Oscar Niemeyer: Submitted By: Anubhav Goyal

OSCAR NIEMEYER
SUBMITTED BY:
ANUBHAV GOYAL
AAYOJAN SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
THIRD YEAR B. ARCH.
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
FACULTY: PROF N. S. RATHORE
ARCHITECT: Oscar Niemeyer
NATIONALITY: Brazilian
1.0 LIFE AND TIME
1.1 BORN: Rio de Janeiro in 1907
1.2 DIED: Today Niemeyer is 98
1.3 FAMILY: He belonged to a poor family. Married Annita Baldo.
1.4 EDUCATION: Concluded his secondary education at age 21. He

started to work in his father’s typography house and entered
the Escola de Belas Artes, from which he graduated as engineer
architect in 1934.
1.5 PROFESSION: He started working in the architecture studio of Lucio
Costa and Carlos Leao. In 1945, he joined the Brazilian Communist
Party. During the military dictatorship of Brazil his office was raided
he was forced into exile in Europe.
1.6 INFLUENCES:
Niemeyer was a boy at the time of the Russian Revolution of 1917

and by the Second World War he became a young idealist. He visited the USSR,
met with diverse socialist leaders. In 1939 Niemeyer traveled with Lucio Costa to
design the Brazilian pavilion in the New York World’s Fair.
In Pampulha, Niemeyer started to mark his style: he used the structural properties
of the armed concrete to give sinuous forms to the building. In 1947, his world wide
recognition was confirmed when Niemeyer traveled to the United States to design
the headquarters of the United Nations in New York. Later his work hindered in
Brazil, Niemeyer moved to Paris. There he started a new phase of his life and
workmanship.
2.0 PHILOSOPHY
2.1 He was a pioneer in exploration of the constructive possibilities of reinforced

concrete. Although he was a defender of utilitarianism, his creations did not have
the blocky coldness. His buildings have forms so dynamic and curves so sensual
that many admires that he is more monumental as a sculptor than as an architect.
2.2 In an essay ‘My Architecture’ Niemeyer talks about his own works.
"I divide my architecture up into five different periods; first Pampulha, then from
Pampulha to Brasilia, after that Brasilia, followed by my work overseas, and, last
but not least, my most recent plans".
"I have never commented on the influence of events in the world of architecture on
these periods or on my thinking as an architect. Today, looking back at my work, I
have a better understanding of why, in all five phases, it undeniably contains an
element of rebellion".
• "It all began with my first thoughts on Pampulha. I consciously ignored the highly
praised right angle and the rational architecture of T-squares and triangles in order
to wholeheartedly enter the world of curves and new shapes made possible by the
introduction of concrete into the building process".
• "Some of my best buildings are outside of Brazil. With the Headquarters of the
French Communist Party I showed how important it is to maintain a harmonious
relationship between volume and open space".
• "When planning the government buildings for Brasilia I decided they should be
characterized by their own structures within the prescribed shapes. In this way, the
smaller details of rationalist architecture would vanish in the face of the
overpowering shapes of the new edifices".
"I tried to push the potential of concrete to its limits, especially at the load-bearing
points which I wanted to be as delicate as possible so that it would seem as if the
palaces barely touched the ground".
• "Here, then, is what I wanted to tell you of my architecture. I created it with

courage and idealism, but also with an awareness of the fact that what is important
is life, friends and attempting to make this unjust world a better place in which to
live."
3.0 WORKS
 New Museum at Curitiba (Brazil),
2002
o The complex is formed by two independent

buildings, connected for the sinuosas slopes
that lead to its interior
o Completely opposing forms - while in one

the straight angle predominates (rectangle
of 200 m x 30 m in concrete), in the other
the sinuosity is distinguished - the two if
they complement as organization.
o Eye almost has the character of a sculpture

while the rectangle is more the form the
service of the function. Both present,
however, monumental character.
Interior of the great eye The panel in ceramic coating was
drawn by Niemeyer
Museum has monumental scale,

with closings in glass
 Ibirapuera Audience
Place
São Paulo, SP
Beginning of the project
2002
Conclusion of the workmanship
2005
Constructed area
7.000 sq. mts.
Conceived for the presentation of musical spectacles, the Ibirapuera Audience

possesss simple volumetria. Simplicity takes in account the composition with two
buildings of pure and white volumes.
Elevation
The grate of the air-conditional one is
hidden in opening
Detail of one of the dressing-rooms

The scale of the covering of the entrance
gives the monumental tone to the building
 Cathedral of Brasilia 1960–1970
The cathedral has sixteen curved columns and a stained glass interior.
Standing near the entrance are four large statues known as the Four
Evangelists. In his architecture, Niemeyer combined modernist techniques
and materials with curving lines and free use of forms of the Brazilian
baroque period.
 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2003
Hyde Park, London
The pavilion is a temporary structure erected for special events on the gallery's lawn
from June to September. This is the first structure in Britain by the 95-year-old
Brazilian architect.
The building, in metal, repeats the curves and the search of the slightness that
characterizes the workmanship of Niemeyer
Sections
Chronology Of Works
YEAR PROJECTS
1939 Assumed the leadership of the team of architects including Lúcio Costa, Carlos Leão, Affonso Eduardo Reidy, Jorge Moreira,
Ernani Vasconcellos with Le Corbusier acting as a consultant
1939 Brazilian pavilion in the New York World's Fair
1940 Pampulha
1943 Ibirapuera Park
1951 Copan apartment building
1951 JK Building in Belo Horizonte
1952 Built his own house in Rio de Janeiro
1954 Niemeyer luxury apartment building, in Belo Horizonte
1954 The Museum of Modern Art of Caracas
1963 Became an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects
1963 He received a Soviet prize, the Lenin peace prize

1970 Penang State Mosque in George Town
1980 Memorial Juscelino Kubitschek
1985 The Pantheon
1987 The Latin America Memorial

1988 Pritzker Architecture Prize
1996 Niterói Contemporary Art Museum
2003 Serpentine Gallery Summer Pavilion in Hyde Park London
Bibliography
The story of Architecture
By Patrick Nuttgens
Designing for New Society: International Style
Webliography
www.arcoweb.com
www.greatbuildingonline.com
www.archinform.net
www.archiplanet.com
www.wikipedia.com

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OSCAR NIEMEYER

1.1 BORN: Rio de Janeiro in 1907

1.2 DIED: Today Niemeyer is 98

1.3 FAMILY: He belonged to a poor family. Married Annita Baldo.

1.4 EDUCATION: Concluded his secondary education at age 21. He

Niemeyer was a boy at the time of the Russian Revolution of 1917

2.1 He was a pioneer in exploration of the constructive possibilities of reinforced

• "Here, then, is what I wanted to tell you of my architecture. I created it with

o The complex is formed by two independent

o Completely opposing forms - while in one

o Eye almost has the character of a sculpture

Museum has monumental scale,

Conceived for the presentation of musical spectacles, the Ibirapuera Audience

Detail of one of the dressing-rooms

1951 Copan apartment building

1951 JK Building in Belo Horizonte

1952 Built his own house in Rio de Janeiro

1954 Niemeyer luxury apartment building, in Belo Horizonte

1954 The Museum of Modern Art of Caracas

1963 Became an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects

1963 He received a Soviet prize, the Lenin peace prize

1980 Memorial Juscelino Kubitschek

1985 The Pantheon

1987 The Latin America Memorial

Designing for New Society: International Style

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