Brasília's plan resembles an aeroplane, and Asa Sul (the "South Wing") is one of the residential half-circles flanking the monumental axis. It is laid out in numbered superblocks: each quadra is a four- to six-storey housing block on stilts around shared green courtyards, with a row of commercial quadras between them.
In practice Asa Sul is the friendlier, livelier of the two wings. Most of the bars (around blocks 403, 405, 408, 410), the embassies (Lago Sul, just below), the better restaurants, and the Dom Bosco Sanctuary are here. Walking between blocks is sometimes awkward — Costa designed for cars — but each quadra has its own bakery, pharmacy and pavement cafés.