# Brazil's three domes, and two neighbors in the wrong place

September 7, 2026. A first exterior study, with finer roofs, entrances and gardens still to come.

Brazil's pavilion combined state reception rooms, commission offices and agricultural displays, especially coffee. Visitors could look into the building from galleries inside the central dome, or across the grounds from a gallery outside it. Those rooms and displays are not modeled yet. The guide tells us their stated purpose; it is not a complete account of the people and work behind them. [B015, printed page 124](https://archive.org/details/ajq5466.0001.001.umich.edu/page/n131/mode/1up).

## A continuous building with open upper galleries

The insurance plan shows a central hall joined to two round wings. The exterior photograph helps explain what happens above: the lower wings are enclosed, but their upper loggias are open to the air beneath low domes. The first model keeps that distinction. Plain supports stand beneath the side roofs, instead of solid walls reaching all the way to the dome tops. The dashed rings in the center of the plan describe the dome above the hall, not a courtyard open to the sky. [M006, sheet 2](https://data.library.wustl.edu/record/108214?ln=en), [B003, printed page 198](https://archive.org/details/worldsfair00louia/page/n205/mode/1up), [B015](https://archive.org/details/ajq5466.0001.001.umich.edu/page/n131/mode/1up).

The plan marks the main roof at **55 feet**, each side dome at **80 feet**, and the central apex at **132 feet above ground**. That last number is the whole height, not an extra 132 feet piled on top of the hall. The guide agrees on the central apex and describes it as 78 feet above the second-storey roof, implying about 54 feet for that roof. We have retained the plan's 55-foot reading. [M006](https://data.library.wustl.edu/record/108214?ln=en), [B015](https://archive.org/details/ajq5466.0001.001.umich.edu/page/n131/mode/1up).

The side heights do not quite agree. The guide says the low domes rise about 20 feet above the roof, suggesting roughly 75 feet overall, while the plan marks 80 feet. We do not yet know whether ornament or different measurement endpoints explain the gap. The first model uses 80 feet and keeps the disagreement visible.

Many intermediate dimensions are still estimates: the lower wing floor is 4.3 metres high, the side domes begin at 18.288 metres, and the central drum reaches 25 metres before its tapering roof. The side roofs use simple curved profiles; the central roof uses plain narrowing sections up to its apex. These are construction choices, not recovered measurements. The supports, their spacing, canopy thickness and floor levels need closer photographic checks. Raised entrances, stairs, windows, balustrades, sculpture and fine roof ornament remain unfinished. Ground beneath the main porticoes is also provisional.

## Fitting the building, not its whole parcel

The early ground plan shows Brazil inside a larger garden parcel. We matched four outer points of the building to that inner outline, leaving the garden outside. The two maps still disagree in proportions: the earlier round wings and entrance projections do not line up perfectly with the detailed insurance plan. A rough source-scale comparison also suggests about an 18% difference in overall width. A small alignment error at selected points therefore does not establish historical accuracy. The fit is approximate and needs better measured controls. [M001](https://www.loc.gov/item/2007633932/), [M006](https://data.library.wustl.edu/record/108214?ln=en).

That review exposed two older placement mistakes. Nicaragua's placeholder overlapped Brazil, and Holland's placeholder occupied Nicaragua's actual mapped location. The maps place Nicaragua between Siam and Brazil. Holland belongs across the road beyond Great Britain, near Sweden and Austria. The guide explicitly says Holland used the site formerly allotted to Russia, which explains the Russia label on the early ground plan. We corrected both locations rather than shifting Brazil away from its source outline. Holland's exact position within its parcel is still approximate. [M001](https://www.loc.gov/item/2007633932/), [M002](https://www.loc.gov/item/99466762/), [B015, printed page 130](https://archive.org/details/ajq5466.0001.001.umich.edu/page/n137/mode/1up).

Nicaragua remains a plain two-storey envelope. Its 14-metre height is an inherited estimate. Both books describe a patio, but the insurance plan does not draw its opening and the exterior photograph cannot locate it. The temporary solid roof is not proof that the patio was covered. Holland has a first 50-by-40-foot block based on the guide's stated occupied space, with an estimated 8-metre height. Its distinctive stepped gables and garden still need to be built. The guide describes a copy of Rembrandt's *Night Watch* and antique furniture, with a separate charge to see the painting. [B003, Nicaragua on printed page 210](https://archive.org/details/worldsfair00louia/page/n217/mode/1up), [B015, Nicaragua on printed page 133](https://archive.org/details/ajq5466.0001.001.umich.edu/page/n140/mode/1up), [B015, Holland on printed page 130](https://archive.org/details/ajq5466.0001.001.umich.edu/page/n137/mode/1up).

## Keeping the evidence and the mistakes

P049, P050 and P051 are complete pages from the official photographic views, showing Brazil, Nicaragua and the Netherlands. Captions, page numbers and visible marks remain attached. They are three selected plates from **B003**, not three independent publications. The photographer, exact capture dates and camera positions remain unconfirmed. Courtesy Smithsonian Libraries, via Internet Archive. The source register records the item **worldsfair00louia**, call number **39088013421086**, and a contact route for sharper scans or related originals. No request has been sent. [Brazil](https://archive.org/details/worldsfair00louia/page/n205/mode/1up), [Nicaragua](https://archive.org/details/worldsfair00louia/page/n217/mode/1up), [Netherlands](https://archive.org/details/worldsfair00louia/page/n212/mode/1up).

Astra traced the plan, compared the source heights and built the first roof geometry. Luna prepared source and photograph notes. The coordinating agent reviewed the actual pages and map overlays, reconciled the misplaced neighbors and prepared the integration checks. Review caught an incorrect image-coordinate conversion in an early draft and an off-by-one guide-page reference. Reading the surrounding text resolved the Russia/Holland labels. Those corrections stay in the record so future work can improve on them.