The JK Building is the tallest building in downtown Belo Horizonte,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, named for

Juscelino Kubitschek Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (; 12 September 1902 – 22 August 1976), also known by his initials JK, was a prominent Brazilian politician who served as the 21st president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. His term was marked by economic prosp ...

, who was the mayor of Belo Horizonte and later president of Brazil. Standing at 40 stories tall, the JK Building is the third tallest building in Brazil after the Itália Building (45 stories) and Mirante do Vale (51 stories), both in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

. It was designed by

Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was ...

in 1951, to work like a complete town. 13 kinds of apartments are found there (up to 3 or 4 bedrooms) and several kinds of people and families live there, too. Shops on the first floor, with access from the streets, provide inhabitants with everything they need without leaving the building. The JK building succeeded Acaiaca Building (29 stories) as the tallest building in Belo Horizonte, and it still maintains this record.

See also