Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (December 15,
1907 – December 5, 2012), known as
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer (Brazilian
Portuguese: [ˈoskaʁ ni.e'majeʁ]), was a Brazilian architect
considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern
architecture. Niemeyer was best known for his design of civic
buildings for Brasília, a planned city that became Brazil's capital
in 1960, as well as his collaboration with other architects on the
headquarters of the
United Nations

United Nations in New York. His exploration of the
aesthetic possibilities of reinforced concrete was highly influential
in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Both lauded and criticized for being a "sculptor of monuments",[1]
Niemeyer was hailed as a great artist and one of the greatest
architects of his generation by his supporters.[2] He said his
architecture was strongly influenced by Le Corbusier, but in an
interview, assured that this "didn't prevent [his] architecture from
going in a different direction".[3] Niemeyer was most famous for his
use of abstract forms and curves and wrote in his memoirs:
I am not attracted to straight angles or to the straight line, hard
and inflexible, created by man. I am attracted to free-flowing,
sensual curves. The curves that I find in the mountains of my country,
in the sinuousness of its rivers, in the waves of the ocean, and on
the body of the beloved woman. Curves make up the entire Universe, the
curved Universe of Einstein.[4]
Niemeyer was educated at the
Escola Nacional de Belas Artes

Escola Nacional de Belas Artes at the
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and after graduating, he worked
at his father's typography house and as a draftsman for local
architectural firms. In the 1930s, he interned with Lúcio Costa, with
the pair collaborating on the design for the Palácio Gustavo Capanema
in Rio de Janeiro. Niemeyer's first major project was a series of
buildings for Pampulha, a planned suburb north of Belo Horizonte. His
work, especially on the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, received
critical acclaim and drew international attention. Throughout the
1940s and 1950s, Niemeyer became one of Brazil's most prolific
architects, working both domestically and overseas. This included the
design of the
Edifício Copan

Edifício Copan (a large residential building in São
Paulo) and a collaboration with
Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier (and others) on the
United Nations

United Nations Headquarters, which yielded invitations to teach at
Yale University

Yale University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
In 1956, Niemeyer was invited by Brazil's new president, Juscelino
Kubitschek, to design the civic buildings for Brazil's new capital,
which was to be built in the centre of the country, far from any
existing cities. His designs for the National Congress of Brazil, the
Cathedral of Brasília, the Palácio da Alvorada, the Palácio do
Planalto, and the Supreme Federal Court, all designed by 1960, were
experimental and linked by common design elements. This work led to
his appointment as inaugural head of architecture at the University of
Brasília, as well as honorary membership of the American Institute of
Architects. Due to his largely leftist ideology, and involvement with
the
Brazilian Communist Party

Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), Niemeyer left the country after
the 1964 military coup and opened an office in Paris. He returned to
Brazil

Brazil in 1985, and was awarded the prestigious Pritzker Architecture
Prize in 1988. A socialist and atheist from an early age, Niemeyer had
spent time in both
Cuba

Cuba and the
Soviet Union
.jpg/460px-Soviet_Union-1964-stamp-Chapayev_(film).jpg)
Soviet Union during his exile, and on
his return served as the PCB's president from 1992 to 1996. Niemeyer
continued working at the end of the 20th and early 21st century,
notably designing the
Niterói Contemporary Art Museum

Niterói Contemporary Art Museum (1996) and the
Oscar Niemeyer Museum

Oscar Niemeyer Museum (2002). Over a career of 78 years he designed
approximately 600 projects.[5] Niemeyer died in
Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro on
December 5, 2012, at the age of 104, ten days before his 105th
birthday.
Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Early life and education
1.2 Early career
1.2.1 Brazilian modernism
1.2.2 1939 New York World's Fair
1.3 Pampulha Project
1.4 1940s and 1950s
1.4.1 Depoimento
1.5 Design of Brasília
1.6 Exile and projects overseas
1.7 Later life and death
2 Personal life
2.1 Political and religious views
3 Criticism
4 Legacy
5 Decorations and awards
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
Biography[edit]
Early life and education[edit]
Niemeyer was born in the city of
Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro on December 15,
1907.[3] The great grandfather of
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer was a Portuguese
immigrant who, in turn, was the grandson of a German soldier who had
settled in Portugal.[6][7] Niemeyer spoke about it: "my name ought to
have been Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida de Niemeyer Soares, or simply Oscar
de Almeida Soares, but the foreign surname prevailed and I am known
simply as Oscar Niemeyer".[8] He spent his youth as a typical young
Carioca of the time: bohemian and relatively unconcerned with his
future.[9] In 1928, at age 21, Niemeyer left school (Santo Antonio
Maria Zaccaria priory school) and married Annita Baldo,[3] daughter of
Italian immigrants from Padua.
Niemeyer in 1917
He pursued his passion at the National School of Fine Arts in Rio de
Janeiro (Escola Nacional de Belas Artes) and graduated with a BA in
architecture in 1934.[3]
Early career[edit]
After graduating, he worked in his father's typography house. Even
though he was not financially stable, he insisted on working in the
architecture studio of Lucio Costa,
Gregori Warchavchik and Carlos
Leão, even though they could not pay him. Niemeyer joined them as a
draftsman, an art that he mastered (Corbusier himself would later
compliment Niemeyer's 'beautiful perspectives'[10]). The contact with
Costa would be extremely important to Niemeyer's maturation. Costa,
after an initial flirtation with the Neocolonial movement, realized
that the advances of the international style in Europe were the way
forward for architecture. His writings on the insights that could
unite Brazil's traditional colonial architecture (such as that in
Olinda) with modernist principles would be the basis of the
architecture that he and his contemporaries, such as Affonso Eduardo
Reidy, would later realize.
In 1936, at 29,
Lucio Costa

