultural property by the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN).
In this context, the holding of the 11th Brics Parliamentary Forum in Brasilia reaffirms the federal capital's vocation as a stage for international dialogues and meetings that shape the future of relations between emerging nations. The event's programme will also include two unprecedented initiatives: the 2nd the Meeting of the Chairs of the Committees on International Affairs of the BRICS Parliaments and the 2nd Forum of Brics Women Parliamentarians, both scheduled for 3 June. The meetings symbolise the strengthening of the inter-parliamentary dimension of the Brics and the recognition of the importance of legislative diplomacy and gender equality in the formulation of global policies.
By hosting the 11th Forum, Brasilia is projecting itself not only as the political capital of Brazil, but as a world icon of modernist architecture and the spirit of co-operation between peoples who share values of justice, sovereignty, and development.
Address: National Congress Palace - Praça dos Três Poderes, Brasília - DF, Brazil