National Congress of Brazil

The National Congress of Brazil building stands at the eastern end of Brasilia's Monumental Axis, designed by the architect Oscar Niemeyer as part of Lucio Costa's master plan for the new capital and completed in 1960. Its most recognizable feature pairs two nearly identical office towers with two contrasting dome-like forms at their base, a dome that curves upward housing the Senate and an inverted, bowl-shaped dome housing the Chamber of Deputies, a composition intended to symbolize the two legislative houses visually. The building is one of the signature works of Brazilian modernist architecture and, together with the rest of Niemeyer and Costa's planned city, forms part of the UNESCO-inscribed Brasilia World Heritage Site.