Lucio Costa was appointed by Education Minister
Gustavo Capanema to design the new headquarters of the Ministry of
Education and Health in Rio de Janeiro. Costa himself, although open
to change, was unsure of how to proceed. He assembled a group of young
architects (Carlos Leão, Affonso Eduardo Reidy, Jorge Moreira and
Ernani Vasconcellos) to design the building. He also insisted that Le
Corbusier himself should be invited as a consultant. Though Niemeyer
was not initially part of the team, Costa agreed to accept him after
Niemeyer insisted. During the period of Le Corbusier's stay in Rio, he
was appointed to help the master with his drafts, which allowed him a
close contact with the Swiss. After his departure, Niemeyer's
significant changes to Corbusier's scheme impressed Costa, who allowed
him to progressively take charge of the project, of which he assumed
leadership in 1939.
Brazilian modernism[edit]
Ministry of Education and Health, Rio de Janeiro
The Ministry of Education had assumed the task of shaping the "novo
homem, Brasileiro e moderno" (new man, Brazilian and modern). It was
the first state-sponsored modernist skyscraper in the world, of a much
larger scale than anything
Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier had built until then.[citation
needed] Completed in 1943,[11] when he was 36 years old, the building
that housed the regulator and manager of Brazilian culture and
cultural heritage developed the elements of what was to become
recognized as Brazilian modernism. It employed local materials and
techniques, like the azulejos linked to the Portuguese tradition; the
revolutionized Corbusian brises-soleil, made adjustable and related to
the Moorish shading devices of colonial architecture; bold colors; the
tropical gardens of Roberto Burle Marx; the Imperial Palm (Roystonea
oleracea), known as the Brazilian order; further allusions to the
icons of the Brazilian landscape; and specially commissioned works by
Brazilian artists. This building is considered by some architects as
one of the most influential of the 20th century. It was taken as a
model on how to blend low- and high-rise structures (Lever House).
1939 New York World's Fair[edit]
In 1939, at age 32, Niemeyer and Costa designed the Brazilian pavilion
for the New York World's Fair (executed in collaboration with Paul
Lester Wiener). Neighbouring the much larger French pavilion, the
Brazilian structure contrasted with its heavy mass. Costa explained
that the Brazilian Pavilion adopted a language of 'grace and
elegance', lightness and spatial fluidity, with an open plan, curves
and free walls, which he termed 'Ionic', contrasting it to the
mainstream contemporary modernist architecture, which he termed
'Doric'. Impressed by its avant-garde design, Mayor Fiorello La
Guardia awarded Niemeyer the keys to the city of New York.
In 1937, Niemeyer was invited by a relative to design a nursery for
philanthropic institution which catered for young mothers, the Obra do
Berço. It would become his first finalised work.[12] However,
Niemeyer has said that his architecture really began in Pampulha,
Minas Gerais, and as he explained in an interview, Pampulha was the
starting point of this freer architecture full of curves which I still
love even today. It was in fact, the beginning of
Brasília

Brasília ....[3]
Pampulha Project[edit]
The free-form marquee at Casa do Baile
In 1940, at 33, Niemeyer met Juscelino Kubitschek, who was at the time
the mayor of Belo Horizonte, capital of the state of Minas Gerais.
Kubitschek, together with the state's governor Benedito Valadares,
wanted to develop a new suburb to the north of the city called
Pampulha and commissioned Niemeyer to design a series of buildings
which would become known as the "Pampulha architectural complex". The
complex included a casino, a restaurant/dance hall, a yacht club, a
golf club and a church, all of which would be distributed around a new
artificial lake. A weekend retreat for the mayor was built near the
lake.
The buildings were completed in 1943 and received international
acclaim following the 1943 '
Brazil

Brazil Builds' exhibition, at the New York
Museum of Modern Art

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Most of the buildings show Niemeyer's
particular approach to the Corbusian language. In the casino, with its
relatively rigid main façade, Niemeyer departed from Corbusian
principles and designed curved volumes outside the confinement of a
rational grid.[13] He also expanded upon Corbusier's idea of a
promenade architecturale with his designs for floating catwalk-like
ramps which unfold open vistas to the occupants.
The small restaurant (Casa do Baile), which is perhaps the least
bourgeois of the complex, is built on its own artificial island and
comprises an approximately circular block from which a free-form
marquee follows the contour of the island. Although free form had been
used even in Corbusier's and Mies's architecture, its application on
an outdoors marquee was Niemeyer's innovation. This application of
free-form, together with the butterfly roof used at the Yacht Club and
Kubitschek's house became extremely fashionable from then on.
São Francisco de Assis Church,
Belo Horizonte

Belo Horizonte City, Minas Gerais,
Brazil
The
Saint Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi church is considered the masterpiece of
the complex. When it was built, reinforced concrete was used in
traditional ways, such as in pillar, beam and slab structures. Auguste
Perret, in Casablanca and
Robert Maillart
-Portrait-Portr_13004.tif/lossy-page1-440px-ETH-BIB-Maillart,_Robert_(1872-1940)-Portrait-Portr_13004.tif.jpg)
Robert Maillart in Zurich had experimented
with the plastic freedom of concrete, taking advantage of the
parabolic arch's geometry to build extremely thin shells. Niemeyer's
decision to use such an economical approach, based on the inherent
plasticity allowed by reinforced concrete was revolutionary. According
to Joaquim Cardoso,[14] the unification of wall and roof into a single
element was revolutionary for fusing vertical and horizontal elements.
The church's exuberance added to the integration between architecture
and art. The church is covered by Azulejos by Portinari and tile
murals by Paulo Werneck. It led to the church being seen as baroque.
Though some European purists condemned its formalism, the fact that
the form's idea was directly linked to a logical, structural reason
placed the building in the 20th century, while refusing to break
completely from the past.
Due to its importance in the history of architecture, the church was
the first listed modern building in Brazil. This fact did not
influence the conservative church authorities of Minas Gerais, who
refused to consecrate it until 1959, in part because of its unorthodox
form and in part because of Portinari's altar mural, which depicts
Saint Francis as the savior of the ill, the poor and, most
importantly, the sinner.
Niemeyer stated that Pampulha offered him the opportunity to
'challenge the monotony of contemporary architecture, the wave of
misinterpreted functionalism that hindered it and the dogmas of form
and function that had emerged, counteracting the plastic freedom that
reinforced concrete introduced. I was attracted by the curve –
the liberated, sensual curve suggested by the possibilities of new
technology yet so often recalled in venerable old baroque churches.
[...] I deliberately disregarded the right angle and rationalist
architecture designed with ruler and square to boldly enter the world
of curves and straight lines offered by reinforced concrete. [...]
This deliberate protest arose from the environment in which I lived,
with its white beaches, its huge mountains, its old baroque churches
and the beautiful suntanned women.'[4]
The experience also marked the first collaborations between Niemeyer
and Roberto Burle Marx, considered the most important modern landscape
architect.[citation needed] They would be partners in many projects in
the next 10 years.
1940s and 1950s[edit]
Headquarters of the Banco Mineiro da Produção, Belo Horizonte
With the success of Pampulha and the
Brazil

