Oscar Niemeyer
Oscar Niemeyer
Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho, known as Oscar Niemeyer, was a Brazilian architect who is 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 in New York City. His exploration of the aesthetic possibilities of reinforced concrete...
NationalityBrazilian
ProfessionArchitect
Date of Birth15 December 1907
CityRio de Janeiro, Brazil
CountryBrazil
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.
I am a Brazilian before I am an architect. I cannot separate the two.
I had some good opportunities. I was lucky to have had the chance to do things differently. Architecture is about surprise.
It is not with architecture that one can disseminate any political ideology.
It was the drawing that led me to architecture, the search for light and astonishing forms.
Architecture is invention.
Life is more important than architecture.
My architecture is easy to understand. And enjoy. I hope it also is hard to forget.
Today, architecture is invention. It isn't enough to just be rational - It must also be beautiful.
My work is not about 'form follows function,' but 'form follows beauty' or, even better, 'form follows feminine.'
I enter my studio at 9 a.m. I have lunch here, I return right away to my work and I go out to dinner at 8 p.m. My daily tasks vary very much.
I think of myself as no more than 60. What I could do at 60, I can still do now.
I search for surprise in my architecture. A work of art should cause the emotion of newness.
In architecture it isn't enough to just have the right building that works well. It can also be beautiful. It can also be different. It can create surprise. And surprise is the main thing in a work of art. [] I like and respect Brasília very much. It is a simple city, a rational one. I always defend the urban design of Brasília