Sad news from Brazil today: Oscar Niemeyer, arguably the last living master of modern architecture has passed away at the age of 104. Niemeyer had over 600 of his designs built throughout the world, with 20 more projects currently under construction. He was active in the everyday life of his office in Rio de Janeiro until his last days.
"It is not the right angle that attracts me, nor the
straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. What attracts me is the
free and sensual curve — the curve that I find in the mountains of my country,
in the sinuous course of its rivers, in the body of the beloved woman."
-Oscar Niemeyer
Some of his most important work includes:
- Brasilia (the utopian capital of Brazil, built in what was at the time uninhabited grassland). He designed most buildings in this planned city, from the National Congress and the Presidential Palace, to the Metropolitan Cathedral and the National Library.
- The United Nations Headquarters in New York City (in collaboration with Le Corbusier and others).
- Ibirapuera Park Complex in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
- Mondadori Publishing Headquarters in Milan, Italy.
- Cultural Center in Le-Havre, France.