Brazil Builds exhibition,
Niemeyer's achieved international recognition. His architecture
further developed the brazilian style that the Saint Francis of
Assissi Church and, to a lesser extent (due to its primary Corbusian
language) the Ministry building, had pioneered. Works of this period
shows the traditional modernist method in which form follows function,
but Niemeyer's (and other Brazilian architects) handling of scale,
proportion and program allowed him to resolve complex problems with
simple and intelligent plans.[15] Stamo Papadaki in his monography on
Niemeyer mentioned the spatial freedom that characterized his work.
The headquarters of the Banco Boavista, inaugurated in 1948 show such
an approach.[16] Dealing with a typical urban site, Niemeyer adopted
creative solutions to enliven the otherwise monolithic high rise, thus
challenging the predominant solidity which was the norm for bank
buildings.[17] The glazed south façade (with least insulation)
reflects the 19th century Candelária Church, showing Niemeyer's
sensitivity to the surroundings and older architecture. Such austere
designs to high rises within urban grids can also be seen in the
Edifício Montreal (1951–1954), Edifício Triângulo (1955) and the
Edifício Sede do Banco Mineiro da Produção.
In 1947, Niemeyer returned to
New York City

New York City to integrate the
international team working on the design for the United Nations
headquarters. Niemeyer's scheme 32 was approved by the Board of
Design, but he eventually gave in to pressure by Le Corbusier, and
together they submitted project 23/32 (developed with Bodiansky and
Weissmann), which combined elements from Niemeyer's and Le Corbusier's
schemes. Despite Le Corbusier's insistence to remain involved, the
design was carried forward by the Director of Planning, Wallace
Harrison and Max Abramovitz, then a partnership. This stay in the
United States also produced the Burton G. Tremaine house project, one
of his boldest residential designs. Amidst gardens by Burle Marx, it
featured an open plan next to the Pacific Ocean.[18]
Niemeyer produced very few designs for the United States because his
affiliation to the Communist Party usually prevented him from
obtaining a visa. This happened in 1946 when he was invited to teach
at Yale University, when his political views cost him a visa. In 1953,
at 46, Niemeyer was appointed dean of the Harvard Graduate School of
Design, but because of his political views the United States
government denied his visa therefore preventing him from entering the
country.
In 1950 the first book about his work to be published in the United
States, The Work of
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer by Stamo Papadaki was released. It
was the first systematic study of his architecture, which
significantly contributed to the awareness of his work abroad. It
would be followed in 1956 by Oscar Niemeyer: Works in Progress, by the
same author.[19] By this time, Niemeyer was already self-confident and
following his own path internationally In 1948 Niemeyer departed from
the parabolic arches he had designed in Pampulha to further explore
his signature material, concrete.
Palácio da Agricultura, current MAC USP, showing the V shaped pilotis
Niemeyer's formal creativity has been compared to that of
sculptors.[20] In the 1950s, a time of intensive construction in
Brazil

Brazil produced numerous commissions. Yves Bruand[21] stressed that
Niemeyer's 1948 project for a theatre next to the Ministry of
Education and Health allowed him to develop his vocabulary. In 1950 he
was asked to design São Paulo's
Ibirapuera Park

Ibirapuera Park for the city's 400th
anniversary celebration. The plan, which consisted of several
porticoed pavilions related via a gigantic free form marquee, had to
be simplified due to cost. The resulting buildings were less
interesting individually, which meant that the ensemble effect became
the dominant aesthetic experience. Niemeyer developed V-shaped pilotis
for the project, which became fashionable for a time. A variation on
that theme was the W-shaped piloti which supports the Governador
Juscelino Kubitschek

Juscelino Kubitschek housing complex (1951), two large buildings
containing around 1,000 apartments. Its design was based on Niemeyer's
scheme for the Quitandinha apartment hotel in
Petrópolis

Petrópolis designed one
year earlier, but never realised. At 33 stories and over 400 meters
long, it was to contain 5,700 living unites together with communal
services such as shops, schools etc., his version of Corbusier's
Unité d'Habitation.[12]
Edifício Copan, São Paulo
A similar program was realized in the centre of São Paulo, the Copan
apartment building (1953–66). This landmark represents a microcosm
of the diverse population of the city. Its horizontality, which is
emphasized by the concrete brise-soleil, together with the fact that
it was a residential building made it an interesting approach to
popular housing, given that in the 1950s suburbanization had begun and
city centres were being occupied primarily by business, usually
occupying vertical "masculine" buildings, as opposed to Niemeyer's
"feminine" approach.[22] In 1954 Niemeyer also designed the "Niemeyer
apartment building" at the Praça da Liberdade, Belo Horizonte. The
building's completely free form layout is reminiscent of Mies van der
Rohe's 1922 glass skyscraper, although with a much more material feel
than the airy German one. Also in 1954 as part of the same plaza
Niemeyer built a library the (Biblioteca Pública Estadual).
During this period Niemeyer built several residences. Among them were
a weekend house for his father, in Mendes (1949), developed from a
chicken coop, the Prudente de Morais Neto house, in Rio (1943–49),
based on Niemeyer's original design for Kubitschek's house in
Pampulha, a house for Gustavo Capanema (1947) (the minister who
commissioned the Ministry of Education and Health building), the
Leonel Miranda house (1952), featuring two spiral ramps which provide
access to the butterfly-roofed first floor, lifted up on oblique
piloti. These houses featured the same inclined façade used in the
Tremaine design, which allowed good natural lighting. In 1954 he built
the famous Cavanelas house, with its tent-like metallic roof and
which, with the help of Burle Marx's gardens, is perfectly adapted to
its mountainous site.[23] However, his residential (and free-form
architecture) masterpiece is considered to be the 1953 Canoas House
Niemeyer built for himself. The house is located on sloped terrain
overlooking the ocean from afar. It comprises two floors, the first of
which is under a free form roof, supported on thin metallic columns.
The living quarters is located on the floor below and is more
traditionally divided. The design takes advantage of the uneven
terrain so that the house seems not to disturb the landscape. Although
the house is extremely well-suited to its environment, it did not
escape criticism. Niemeyer recalled that Walter Gropius, who was
visiting the country as a jury in the second Biennial exhibition in
São Paulo, argued that the house could not be mass-produced, to which
Niemeyer responded that the house was designed with himself in mind
and for that particular site, not a general flat one.[24] For
Henry-Russell Hitchcock, the house at Canoas was Niemeyer's most
extreme lyrical statement, placing rhythm and dance as the antithesis
of utility.[25]
Depoimento[edit]
In 1953 modern Brazilian architecture, which had been praised since
Brazil

Brazil Builds, became the target of international criticism, mainly
from rationalists. Niemeyer's architecture in particular was
criticised by
Max Bill

Max Bill in an interview for Manchete Magazine.[26] He
attacked Niemeyer's use of free-form as purely decorative (as opposed
to Reidy's Pedregulho housing), his use of mural panels and the
individualistic character of his architecture which "is in risk of
falling in a dangerous anti-social academicism". He even belittled
Niemeyer's V piloti, as purely aesthetic.
Niemeyer's first response was denial, followed by a counterattack
based on Bill's patronizing attitude, which prevented him from
considering the differing social and economic realities of
Brazil

