Car crashes into reflecting pool at Brazil’s presidential palace

The driver of Congressman Marcos Tavares accidentally drove his car into one of the reflecting pools outside the Planalto Palace, the official workplace of the Brazilian president in Brasília. The driver said he was “confused” by the signage in the area. 

The driver escaped unharmed — though he was moved to another location because the accident reportedly left him shaken. Authorities used a tow truck to remove the vehicle from the pool. 

For the architectural plans of buildings such as the Palace of Justice, the Justice Ministry’s headquarters, and Itamaraty Palace, which houses the Foreign Affairs Ministry, legendary architect Oscar Niemeyer originally included reflecting pools for aesthetic purposes. 

However, similar pools were later added to the Congress building and presidential palace in the 1990s for security reasons — despite being absent from the original plan. 

Their construction faced opposition from Iphan, Brazil’s National Institute of Historic Heritage, due to a desire to preserve the original projects, as the buildings are listed as historical landmarks.

The Planalto Palace’s reflecting pool was built in 1991, after an intoxicated man driving a bus attempted to ram the palace. He crossed the courtyard, smashed windows, but eventually stopped in the building’s lobby. In 2018, a 50-year-old man showing signs of intoxication tried to ram the palace with his pickup truck, but failed.

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