Oscar Niemeyer
Oscar Niemeyer | |
---|---|
São João Batista Cemetery, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | |
Alma mater | |
Occupation | Architect |
Spouses |
|
Children | Prince of Asturias Awards |
Buildings | See list |
Projects | Museum of Modern Art in Caracas |
Signature | |
Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (Brazilian Portuguese:
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
In 1956, Niemeyer was invited by Brazil's new president, Juscelino Kubitschek, to design the civic buildings for Brazil's new capital, Brasília. 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 left-wing ideology, and involvement with the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), Niemeyer left the country after the 1964 military coup and opened an office in Paris. He returned to 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 and the 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 (1996) and the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (2002). Over a career of 78 years he designed approximately 600 projects.[5] Niemeyer died in Rio de Janeiro on 5 December 2012 at the age of 104.
Biography
Early life and education
Niemeyer was born in the city of Rio de Janeiro on 15 December 1907.[3] His great-grandfather 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.
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
After graduating, he worked in his father's
In 1936, at 29, Lúcio 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
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
1939 New York World's Fair
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 ....[3]
Pampulha Project
In 1940, at 33, Niemeyer met
The buildings were completed in 1943 and received international acclaim following the 1943 'Brazil Builds' exhibition, at the New York 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.
The
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
With the success of Pampulha and the Brazil Builds exhibition, Niemeyer achieved international recognition. His architecture further developed the Brazilian style that the Saint Francis of Assisi 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 to integrate the international team working on the design for the
Tremaine House (unbuilt)
This stay in the United States also facilitated contact regarding the unbuilt Burton G. Tremaine house project, one of Niemeyer's boldest residential designs. Amidst gardens by Roberto Burle Marx, it featured an open plan in Montecito, California on the Pacific Ocean.[18] In February–April 1949, the Museum of Modern Art exhibited From Le Corbusier to Niemeyer: Savoye House – Tremaine House 1949. According to the museum, "The theme of this show is based on Henry Russell-Hitchcock's book on the Miller Company Collection of Abstract Art, Painting toward architecture...".[19] In 2010, Berry Bergdoll, a curator at MoMA asserted the importance of the exhibition as fusing strands of the geometric and organic soon after WWII.[20] Hitchcock's seminal essay in the Painting toward architecture book included an illustration of Niemeyer's design, and in an associated 28-venue exhibition, Burle-Marx's Design for a garden (1948) was exhibited in several shows, as was a photo mural of Church at Pampulha.[21][22]
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 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.[23] 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.
Niemeyer's formal creativity has been compared to that of sculptors.
A similar program was realized in the centre of
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.[27] 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.[28] For Henry-Russell Hitchcock, the house at Canoas was Niemeyer's most extreme lyrical statement, placing rhythm and dance as the antithesis of utility.[29]
Depoimento
In 1953 modern Brazilian architecture, which had been praised since Brazil Builds, became the target of international criticism, mainly from rationalists. Niemeyer's architecture in particular was criticised by Max Bill in an interview for Manchete Magazine.[30] 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 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.[31]
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".[32] The Califórnia Building (Edifício Califórnia) in 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.[33]
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.[34] 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".[35]
In 1955, at 48, Niemeyer designed the 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
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."[36]
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, Lúcio 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 (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 lay a monumental campaign to construct an entire city in the barren center of the country,[37] 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 all the apartments would be owned by the government and rented to employees. 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 was designed, constructed, and inaugurated within four years. After its completion, Niemeyer was named chief of the college of architecture of the
Niemeyer and his contribution to the construction of
In 1964, at 57, after being invited by Abba Hushi, the mayor of Haifa, Israel, to plan the campus of the University of Haifa on Mount Carmel, he came back to a completely different Brazil. In March President João Goulart, who succeeded President 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.
In 1987, Brasilia was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[38] Niemeyer is the first person to have received such recognition for one of his works during his lifetime.[39]
Exile and projects overseas
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 for an exhibition in the Louvre.
The following year, Niemeyer moved to Paris. In 1962 he visited Tripoli, Lebanon to design the International Permanent Exhibition Centre.[40] Despite completing construction, the start of the civil war in 1975 in Lebanon disrupted its launch.
He opened an office on the
, 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 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
The Brazilian dictatorship lasted until 1985. Under
Niemeyer maintained his studio in Rio de Janeiro into the 21st century. In 2002, the
Grateful for the
After reaching 100, Niemeyer was regularly hospitalized.