Brazil and
European countries. Costa also stressed that Brazilian (and
Niemeyer's) architecture was based on unskilled work which allowed for
a crafted architecture based on concrete, expressing a tradition of
(Brazilian) church builders, as opposed to (Swiss) clock builders.[27]
Califórnia Building (Edifício Califórnia), São Paulo
Although it was badly received and to an extent an exaggeration,
Bill's words were effective in bringing to attention the mediocre
architecture coming from less talented architects, who employed
Niemeyer's vocabulary in the decorative fashion that Bill had
criticised. Niemeyer himself admitted that for a certain period he had
"handled too many commissions, executing them in a hurry, trusting the
improvisational skills he believed to have".[28] The Califórnia
Building (Edifício Califórnia) in
São Paulo

São Paulo is an example. Usually
neglected by its creator, it features the V piloti which had worked so
well in isolated buildings, creating a different treatment to that
space without the need for two separate structural systems as
Corbusier had done in Marseille. Its use in a typical urban context
was formalistic and even compromised the building's structural logic
in that it required many different sized supports.[29]
Berlin's 1957 Interbau exhibition gave Niemeyer the chance to build an
example of his architecture in Germany along with the chance to visit
Europe for the first time. The contact with the monuments of the old
world had a lasting impact on Niemeyer's views, which he now believed
was completely dependent on its aesthetic qualities. Together with his
own realisations of how Brazilian architecture had been harmed by
untalented architects, this trip led Niemeyer to revise his approach,
which he published as a text named Depoimento in his Módulo Magazine.
He proposed a simplification, discarding multiple elements such as
brises, sculptural piloti and marquees. His architecture from then on
would be a pure expression of structure as a representation of solid
volumes.[30] His design method would also change, prioritizing
aesthetic impact over programmatic functions, given that for him "when
form creates beauty, it has in beauty itself its justification".[31]
Model of the
Museum of Modern Art

Museum of Modern Art in Caracas
In 1955, at 48, Niemeyer designed the
Museum of Modern Art

Museum of Modern Art in Caracas.
The design of this museum was the material realization of his work
revision. Meant to rise from the top of a cliff overlooking central
Caracas, the museum had an inverted pyramid shape which dominated and
overpowered its surroundings. The opaque prismatic building had almost
no connection to the outside through its walls, although its glass
ceiling allowed natural light to enter. An electronic system was used
to keep lighting conditions unchanged throughout the day using
artificial light to complement it. The interior, however, was more
recognizably done in Niemeyer's mode, with cat-walk ramps linking the
different levels and the mezzanine made as a free-form slab hung from
ceiling beams.
This aesthetic simplicity would culminate in his work in Brasília,
where the qualities of the buildings are expressed by their structural
elements alone.
Design of Brasília[edit]
Ministries Esplanade with several of Niemeyer's buildings: the
National Congress, the Cathedral, the National Museum and the National
Library, Brasília, D.F., 2006
The National Congress of Brazil, Brasília
Cathedral of Brasília, hyperboloid structure
Palácio do Planalto, the official workplace of the President of
Brazil
Juscelino Kubitschek

Juscelino Kubitschek visited Niemeyer at the Canoas House in September
1956, soon after he assumed the Brazilian presidency. While driving
back to the city, the politician spoke to the architect about his most
audacious scheme: "I am going to build a new capital for this country
and I want you to help me [...] Oscar, this time we are going to build
the capital of Brazil."[32]
Niemeyer organized a competition for the lay-out of Brasília, the new
capital, and the winner was the project of his old master and great
friend, Lúcio Costa. Niemeyer would design the buildings, Lucio the
layout of the city.
In the space of a few months, Niemeyer designed residential,
commercial and government buildings. Among them were the residence of
the President (Palácio da Alvorada), the chamber of deputies, the
National Congress of Brazil, the
Cathedral of Brasília

Cathedral of Brasília (a hyperboloid
structure), diverse ministries. Viewed from above, the city can be
seen to have elements that repeat themselves in every building,
achieving a formal unity.
Behind the construction of
Brasília

Brasília lay a monumental campaign to
construct an entire city in the barren center of the country, hundreds
of kilometers from any major city. The brainchild of Kubitschek,
Niemeyer had as aims included stimulating industry, integrating the
country's distant areas, populating inhospitable regions and bringing
progress to a region where only cattle ranching then existed. Niemeyer
and Costa used it to test new concepts of city planning: streets
without transit, buildings floating off the ground supported by
columns and allowing the space underneath to be free and integrated
with nature.
The project adopted a socialist ideology: in
Brasília

Brasília all the
apartments would be owned by the government and rented to employees.
Brasília

Brasília did not have "nobler" regions, meaning that top ministers
and common laborers would share the same building. Many of these
concepts were ignored or changed by other presidents with different
visions in later years.
Brasília

Brasília was designed, constructed, and
inaugurated within four years. After its completion, Niemeyer was
named chief of the college of architecture of the University of
Brasília. In 1963, he became an honorary member of the American
Institute of Architects in the United States; the same year, he
received the
Lenin Peace Prize

Lenin Peace Prize from the USSR.
Niemeyer and his contribution to the construction of
Brasília

Brasília are
portrayed in the 1964 French movie
L'homme de Rio

L'homme de Rio (The Man From Rio),
starring Jean-Paul Belmondo.
In 1964, at 57, after being invited by Abba Hushi, the mayor of Haifa,
Israel, to plan the campus of the University of Haifa, he came back to
a completely different Brazil. In March President João Goulart, who
succeeded President
Jânio Quadros

Jânio Quadros in 1961, was deposed in a military
coup. General Castelo Branco assumed command of the country, which
would remain a dictatorship until 1985.
Exile and projects overseas[edit]
Niemeyer's politics cost him during the military dictatorship. His
office was pillaged, the headquarters of the magazine he coordinated
were destroyed and clients disappeared. In 1965, two hundred
professors, Niemeyer among them, resigned from the University of
Brasília, to protest against the government's treatment of
universities. In the same year he traveled to
France

France for an exhibition
in the Louvre.
The following year, Niemeyer moved to Paris. That year he visited
Tripoli, Lebanon

Tripoli, Lebanon to design the International Permanent Exhibition
Centre.[33] Despite completing construction, the start of the civil
war in Lebanon disrupted its launch.
He opened an office on the
Champs-Élysées

Champs-Élysées and found customers in
diverse countries, especially in
Algeria

Algeria where he designed the
University of Science and Technology-Houari Boumediene. In
Paris

Paris he
created the headquarters of the French Communist Party,[11] Place du
Colonel Fabien, and in
Italy

Italy that of the
Mondadori

Mondadori publishing company.
In
Funchal

Funchal on Madeira, he designed a casino.
While in Paris, Niemeyer began designing furniture that was produced
by Mobilier International. He created an easy chair and ottoman
composed of bent steel and leather in limited numbers for private
clients. Later, in 1978, this chair and other designs, including the
"Rio" chaise-longue were produced in
Brazil

