Sandwiched between Brasília’s famous pilot masterplan and Paranoá Lake, the University of Brasilia (UnB) is one of the largest and most renowned academic institutions across the country. While UnB campus is home to multiple Brutalist edifices, none of which is as remarkable and controversial as the ICC building, otherwise known as Instituto Central de Ciências (the Central Institute of Sciences). Designed by Brazil’s globally renowned architect Oscar Neymar, the ICC was the university’s first building upon its completion in 1971.

The most striking thing that comes to mind when looking at the article’s protagonist is its mind-boggling length, measuring a whopping 696 meters (2283 feet). It should then come as no surprise that no less than eight years were needed to construct this modernist mega-structure, which was originally designated as the UnB’s main building. As of today, this concrete mammoth accommodates 7 institutes (physics, psychology, social sciences, human sciences, exact sciences, geosciences and letters) and 3 faculties (architecture and urbanism, agronomy and veterinary science and communications).

The ICC Building's main entrance

photography by: Omri Westmark

Each section has a slight curve, most apparent in the long passageways

photography by: Omri Westmark

A series of sooty concrete beams separate the inner garden from the two buildings that constitute together the ICC

photography by: Omri Westmark

The corridor along the 2nd floor

photography by: Omri Westmark

The basement level has an underground road, which features a curvy shape like the rest of the building

photography by: Omri Westmark

As one can imagine, the Worm is greatly dominated by extremely long hallways, connecting classrooms, labs and auditoriums

photography by: Omri Westmark

The large garden, sandwiched between the two sections

photography by: Omri Westmark

The exterior façade

photography by: Omri Westmark

Probably one of Neymar’s least known buildings, the ICC can be divided into 3 wings – south, central and north, with the main entrances being located in between, making them popular meeting spots for all students. The massive edifice is also comprised of three sections, a verdant garden wedged between a pair of 3 story buildings, each spanning across hundreds of meters. Thanks to its seemingly never-ending corridors that run along a curvy path, the building is better-known today as Minhocão, the Brazilian term for worm.

While initially, it is somewhat easy to dismiss the grace of such a place, a closer glimpse reveals all sorts of interesting phenomena within its confines. The boisterous gatherings of students around the smattering of kiosks, fluffy cats who roam freely throughout the classrooms and the mini-jungle reclining on the grimy concrete beams are merely some of the things that make the ICC a charming place for many of its tenants. Suffice to say that over the years, the building also gained a great deal of abhorrence, with its haters usually mentioning the 2011’s flood that inundated large parts with gushing water.

Whether the Worm is an appealing place or not, it is up for you to decide, one thing is clear though, this unignorable building is one of Brasília’s most interesting sites to explore, regardless of one’s final conclusion about its aesthetic merit.

One of the Worm's main entrances

photography by: Omri Westmark

The building as seen from the nearby lawn

photography by: Omri Westmark

The building as seen from the nearby lawn

photography by: Omri Westmark

The eastern corridor, viewed from the second floor's balcony

photography by: Omri Westmark

Trees protruding from one of a couple of small gardened corners located at the basement level

photography by: Omri Westmark

Neymar's iconic ramp, linking the first and second floors

photography by: Omri Westmark