7.3 – Oscar niemeyer

Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho was born in Rio de Janeiro on December 15, 1907. He began his studies in architecture in 1929 at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes, graduating in 1934. At the beginning of his career, he began working with Lúcio Costa and the Swiss architect, Le Corbusier, who greatly influenced his work. He designed large projects in Brazil and world, being the Conjunto Arquitetônico da Pampulha (Pampulha Architectural Complex), in Belo Horizonte, his first large individual project, which gained him international fame.

In 1956, he was invited by President Juscelino Kubitschek to participate in the construction of Brasilia, designing its public buildings. Among the Niemeyer works in the capital, the Palácio do Planalto (Planalto Palace), Congresso Nacional (National Congress), Palácio da Alvorada (Palace of the Dawn), Palácio do Itamaraty (Itamaraty Palace) and the Catedral de Brasília (Brasilia Cathedral) stand out. Marked by their unique architecture, these and other Niemeyer projects gave Brasilia its “look”, giving it important tourist and city picture postcard sites.

Niemeyer was one of the greatest architects of his generation, in Brazil and in the world. He was key to the development of modern architecture. Curves and abstract forms dominate his work. Building his projects provided to be an engineering challenge. The unprecedented forms, which he designed, guarantee the popularity of the “building-monuments”. Where a Niemeyer project was built would become a city symbol.

In 2007, the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage) – Iphan considered 35 architectural projects as heritage, 24 of which were chosen by Niemeyer himself. Throughout his life, Niemeyer received several titles and prizes, including the Pritzker Architecture Prize (1988) and the title of Architect of the 20th Century (2001). Besides his architectural work, his legacy includes drawings, engravings, sculptures, furniture and books. Niemeyer continued to work until days before his death on December 5, 2012, at 104 years of age. One of his last projects to be built was the Digital TV Tower, the flower of the Cerrado.

“I acknowledge all that is beautiful and well done.” (Oscar Niemeyer, 1998)