Brazil by Tendo company, then
Tendo Brasileira. The easy chairs and ottomans were made of bent wood
and were placed in Communist party headquarters around the world. Much
like his architecture, Niemeyer's furniture designs evoked the beauty
of Brazil, with curves mimicking the female form and the hills of Rio
de Janeiro.
Later life and death[edit]
The Brazilian dictatorship lasted until 1985. Under João Figueiredo's
rule it softened and gradually turned towards democracy. At this time
Niemeyer returned to his country. During the 1980s, he made the
Memorial
Juscelino Kubitschek

Juscelino Kubitschek (1980), the Pantheon (Panteão da
Pátria e da Liberdade Tancredo Neves, 1985) and the Latin America
Memorial (1987) (described by
The Independent

The Independent of London to be "an
incoherent and vulgar construction").[34] The memorial sculpture
represents a wounded hand, whose wound bleeds in the shape of Central
and South America. In 1988, at 81, Niemeyer was awarded the Pritzker
Architecture Prize, architecture's most prestigious award. From 1992
to 1996, Niemeyer was the president of the Brazilian Communist Party
(PCB). As a lifelong activist, Niemeyer was a powerful public figure
who could be linked to the party at a time when it appeared to be in
its death throes after the USSR's demise. Although not politically
active, his image helped the party survive its crisis, after the 1992
split and to remain as a political force on the national scene, which
eventually led to its renewal. He was replaced by Zuleide Faria de
Mello in 1996. He designed at least two more buildings in Brasilia,
the Memorial dos Povos Indigenas[35] ("Memorial for the Indigenous
People") and the Catedral Militar, Igreja de N.S. da Paz.[36] In 1996,
at the age of 89, he was responsible for the design of the Niterói
Contemporary Art Museum in Niterói, a city next to Rio de Janeiro.
The building cantilevers out from a sheer rock face, offering a view
of
Guanabara Bay

Guanabara Bay and the city of Rio de Janeiro.
Niemeyer maintained his studio in
Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro into the 21st
century. In 2002, the
Oscar Niemeyer Museum

Oscar Niemeyer Museum complex was inaugurated in
the city of Curitiba, Paraná. In 2003, at 96, Niemeyer was called to
design the
Serpentine Gallery

Serpentine Gallery Summer Pavilion in Hyde Park, London, a
gallery that each year invites a famous architect, who has never
previously built in the UK, to design this temporary structure. He was
still involved in diverse projects at the age of 100, mainly
sculptures and adjustments of previous works. On Niemeyer's 100th
birthday, Russia's president
Vladimir Putin
_(cropped).jpg/440px-Vladimir_Putin_(2017-07-08)_(cropped).jpg)
Vladimir Putin awarded him the Order of
Friendship.[37]
Grateful for the
Prince of Asturias Award

Prince of Asturias Award of Arts received in 1989, he
collaborated on the 25th anniversary of the award with the donation to
Asturias

Asturias of the design of a cultural centre. The Oscar Niemeyer
International Cultural Centre (also known in Spain as Centro
Niemeyer), is located in
Avilés

Avilés and was inaugurated in 2011. In
January 2010, the Auditorium
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer
Ravello

Ravello was officially
opened in Ravello, Italy, on the Amalfi Coast. The Auditorium's
concept design, drawings, model, sketches and text were made by
Niemeyer in 2000 and completed under the guidance of his friend,
Italian sociologist Domenico de Masi. The project was delayed for
several years due to objections arising from its design, siting, and
clear difference from the local architecture; since its inauguration
the project has experienced problems and was closed for a year.[38]
After reaching 100, Niemeyer was regularly hospitalized.[39] In 2009,
after a four-week hospitalization for the treatment of gallstones and
an intestinal tumour, he was quoted as saying that hospitalization is
a "very lonely thing; I needed to keep busy, keep in touch with
friends, maintain my rhythm of life."[40] His daughter and only child,
Anna Maria, died of emphysema in June 2012, aged 82.[41] Niemeyer died
of cardiorespiratory arrest on December 5, 2012 at the Hospital
Samaritano in Rio de Janeiro, ten days before his 105th birthday.[42]
He had been hospitalised with a respiratory infection prior to his
death.[43]
The BBC's obituary of Niemeyer stated that he "built some of the
world's most striking buildings – monumental, curving concrete
and glass structures which almost defy description", describing him as
"one of the most innovative and daring architects of the last 60
years".[44] The
Washington Post

Washington Post said he was "widely regarded as the
foremost Latin American architect of the last century".[45]
The
Niterói

Niterói Contemporary Art Museum, Brazil
Oscar Niemeyer Museum

Oscar Niemeyer Museum (NovoMuseu), Curitiba, Brazil
Brazilian National Museum, Brasília, Brazil
Estação Cabo Branco, João Pessoa, Brazil
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre, Asturias, Spain
Natal City Park

Natal City Park Tower, Natal, Brazil
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer Auditorium, Ravello, Italy
Personal life[edit]
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer with Polish architect Jerzy Swiech.
Niemeyer married Annita Baldo in 1928.[3] They had one daughter, Anna
Maria, in 1930 (she predeceased her father on June 6, 2012).[41]
Niemeyer subsequently had five grandchildren, thirteen
great-grandchildren, and seven great-great-grandchildren.[46] Annita
died in 2004,[11] at 93, after 76 years of marriage. In 2006, shortly
before his 99th birthday, Niemeyer married for the second time, to his
longtime secretary, Vera Lucia Cabreira[46] at his apartment, a month
after he had fractured his hip in a fall.[47]
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer was a keen smoker of cigars, smoking more in later
life. His architectural studio was a smoking zone.[48]
Political and religious views[edit]
Niemeyer had a leftist political ideology. In 1945, many communist
militants who were arrested under the Vargas' dictatorship were
released, and Niemeyer, sheltered some of them at his office. He met
Luís Carlos Prestes, perhaps the most important leftist in Brazil.
After several weeks, he gave up the house to Prestes and his
supporters, who founded the Brazilian Communist Party.[49] Niemeyer
joined the party in 1945[48] and became its president in 1992, after
the fall of the Soviet Union.
During the military dictatorship of
Brazil

Brazil his office was raided and
he was forced into exile in Europe. The Minister of Aeronautics of the
time reportedly said that "the place for a communist architect is
Moscow." He subsequently visited the Soviet Union, meeting with a
number of the country's leaders, and in 1963 was awarded the Lenin
Peace Prize.[11] Niemeyer was a close friend of Fidel Castro, who
often visited his apartment and studio in Brazil. Castro was once
quoted as saying "Niemeyer and I are the last communists on this
planet."[11] Niemeyer was regularly visited by Hugo Chávez.[50]
Some critics pointed out that Niemeyer's architecture was often in
opposition to his views.[21] His first major work, Pampulha, had a
bourgeois character and
Brasília