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".[51] The Washington Post said he was "widely regarded as the foremost Latin American architect of the last century".[52]
-
The Niterói Contemporary Art Museum, Brazil
-
Oscar Niemeyer Museum (NovoMuseu), Curitiba, Brazil
-
Brazilian National Museum, Brasília, Brazil
-
Estação Cabo Branco, João Pessoa, Brazil
-
Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre, Asturias, Spain
-
Natal City Park Tower, Natal, Brazil
-
Oscar Niemeyer Auditorium, Ravello, Italy
Personal life
Niemeyer married Annita Baldo in 1928.[3] They had one daughter, Anna Maria, in 1929 (she predeceased her father on June 6, 2012).[48] Niemeyer subsequently had five grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren, and seven great-great-grandchildren.[53] 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[53] at his apartment, a month after he had fractured his hip in a fall.[54]
Oscar Niemeyer was a keen smoker of cigars, smoking more in later life. His architectural studio was a smoking zone.[55]
Political and religious views
Niemeyer had a left-wing 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 left-winger in Brazil. After several weeks, he gave up the house to Prestes and his supporters, who founded the Brazilian Communist Party.[56] Niemeyer joined the party in 1945[55] and became its president in 1992.
During the
Some critics pointed out that Niemeyer's architecture was often in opposition to his views.[25] His first major work, the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, informally known also as the Church of Pampulha, had a bourgeois character and 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).[58] 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."[55]
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!".[28] 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."
He was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a
Criticism
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 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."[62]
Legacy
Since 1984 the Rio de Janeiro carnival parade is held in the
Oscar Niemeyer's projects have also been a major source of inspiration for the French painter
Shortly before Niemeyer's death in 2012, artist Sarah Morris filmed Niemeyer in his office for her 2012 film Rio.[68]
In 2013, soon after Niemeyer's death, the Brazilian street artist Eduardo Kobra
Niemeyer is featured in the film Urbanized discussing his design process and architectural philosophy.
During the homage to Oscar Niemeyer on December 15, 2012 (it would have been his 105th birthday),
In July 2015 the
Decorations and awards
- Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1949)
- Medal of the Order of Merit of Labour (Brazil, 1959)
- International Lenin Peace Prize(1963)
- Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale (Italy, 1963)
- Honorary Member of the American Institute of Architects (1963)
- Honorary Member of the 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 (Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur) (France, 1970)
- Commander of the 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(Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) (France, 1982)
- Honorary Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR(1983)
- Pritzker Prize for Architecture (1988) (with Gordon Bunshaft)
- Prince of Asturias Award(1989)
- Honorary Doctor of the University of Brasília (1989)
- Chico Mendes Resistance Medal (1989)
- Gold Medal of the Colegio de Arquitectos de Barcelona (1990)
- Knight Commander of the John Paul II(1990)
- Grand Cross of the Order of Saint James of the Sword(Portugal, November 26, 1994)
- Honorary doctorate from the University of São Paulo (1995)
- Doctor Honoris Causa from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (1995)
- Saurí Order, 1st class (Dominican Republic, 1996)
- Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, VI International Architecture Exhibition (Italy, 1996)
- Royal Gold Medal of the 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 (Japan, 2004)
- 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 (Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur) (France, 2007)
- 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 of Spain (November 6, 2009)
- Doctor Honoris Causa of the Technical University of Lisbon (2009)
See also
References
- ^ Magarrey, Paige (December 8, 2007) Niemeyer's Century. Azure
- ^ Niemeyer, Gullar, F. Archived February 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine(in Portuguese)
- ^ ISBN 2-84323-344-5
- ^ 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
- ^ "Oscar Niemeyer". geni_family_tree. December 15, 1907.
- ^ "Konrad Heinrich von Niemeyer". geni_family_tree. May 4, 1761.
- ISBN 84-252-1576-5
- ^ Young, Ana. (December 11, 2014) Life Is More Important Than Architecture: A Celebration of Oscar Niemeyer Archived April 29, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Soundsandcolours.com. Retrieved on June 30, 2015.
- ISBN 0-415-23407-7
- ^ a b c d e Glancey, Jonathan; Pawley, Martin (December 6, 2012). "Oscar Niemeyer obituary". the Guardian.
- ^ ISBN 1-258-36764-5. 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.)
- 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 Press.
