AR.

OSCAR NIEMEYER

• Born - Oscar Niemeyer was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on the

15th December 1907.

• Education - Oscar Niemeyer graduated from the Escola Nacional de Belas

Artes in Rio de Janeiro in 1934.

• At this time Oscar Niemeyer joined a team of Brazilian architects

collaborating with Le Corbusier on a new Ministry of Education and Health in
Rio de Janeiro.

• Oscar Niemeyer worked with Lucio Costa and Le Corbusier till 1938 on this
project.

• The Corbusian influence is evident in the early works of Oscar Niemeyer.

• The architect gradually acquired his own style: the lightness of the curved
forms created spaces that transformed the architectural scheme into something
that was so far unknown; harmony, grace and elegance are the adjectives that
are most appropriate to describe the work of Oscar Niemeyer
MAJOR WORK - BRASILIA BUILDINGS
 In 1956, Juscelino Kubitschek, the president of Brazil and a close friend of
Niemeyer, came to the architect with a proposal, asking Niemeyer to become
the new chief architect of public buildings in the country's new capital,
Brasilia, a Modernist civic metropolis being built from scratch in the interior
of the country.
 Niemeyer eagerly accepted, designing buildings that went along with his
utopian vision of government. "This was a liberating time," he said. "It seemed
as if a new society was being born, with all the traditional barriers cast aside
.... when planning the government buildings for Brasilia I decided they should
be characterized by their own structures within the prescribed shapes ... 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."

 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, Lucio 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, 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 University of Brasília. In
1963, he became an honorary member of the American Institute of
Architects in the United States; the same year, he received the Lenin Peace
Prize from the USSR.
 Niemeyer and his contribution to the construction of Brasília are portrayed in
the 1964 French movie L'homme de Rio (The Man From Rio), starring Jean-
Paul Belmondo.
 In 1964, at 57, after being invited by Abba Hushi, the mayor of Haifa, Israel,
to plan the campus of the University of Haifa, 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.

National Congress Building, Brasilia.

Ministries Esplanade, Brasilia

MODERNIST STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE:

 Modern architecture or modernist architecture is a term applied to a group of

styles of architecture which emerged in the first half of the 20th century and
became dominant after World War II.
 It was based upon new technologies of construction, particularly the use
of glass, steel and reinforced concrete; and upon a rejection of the
traditional neoclassical architecture and Beaux-Arts styles that were popular in
the 19th century.
 Modern architecture continued to be the dominant architectural style for
institutional and corporate buildings into 1980s, when it was challenged
by Postmodernism, and then by "Neo-modernism" and other schools which
gradually supplanted it.

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 modernist skyscraper in the world, of a much
larger scale than anything Le Corbusier had built until then.
 Completed in 1943 when he was 36 years old, the building that housed the
regulator and manager of Brazilian culture and cultural heritage developed the
elements of what was to become recognized as Brazilian modernism.
 It employed local materials and techniques, like the azulejos linked to the
Portuguese tradition; the revolutionized Corbusian brises-soleil, made
adjustable and related to the Moorish shading devices of colonial architecture;
bold colors; the tropical gardens of Roberto Burle Marx; the Imperial
Palm (Roystonea oleracea), known as the Brazilian order; further allusions to
the icons of the Brazilian landscape; and specially commissioned works by
Brazilian artists.
 This building is considered by some architects as one of the most influential of
the 20th century. It was taken as a model on how to blend low- and high-rise
structures (Lever House).

REASONS FOR CHOOSING

 OSCAR NIEMEYER:
 The main reason for choosing Oscar Niemeyer for my study is his love for
curves. He used to say “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.”
 He is considered as the key figure in development of modernist architecture.
 I also like Oscar Niemeyer because of his work of Brazil’s capital Brazilia.

BUILDING IN DETAIL
THE CATHEDRAL OF BRAZILIA

Architects: Oscar Niemeyer

Location: Brasilia, Brazil
Architect: Oscar Niemeyer
References: Oscar Niemeyer, Albert Christ-Janer, Official Site
Project Year : 1960
Style: Mordenism And Brazilian MOdernism

INTRODUCTION
  Having such a significant history, it can be expected that the architecture
of Brasilia reflects the richness and prominence of the culture as a planned
city.

 The church bears much importance in the society, so the design had to have
significance and personality against its surroundings. Oscar Niemeyer was
sure to make a statement with the powerful expression and unique form of the
Cathedral of Brasilia, which led to his acceptance of the Pritzker Prize in
1988.

CONSTRUCTION DETAIL

 The cornerstone was laid in early September of 1958, when designs were
beginning to be proposed and thoroughly planned out by Oscar Niemeyer.

 With a diameter of 70m, the only visible structure of the cathedral being
sixteen concrete columns with a very peculiar shape.

 Reaching up towards the sky to represent two hands, the columns have
parabolic sections.

 After the addition of the external transparent windows, the Cathedral was
dedicated on May 31st of 1970.
 Figuratively guarding the exterior of the church stand four bronze sculptures,
each 3m high.
 These represent the Evangelists and were made with the help of Dante Croce
in 1968.
 More sculptures can be seen inside the nave, where three angels are suspended
by steel cables.
 Ranging in size from 2.22 to 4.25m long and weighing 100kg-300kg each,
these were completed by Alfredo Ceschiatti and Dante Croce in 1970.
 Hand-painted ceramic tiles cover the walls of the oval-shaped Baptistery, done
by Athos Bulcao in 1977.
 The Cathedral is completed with its bell tower, housing four bells that were
donated by Spain. More obvious details of the interior are the stained glass
windows, with different shades of blue, white and brown.
 These were pieced together to fit between the steel columns, into 30m high
triangles that run 10m across.
  The alter was donated by Pope Paul VI, as well as the image of the Patroness
Lady of Aparecida.
 Upon entering into the Cathedral, there stands a marble pillar with pictures of
passages of the life of Our Lady, painted by Athos Bulcao.
 Because it is located at the Esplanada dos Ministerios, there is not a fixed
community that attends services.
 A majority of those that come to the Mass are tourists or workers at the
Esplanada dos Ministerios.
 The Cathedral is open daily for public visitation.

CONCLUSION
 The report consists of all the required data about the architect chosen
 The report is hereby concluded by the following points:
a. The architect was more of interested in curvilinear forms rather than using
straight lines.
b. He was an architect with Brazilian modernism style.
c. He was very much influenced with the style that Le Corbusier followed.
d. He had harmony, grace and elegance in his design.
e. He was more into flexible designs and human body curves.