Brasília was famous for its palaces. Niemeyer
never saw architecture in the same way as Walter Gropius, who defended
a rational and industrial architecture capable of molding society to
make it suitable for the new industrial era. Skeptical about
architecture's ability to change an "unjust society", Niemeyer
defended that such activism should be undertaken politically. Using
architecture for such purposes would be anti-modern (as it would be
limiting constructive technology).[51] Niemeyer says: "Our concern is
political too – to change the world ... Architecture is my
work, and I've spent my whole life at a drawing board, but life is
more important than architecture. What matters is to improve human
beings."[48]
Niemeyer was a lifelong atheist, basing his beliefs both on the
"injustices of this world" and on cosmological principles: "It's a
fantastic Universe which humiliates us, and we can't make any use of
it. But we are amazed by the power of the human mind … in the end,
that's it—you are born, you die, that's it!".[24] Such views never
stopped him from designing religious buildings, which included small
Catholic chapels, huge Orthodox churches and large mosques. He also
catered to the spiritual beliefs of the public who facilitated his
religious buildings. In the Cathedral of Brasília, he intended for
the large glass windows "to connect the people to the sky, where their
Lord's paradise is."
Criticism[edit]
Nicolai Ouroussoff, the architecture critic of The New York Times,
published an article asking whether Niemeyer's last work had been
affected by advanced age. Ouroussoff found the "
Niterói

Niterói Contemporary
Art Museum" to be of significantly lower quality than the architect's
earlier works. He argued that "the greatest threat to Mr. Niemeyer's
remarkable legacy may not be the developer's bulldozer or insensitive
city planners, but Mr. Niemeyer himself." He considers iconic works at
"Esplanada dos Ministérios" to "have been marred by the architect's
own hand."[52]
Legacy[edit]
Mural

Mural honoring Niemeyer in São Paulo, Brazil.
Since 1984 the
Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro carnival parade is held in the
Sambadrome designed by Oscar Niemeyer.[53] In 2003 the Unidos de Vila
Isabel Samba School celebrated the life of Niemeyer in their carnival
parade.[54] It was the first time that Vila Isabel paid tribute to a
living historical figure. The parade's theme song – O Arquiteto
no Recanto da Princesa – was composed by the Brazilian singer
Martinho da Vila.
Oscar Niemeyer's projects have also been a major source of inspiration
for the French painter Jacques Benoit.[55] In 2006 Benoit presented in
Paris

Paris a series of paintings entitled Three Traces of Oscar, paying
tribute to the legacy of Niemeyer in France.[56] In 2010 the Brasilia
Jubilee Commission chose Benoit's works for an exhibition that
celebrated the 50th anniversary of the city.[57] The
exhibition – Brasilia. Flesh and Soul – displayed 27
canvas divided into three series, all of them inspired by the
architectural landscape of
Brasilia

Brasilia and the history of its
construction.
Shortly before Niemeyer's death in 2012, artist
Sarah Morris

Sarah Morris filmed
Niemeyer in his office for her 2012 film Rio.[58]
In 2013, soon after Niemeyer’s death, the Brazilian street artist
Eduardo Kobra[59] and four other painters paid their tribute to the
architect with a gigantic mural, covering the entire side of a
skyscraper at
Paulista Avenue

Paulista Avenue in São Paulo's financial district.[60]
The artwork is inspired by Niemeyer's architecture, his love of
concrete and Le Corbusier.
Niemeyer is featured in the film Urbanized discussing his design
process and architectural philosophy.
During the homage to
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer on December 15, 2012 (it would
have been his 105 birthday),[61] the citizens movement released
"Sentimiento Niemeyer" at the
Centro Niemeyer

Centro Niemeyer in Spain.[62] The verses
were written by different people through a Facebook event and put
together by musicians. The song was released under a Creative Commons
license (attribution, non-profit, no-variations) so that other artists
who shared the feeling around the world could make their own cover of
the song, keeping the melody and translating the lyrics.[63]
In July 2015 the
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MoT) organized the
first major retrospective of Niemeyer in Japan, curated by Yuko
Hasegawa in collaboration with
Kazuyo Sejima

Kazuyo Sejima and
Ryue Nishizawa from
SANAA.[64]
Decorations and awards[edit]
Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences

American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1949)
Medal of the Order of Merit of Labour (Brazil, 1959)
International
Lenin Peace Prize

Lenin Peace Prize (1963)
Golden Lion

Golden Lion of the
Venice Biennale

Venice Biennale (Italy, 1963)
Honorary Member of the
American Institute of Architects

American Institute of Architects (1963)
Honorary Member of the
National Institute of Arts and Letters

National Institute of Arts and Letters (USA,
1964)
Premio Benito Juarez on the occasion of the centennial of the Mexican
Revolution (1964)
Médaille Joliot-Curie (1965)
Piece for strings, brass, pianos by the Swiss avant-garde composer
Hermann Meier dedicated to Niemeyer (1967)
Knight of the
Legion of Honour

Legion of Honour (Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur)
(France, 1970)
Commander of the
Order of Prince Henry

Order of Prince Henry (Portugal, March 3, 1975)
Lorenzo il Magnifico Prize of the Accademia Internazionale Medicea
(Italy, 1980)
Commander of the
Order of Arts and Letters

Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des
Lettres) (France, 1982)
Honorary Member of the Academy of Arts of the
USSR

USSR (1983)
Pritzker Prize
.gif)
Pritzker Prize for Architecture (1988) (with Gordon Bunshaft)
Prince of Asturias Award

Prince of Asturias Award (1989)
Honorary Doctor of the University of
Brasília

Brasília (1989)
Chico Mendes Resistance Medal (1989)
Gold Medal of the Colegio de Arquitectos de Barcelona (1990)
Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, bestowed by
Pope
John Paul II

John Paul II (1990)
Grand Cross of the
Order of Saint James of the Sword

Order of Saint James of the Sword (Portugal,
November 26, 1994)
Honorary doctorate from the University of
São Paulo

São Paulo (1995)
Doctor Honoris Causa from the Federal University of Minas Gerais
(1995)
Saurí Order, 1st class (Dominican Republic, 1996)
Golden Lion

Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, VI International Architecture
Exhibition (Italy, 1996)
Royal Gold Medal

