A very new city, Brasilia was inaugurated in 1960. Though Rio de Janeiro and Salvador are by far capitals of Brazil in terms of population, Brasilia was intentionally planned as a decentralized seat of government that would relieve some of the overcrowding pressure of Brazil’s other main cities. Designed principally by Lucia Costa and Oscar Niemeyer in what has been termed the ‘Pilot Plan’, Brasilia is noticeably formal and artificial, yet the building boom that supported its completion attracted many immigrants to an area of Brazil formerly uninhabitable and desert-like. Many unplanned suburbs sprang up to support this migrant population, instantly creating a larger city than the planners had ever envisioned.