Share

A Retrospective of Works by Brazilian Architect Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012)

By Rachel Glickhouse

Iconic Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer was nearly 105 when he passed away on December 5, ending a career that spanned eight decades. AS/COA Online provides an overview of some of his most famous works in Brazil, Spain, and the United States.

Iconic Brazilian architect and designer Oscar Niemeyer was nearly 105 when he passed away on December 5, ending a career that spanned eight decades and made a lasting mark on modern architecture.

Born in 1907 in Rio de Janeiro, Niemeyer began his career as an architect in the 1930s working for architect Lúcio Costa. In one of his first major international projects, Niemeyer designed the UN headquarters in New York. In the late 1950s, Niemeyer designed many major landmarks and monuments in Brazil's new capital Brasilia, collaborating again with Costa, who designed the city's urban plan. Niemeyer gained acclaim for his "flowing lines, structural lightness and an open relationship to natural surroundings," as The New York Times describes.

During Brazil's military dictatorship starting in 1964, Niemeyer lived in exile in Europe, designing buildings in Algeria, France, Italy, and Portugal. He returned to Brazil in 1979, working on projects in major cities throughout Brazil as well as countries such as Argentina, Cuba, Italy, and Spain until his death in 2012. In 2007, Niemeyer told the Guardian: "When people ask me if I take pleasure in the idea of someone looking at my buildings in the future, I tell them that this person will vanish, too. Everything has a beginning and an end. You. Me. Architecture. We must try to do the best we can, but must remain modest. Nothing lasts for very long."

[[nid:48759]]

Related

Explore