Royal Gold Medal of the
Royal Institute of British Architects

Royal Institute of British Architects (1998)
Order of Solidarity (Cuba, 2001)
Darcy Ribeiro Medal of Merit (State Board of Education of the State of
Rio de Janeiro, 2001)
Unesco Award in the category of Culture (2001)
Grand Officer of the Order of Merit Teaching and Cultural Gabriela
Mistral (Ministry of Education of Chile, 2001)
"20th century architect" (Superior Council of the Institute of
Architects of Brazil, 2001)
Konex Award (Argentina, 2002)
Praemium Imperiale

Praemium Imperiale (Japan, 2004)
Austrian Decoration for Science and Art

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (2005)
Patron of Brazilian architecture, declared by Law No. 11,117, of May
18, 2005
Order of Cultural Merit (Brazil, 2007)
Commander of the
Legion of Honour

Legion of Honour (Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur)
(France, 2007)
Order of Friendship

Order of Friendship (Russia, 2007)
Medal Oscar Niemeyer's Communist Party Marxist-Leninist (2007)
ALBA Arts Award (Venezuela, 2008), Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua [78]
Order of Arts and Letters

Order of Arts and Letters of Spain (November 6, 2009)
Doctor Honoris Causa of the
Technical University of Lisbon

Technical University of Lisbon (2009)
See also[edit]
List of
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer works
References[edit]
^ Magarrey, Paige (December 8, 2007) Niemeyer's Century. Azure
^ Niemeyer, Gullar, F.(in Portuguese)
^ a b c d e f Salvaing, Matthieu (2002) Oscar Niemeyer. Assouline
Publishing. ISBN 2843233445
^ a b Niemeyer 2000, pp. 62, 169, 170
^
William J. R. Curtis in "Oscar Niemeyer: architects and critics pay
tribute", in The Guardian, December 7, 2012
^ Genealogy of Oscar Niemeyer
^ [1]
^ Botey, Joseph M. (1996) Oscar Niemeyer. Gustavo Gili.
ISBN 8425215765
^ Young, Ana. (December 11, 2014) Life Is More Important Than
Architecture: A Celebration of Oscar Niemeyer. Soundsandcolours.com.
Retrieved on 2015-06-30.
^ Deckker, Zilah Quezado (2001)
Brazil

Brazil Built: The Architecture of
Modern Brazil. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0415234077
^ a b c d e
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/dec/06/oscar-niemeyer-obituary
^ a b Papadaki, Stamo (2012) The Work of Oscar Niemeyer. Literary
Licensing, LLC. ISBN 1258367645. p. 19
^ Comas, Carlos Eduardo (2005) "Niemeyer's Casino and the Misdeeds of
Brazilian Architecture", pp. 169–188 in Critical Studies,
Transculturation. Cities, Spaces and Architectures in Latin America.
Felipe Hernández, Mark Millington and Iain Borden (eds.)
^ Matoso, Danilo (2008) Da Matéria à Invenção: As Obras de Oscar
Niemeyer em
Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais (1938–1954). ISBN 978-85-736-5534-6
^ Fabiano Lemes de Oliveira. Sigfried Giedion e o caso Brasileiro: uma
aproximação hirtoriográfica., Universitat Politècnica de
Catalunya. Retrieved December 8, 2012
^ INEPAC. Guia de Bens Tombados Archived March 16, 2013, at the
Wayback Machine.
^ Philippou, Styliane (2008) Oscar Niemeyer: Curves of Irreverence.
Yale University

Yale University Press. ISBN 0300120389. p. 129
^ Christopher Hall: "The Mark of a Master", in Architectural Digest,
October 2006
^ Publicação de The Work of Oscar Niemeyer. Retrieved December 8,
2012
^ Underwood, David,
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer and the Architecture of Brazil,
Rizzoli, New York, 1994 p. 15
^ a b Bruand, Yves (1997) Arquitetura Contemporânea no Brasil.
Editora Perspectiva. ISBN 8527301148
^ Styliane Philippou. Challenging the Hierarchies of the City: Oscar
Niemeyer's Mid-Twentieth-Century Residential Buildings. Archived
November 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.. Retrieved December 8, 2012
^ Hess, Alan and Weintraub, Alan (2006)
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer Houses.
Rizzoli. ISBN 0847827984
^ a b Maciel, Fabiano (2010). Oscar Niemeyer: A Vida é um Sopro
^ Hitchcock, Henry-Russell (1955) Latin American Architecture Since
1945 (New York Museum of Modern Art, Exhibition Catalogue)
^ MAX BILL E A ARQUITETURA CONTEMPORÂNEA. Arquitetura e Engenharia.
n. 26 . p.18
^
Lucio Costa

Lucio Costa on Flavio Aquino's MAX BILL CRITICA A NOSSA MODERNA
ARQUITETURA. 13th/06/1953
^ NIEMEYER, Oscar. Depoimento. in MÓDULO, n. 9, p.3, 1958
^ Castroviejo Ribeiro, Alessandro José; Carrilho, Marcos José and
Bárbaro Del Negro, Paulo Sérgio. Bolsistas: Mara Lucia da Silva e
Marina Rodrigues Amado. Edifício e galeria Califórnia: o desenho e a
cidade
^ Danilo Matoso Macedo. Arquitetura em Transição: interpretação do
trabalho de
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer a partir de seu discurso –
1955–1962
^ Oscar Niemeyer. Minha Experiência em Brasília
^ Niemeyer 2000, p. 70.
^ Biography Oscar Niemeyer, architect. Floornature.com. Retrieved on
June 30, 2015.
^ "In search of...
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer in Brazil". The Independent. London.
July 6, 2003. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
^ Memorial dos Povos Indigenas. Fredcamper.com. Retrieved on June 30,
2015.
^ Catedral Militar, Igreja de N.S. da Paz. Fredcamper.com. Retrieved
on June 30, 2015.
^ President Putin's executive order awarding Niemeyer the Order of
Friendship. kremlin.ru
^ Hooper, John (December 17, 2010). "Brussels demands answers as
Italy's new €16m concert hall stays silent".
The Guardian

The Guardian (London).
Retrieved August 26, 2012.
^ Brazilian architect Niemeyer released from hospital – News
Track India. Published October 30, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
^ "Reports: 101-yr-old
Brazil

Brazil architect back at work". The Guardian
(London). November 21, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
^ a b Menasce, Márcio (June 7, 2012). "Anna Maria Niemeyer
(1929–2012) – Galerista e parceira do pai, Oscar". Folha de
S. Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved December 8, 2012.
^ Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect, dies at 104. BBC. Published
December 6, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
^ Ouroussoff, Nicolai (2012). Oscar Niemeyer, Architect Who Gave
Brasília

Brasília Its Flair, Dies at 104. The New York Times. Published
December 5, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
^ Obituary: Oscar Niemeyer –
BBC

BBC News (Latin America &
Caribbean). Published December 6, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
^ Bernstein, Adam (2012).
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer dies; famed Brazilian
architect was 104 –
Washington Post

