Torre Digital Brasília: The flower of the Cerrado

I am currently in Brasília, a very difficult visit for many reasons. As a half-Brazilian, I have not found the atmosphere here beautiful for a long time. Much is changing, and in a way that scares me more than it gives me hope. And this disorganization! In Brazil, I always realize how much I have been influenced by life in Germany and Central Europe. With the Torre Digital in Brasília, for example, it’s the same as with many other things in Brazil. The structure is there, but somehow no one cares. No one really cares about this architectural gem. Three times now I’ve been up here on the hill, outside the city, in the middle of nowhere, traveling three quarters of an hour by car. In joyful anticipation of finally climbing up the tower. From the viewing platforms of the Torre Digital you are supposed to have an amazing view over Brasilia. And the futuristic glass domes, under which there are two platforms, even provide a bit of Star Trek atmosphere. Brazil’s architecture has always been futuristic.

Welcome to my travel blog

Hey, I’m Tatiana and I’m the blogger behind The Happy Jetlagger. Since 2014, I’ve been sharing my personal travel stories on this blog. I don’t have a big team behind me, so I’m pretty much a one-person show: I’ve researched and tested all recommendations myself.

Reading tip

The Torre Digital was the last project by the great Oscar Niemeyer, Brasília’s main architect, who died in 2012 at the ripe old age of 104. His buildings are legendary and his visions were groundbreaking.

Oscar Niemeyer “We must change the world”

You can also find more travel stories from Brazil in my Brazil Blog!

Torre Digital Brasília: opening hours & bad prospects.

Opened only a few years ago, the Torre Digital was intended not only to be an antenna tower, but also a new attraction for the city, both for tourists and locals. This worked quite well at first, but at some point the opening hours became more and more bizarre. First open to visitors only during the week, then only every other weekend, then different again, strikes intervened, then there were security problems – Brazilian chaos, after all. Only a few guards are now guarding the tower, but when it will be open, yes, sometime, but when exactly, no idea. On the internet, the official site of the tourism authority never gives any further info except for a fancy little picture. So the visit remains a gamble – and I think I’m slowly giving up both the hope of ever coming up here and the hope that fundamentally some things will change here in the country. Too bad actually. For me, for Brazil, for the rainforest, for the world.

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All articles about Brasília

• Brasília: The Best Things to Do in Brazil’s Capital
• Torre Digital Brasília: The flower of the Cerrado