Many architects enter the profession with hopes of creating something that outlives them, something that is bigger than themselves, that can advocate for a better world. Oscar Niemeyer was such an architect, one who fought for designs that would serve everyone. The master of Brazilian architecture passed away one year ago after complications from a previous kidney condition. In honor of what would have been his birthday today, we’ve rounded up a few of his masterpieces, from his elegant and curvy Niterói Contemporary Art Museum, his collaboration on the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the traditional spectacle space of his Sambadrome, the spiraling Niemeyer Center in Aviles, and the powerful parabolic expression in his Cathedral of Brasilia. Enjoy!
Niemeyer observa maquete da escola projetada em Belo Horizonte (MG). Image Courtesy of ON
It's been exactly one year since the world first mourned the passing of a great master of 20th century architecture: Oscar Niemeyer.
After 104 years of life, the renowned architect left a profound legacy. His works - known for their impressive curves, embrace of light, and profound relationship to their surroundings - made him an icon. Not just in Brazil, but the world.
Después del incendio, el futuro del Memorial de América Latina de Oscar Niemeyer, es incierto.
De acuerdo con el presidente del Memorial, João Batista de Andrade, se está esperando que terminen las investigaciones del Departamento de Bomberos y la Policía antes de determinar qué acción se tomará: "Tenemos que saber cuál es el impacto del fuego en la estructura del edificio. Si tenemos que demoler, lamentablemente, tendrá que hacerse. Si la seguridad lo requiere, vamos a demoler".
LEGO® has officially announced the next addition to their architecture-inspired products: The United Nations Headquarters. Standing alongside New York City’s East River, the United Nations Headquarters is a beacon of modernism and international collaboration, designed by a team of multinational architects including Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer. Scaling 5 inches high x 8 inches wide x 6 inches deep, this representation of the UN Headquarters costs $49.99.
Check out more about the building and its history here.
Night photographs of the Brazilian capital created by architectural photographer Andrew Prokos are among this year’s winners at the International Photography Awards competition. Entitled “Niemeyer’s Brasilia” the series of photographs capture the surreal architecture of Oscar Niemeyer, who shaped the Brazilian capital for over 50 years.
More fantastic photographs and information on the awards after the break.
Dutch designers, Rem Koolhaas and Hella Jongerius, have revamped the delegates' lounge in the United Nations building just in time for the 68th General Assembly this week. The "workshop of peace" lounge space, originally designed in 1952 by Wallace K. Harrison in collaboration with renowned modernists Le Corbusier and Oscar Neimeyer, now sports a range of pastel-colored sofas and lounge chairs, opting for minimal intervention in attempts to maximize the social space. Read more about the UN North Delegates lobby on Gizmodo.
https://www.archdaily.com/430669/koolhaas-revamps-un-building-s-modernist-era-loungeJose Luis Gabriel Cruz
Wearing masks with the faces of Oscar Niemeyer and Lúcio Costa, architects and urban planners swarmed the 50th Annual IAB (Institute of Architects of Brazil) Awards in Rio de Janeiro this week. The architects were protesting a contract the city government of Brasilia struck with a Singaporean firm to create an urban masterplan outlining the next 50 years of Brasilia's future.
Today would have been Oscar Niemeyer's 105th birthday. The Pritzker-Prize winning, Brazilian master died last Thursday, December 6th, due to complications from a previous kidney condition.
I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Oscar Niemeyer. He was an inspiration to me – and to a generation of architects. Few people get to meet their heroes and I am grateful to have had the chance to spend time with him in Rio last year.
Our friend and architectural photographer Patricia Parinejad , shared with us photos of her extensive Niemeyer archives showing the works of the Brazilian master with a particular and personal focus, capturing textures, materials, context, and the people in his architecture.
Brasilia, the federal capital of Brazil and icon of the brazilian modernism. Initially planned by the urbanist Lúcio Costa for 500,000 inhabitants (now lives more than 2,5 million people). Construction began in 1956 and included the most remarkable buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer, reason why Brasilia is the only city in the world built in the 20th century to be awarded the status of Historical and Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
To honor the work of Oscar Niemeyer, we present after the brake some of the photos taken by the franco-brazilian photographer Marcel Gautherot during the construction of Niemeyer's emblematic buildings. Such as the Palácio do Planalto, Palácio de Alvorada (official residence of the President of Brazil), the Cathedral of Brasilia and the National Congress of Brazil.
https://www.archdaily.com/303639/the-construction-of-brasilia-photos-by-marcel-gautherotKaterina Gordon
To honor the great Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who died today, we've selected few of his inspiring quotes. Take a moment to read his words, which truly advocate architecture's higher purpose, and remember the great work he accomplished...
Perhaps his most famous quote, which not only describes his work but also his way of life: "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."
With his incredibly prolific portfolio of architecture, sculpture, furniture and design, the late Oscar Niemeyer truly left his mark on Brazil, and the world, over his 104 years. The Brazilian great is proof that quantity needn't destroy quality.
Check out the extensive list of Niemeyer's major works, after the break...
Vinicius de Moraes, a Bossa Nova legend (and composer of “The Girl from Ipanema”), met Oscar Niemeyer at the Café Vermelhinho in Rio de Janeiro in the 1940s. They first worked together on de Moraes’ play, "Orpheus of Conceição," in 1956 (Niemeyer designed the set). In light of Oscar's death, we bring you this short text, translated from the original Portugese, that Vinicius wrote in the 60s about his dear friend, Oscar.
There are few testimonials I have read that are as exciting as Oscar Niemeyer’s account of his experience in Brasília. 1 For those who know only the architect, the article could pass as a self-serving defense - the justified revenge of a father who, despite his gentle temperment, fought for his child[, his Brasilia - a city] at the mercy of the world. But for those who know the man, the article takes on even more dramatic proportions. For Oscar is not only the opposite of an activist, he’s one of the most anti-self-promotional beings I've met in my life.
His modesty isn’t, as it so often is, a shameful form of vanity. It has nothing to do with his down-to-earth expertise, which Oscar has thanks to his professional value and possibilities. It is the modesty of a creator truly integrated with life, who knows that there is no time to lose, that we need to build beauty and happiness into the world, because the individual is fragile and precarious. This poignant sentiment, of the fragility and precariousness of things, plays in Oscar in a higher key (only further highlighting the dignity of this man and artist); it’s never been a self-serving sentiment, but one for mankind in general, for whom he hopes to make a better future.
After being hospitalized, recovering, being hospitalized again, and then making a near-full recovery (even working from his hospital bed), famed Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer has now taken a sharp turn for the worst.
Planned for completion in 2014, the iconic United Nations Headquarters (UNHQ) is in the middle of a $1.876 billion refurbishment project, known as the Capital Master Plan, which seeks to update the aging building with a more safe, modern and sustainable work environment. Located on the 18-acre site that was donated by John D. Rockefeller in the 1950s, the Manhattan UNHQ was designed by an international team of eleven architects who worked together in a post-World War II world to create an landmark building through collaboration rather than competition.
Continue reading for more details on the Capital Master Plan.
