"The architect’s role is to fight for a better world, where he can produce an architecture that serves everyone and not just a group of privileged people."
Now approaching his 103rd birthday, Niemeyer continues to practise from his office in Rio de Janeiro
By Cristina Carrillo De Albornoz | From issue 218, November 2010
Published online 6 Dec 10 (Features)
Oscar Niemeyer in his studio (Photo: Harris Terry William-FTWP)
Oscar Niemeyer was born on 15 December, 1907, in Rio de Janeiro. At ten years old he would make shapes in the air with his fingers, prompting his mother to ask: “What are you doing, boy?” He would reply: “I’m drawing.” “I could picture the drawings in the air and correct them,” he remembers. In 1956 he was commissioned to design an entire city—Brasilia, the new capital of Brazil—which brought him huge international acclaim. He was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 1988 and the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts in 1989. Now approaching his 103rd birthday, Niemeyer continues to practise from his office opposite Rio’s Copacabana beach, in a circular building that echoes the curves that are emblematic of his architecture. He is currently preparing a book on cathedrals while overseeing the final stages of the Niemeyer Centre (El Centro Cultural Internacional Oscar Niemeyer) in Avilés, Spain.
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