Washington Post Obituaries. Published
December 6, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
^ a b Walker, Clive (November 20, 2006). "Niemeyer finds love at 98
with marriage to 60-year-old secretary". The Architects' Journal.
Retrieved July 13, 2012.
^ OSCAR NIEMEYER Archived November 6, 2012, at the Wayback
Machine. – ME design. Published July 8, 2008. Retrieved
December 6, 2012.
^ a b c Godfrey, Peter (April 18, 2010). "Swerve with verve: Oscar
Niemeyer, the architect who eradicated the straight line". The
Independent (London). Retrieved July 13, 2012.
^
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer Interview. Niemeyer e o PCB.
^ Glancey, Jonathan (2007). 'I pick up my pen. A building
appears' – The Guardian. Published August 1, 2007. Retrieved
December 6, 2012.
^ Marcos Sá Corrêa. Oscar Niemeyer. Ediouro 2005
^
Nicolai Ouroussoff (December 26, 2007). "Even if His Own Work Isn't
Broken, a Brazilian Architect Fixes It". The New York Times. Retrieved
December 26, 2007.
^ About Sambódromo. Sambadrome.com. Retrieved on June 30, 2015.
^ Vila Isabel homenageia Niemeyer – Cultura – Estadão.
Estadao.com.br (June 24, 2015). Retrieved on 2015-06-30.
^ Torres Assumpção, Mauricio (April 4, 2012), "The man who painted
Niemeyer", and interview for "Valor Economico
^ Birck, Danielle (January 2007) Trois traces d'Oscar.
jacquesbenoit.com
^ BrasĂlia de Corpo e Alma no Espaço Renato Russo.
Jornaldebrasilia.com.br (October 27, 2010). Retrieved on 2015-06-30.
^
Sarah Morris

Sarah Morris Bye Bye Brazil. White Cube (September 29, 2013).
Retrieved on 2015-06-30.
^ for the mural and his work in general see Street artist Eduardo
Kobra's tribute to Oscar Niemeyer
^ Kobra Pays Honor to Architect Niemeyer in
São Paulo

São Paulo Jaime Rojo
& Steven Harrington. The Huffington Post (February 18, 2013).
Retrieved on 2015-06-30.
^ J. González. "A hymn for the Niemeyer". Avilés.:
Elcomercio.es.
^ ""Sentimiento Niemeyer" in AULA_de_INFANTIL_de Isa".
Blog.educastur.es. December 16, 2012.
^ La canción homenaje "Sentimiento Niemeyer" supera las 1000 visitas
en YouTube. Asturiasmundial.com (February 24, 2013). Retrieved on
2015-06-30.
^
http://www.domusweb.it/en/architecture/2015/10/07/oscar_niemeyer_the_man_who_built_brasilia.html
Further reading[edit]
Niemeyer, Oscar (2000). The Curves of Time: The Memoirs of Oscar
Niemeyer. London: Phaidon. ISBN 0714840076.
Emery, Marc (1983). Furniture by Architects. New York: Harry N.
Abrams. Check date values in: access-date= (help);
access-date= requires url= (help)
Oscar Niemeyer, un architecte engagé dans le siècle (dir. Marc-Henri
Wajnberg, 2001, 60 minutes)
A Vida É Um Sopro ("Life Is a Breath Of Air") (dir. Fabiano Maciel,
2007)
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer (category)
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Oscar Niemeyer
Official website
May 2006 Interview with Niemeyer, age 98, in Metropolis Magazine
Pritzker Prize
.gif)
Pritzker Prize 1988
Niemeyer's
Brasilia

Brasilia Photo Gallery: Year of
Brazil

Brazil at Queens College,
CUNY
Niemeyer's Brasilia: A Photographic Tribute (2009)
Tribute to
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer by Sancar Seckiner ;
http://vimeo.com/56438521
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer Architecture on Google Maps
v
t
e
Pritzker Architecture Prize
.gif)
Pritzker Architecture Prize laureates
Philip Johnson

Philip Johnson (1979)
Luis Barragán

Luis Barragán (1980)
James Stirling (1981)
Kevin Roche

Kevin Roche (1982)
I. M. Pei

I. M. Pei (1983)
Richard Meier

Richard Meier (1984)
Hans Hollein

Hans Hollein (1985)
Gottfried Böhm

Gottfried Böhm (1986)
Kenzo Tange (1987)
Gordon Bunshaft

Gordon Bunshaft and
Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer (1988)
Frank Gehry
.jpg)
Frank Gehry (1989)
Aldo Rossi

Aldo Rossi (1990)
Robert Venturi

Robert Venturi (1991)
Álvaro Siza Vieira

Álvaro Siza Vieira (1992)
Fumihiko Maki

Fumihiko Maki (1993)
Christian de Portzamparc

Christian de Portzamparc (1994)
Tadao Ando

Tadao Ando (1995)
Rafael Moneo
.jpg/400px-Rafael_Moneo_2011_(cropped).jpg)
Rafael Moneo (1996)
Sverre Fehn

Sverre Fehn (1997)
Renzo Piano

Renzo Piano (1998)
Norman Foster (1999)
Rem Koolhaas

Rem Koolhaas (2000)
Herzog & de Meuron (2001)
Glenn Murcutt

Glenn Murcutt (2002)
Jørn Utzon

Jørn Utzon (2003)
Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid (2004)
Thom Mayne

Thom Mayne (2005)
Paulo Mendes da Rocha

Paulo Mendes da Rocha (2006)
Richard Rogers
.png/440px-Richard_Rogers_(2).png)
Richard Rogers (2007)
Jean Nouvel

Jean Nouvel (2008)
Peter Zumthor

Peter Zumthor (2009)
Kazuyo Sejima

Kazuyo Sejima and
Ryue Nishizawa /
SANAA

SANAA (2010)
Eduardo Souto de Moura

Eduardo Souto de Moura (2011)
Wang Shu

Wang Shu (2012)
Toyo Ito

Toyo Ito (2013)
Shigeru Ban

Shigeru Ban (2014)
Frei Otto

Frei Otto (2015)
Alejandro Aravena

Alejandro Aravena (2016)
Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramón Vilalta / RCR Arquitectes
(2017)
B. V. Doshi

B. V. Doshi (2018)
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 95725437
LCCN: n82013357
ISNI: 0000 0001 1478 0317
GND: 118587889
SUDOC: 027300838
BNF: cb11917705d (data)
ULAN: 500007310
NLA: 35387442
NDL: 00451337
NKC: mzk2003169565
ICCU: ITICCURAVV26919
BNE: XX1725456
KulturNav: 6aa00405-f813-4e04-96b2-1e6ee5aa4801
RKD: 213