ISBN 0-300-12038-9. p. 129
- ^ Christopher Hall: "The Mark of a Master", in Architectural Digest, October 2006
- ^ (c. 1949). "Museum exhibits architectural models and plans, 'from Le Corbusier to Niemeyer'. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Retrieved June 27, 2018
- ^ Bergdoll, Barry. (Summer 2010). The synthesis of arts and MoMa. Docomomo, 42, pp. 110-13. Retrieved June 27, 2018
- ^ Hitchcock, Henry-Russell (essay). (1948). Painting toward architecture. The Miller Company: Meriden, CT. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^ Preece, R. J. (2017)."Rethinking 'Painting toward architecture' (1947–52)". artdesigncafe.com / Sculpture magazine. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
- ^ Publicação de The Work of Oscar Niemeyer Archived February 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 8, 2012
- ^ Underwood, David, Oscar Niemeyer and the Architecture of Brazil, Rizzoli, New York, 1994 p. 15
- ^ ISBN 85-273-0114-8
- ^ 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
- ISBN 0-8478-2798-4
- ^ 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 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 a partir de seu discurso – 1955–1962
- ^ Oscar Niemeyer. Minha Experiência em Brasília
- ^ Niemeyer 2000, p. 70.
- ^ FERNANDES, LUIZ GUSTAVO SOBRAL; MARTINS, Carlos Alberto Ferreira . Interpretando a historiografia da Arquitetura Moderna Brasileira: Brasília e monografias entre 1959 e 1973. DOCOMOMO BRASIL, v. 2, p. 50-58, 2018.
- ^ "Brasilia – UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- Independent News & Media. Archived from the originalon January 8, 2010. Retrieved September 14, 2009.
- ^ Biography Oscar Niemeyer, architect. Floornature.com. Retrieved on June 30, 2015.
- ^ "In search of... Oscar Niemeyer in Brazil". The Independent. London. July 6, 2003. Archived from the original on January 13, 2011. 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 (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 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 Its Flair, Dies at 104. The New York Times. Published December 5, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
- ^ Obituary: Oscar Niemeyer – BBC News (Latin America & Caribbean). Published December 6, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
- ^ Bernstein, Adam (2012). Oscar Niemeyer dies; famed Brazilian architect was 104 – The 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). Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
- ^ Oscar Niemeyer Interview. Niemeyer e o PCB. Archived February 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 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
- ^ "Letters from Thane Read asking Helen Keller to sign the World Constitution for world peace. 1961". Helen Keller Archive. American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
- ^ "Letter from World Constitution Coordinating Committee to Helen, enclosing current materials". Helen Keller Archive. American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
- ^ "Preparing earth constitution | Global Strategies & Solutions | The Encyclopedia of World Problems". The Encyclopedia of World Problems | Union of International Associations (UIA). Retrieved July 15, 2023.
- ^ 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 June 30, 2015.
- ^ Torres Assumpção, Mauricio (April 4, 2012), "The man who painted Niemeyer" Archived August 7, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, and interview for "Valor Economico
- ^ Birck, Danielle (January 2007) Trois traces d'Oscar Archived August 7, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. jacquesbenoit.com
- ^ BrasĂlia de Corpo e Alma no Espaço Renato Russo. Jornaldebrasilia.com.br (October 27, 2010). Retrieved on June 30, 2015.
- ^ Sarah Morris Bye Bye Brazil Archived August 7, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. White Cube (September 29, 2013). Retrieved on June 30, 2015.
- ^ 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 | Jaime Rojo & Steven Harrington. The Huffington Post (February 18, 2013). Retrieved on June 30, 2015.
- ^ J. González (December 16, 2012). "A hymn for the Niemeyer". Avilés.: Elcomercio.es.
- ^ ""Sentimiento Niemeyer" in AULA_de_INFANTIL_de Isa". Blog.educastur.es. December 16, 2012. Archived from the original on December 29, 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
- ^ La canción homenaje "Sentimiento Niemeyer" supera las 1000 visitas en YouTube. Asturiasmundial.com (February 24, 2013). Retrieved on June 30, 2015.
- ^ "The Man Who Built Brasilia". www.domusweb.it.
Further reading
- Niemeyer, Oscar (2000). The Curves of Time: The Memoirs of Oscar Niemeyer. London: Phaidon. ISBN 0-7148-4007-6.
- Emery, Marc (1983). Furniture by Architects. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
- 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)
- Flagge, Ingeborg; Paul Andreas (2013). Oscar Niemeyer. Eine Legende der Moderne / A Legend Of Modernism. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag. ISBN 978-3-03821-448-9.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
External links
- Official website
- May 2006 Interview with Niemeyer, age 98, in Metropolis Magazine
- Pritzker Prize 1988
- Niemeyer's Brasilia Photo Gallery: Year of Brazil at Queens College, CUNY Archived April 28, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- Niemeyer's Brasilia: A Photographic Tribute (2009)
- Tribute to Oscar Niemeyer by Sancar Seckiner
- Oscar Niemeyer Architecture on Google Maps
- https://re.public.polimi.it/cris/rp/rp116405