Niemeyer

by Philip Jodidio

The man who built the future: Seven decades of work from the Brazilian visionary On the occasion of Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer s 100th anniversary, the New York Times wrote, "In the 1940s, 50s and 60s he established himself as one of Modernism s greatest luminaries, infusing stark abstract forms with a beguiling tropical hedonism that reshaped Brazil s identity in the popular imagination and mesmerized architects around the globe." Until his death at age 104 in 2012, over seven decades since one of his first projects a 1936 collaboration with Lucio Costa and Le Corbusier Oscar Niemeyer was still practicing. A technical pioneer and one of the 20th century s most important architects, Niemeyer has designed close to 700 realized and unrealized buildings and, most notably, was the architect for the principal monuments in Brasilia, his homeland s futuristic capital city and his undisputed major masterpiece. About the Series: Each book in TASCHEN s Basic Architecture Series features: an introduction to the life and work of the architect the major works in chronological order information about the clients, architectural preconditions as well as construction problems and resolutions a list of all the selected works and a map indicating the locations of the best and most famous buildings approximately 120 illustrations (photographs, sketches, drafts and plans) "

Genres: Architecture, Art, Brazil

96 pages, Hardcover

First published November 25, 2012

Reviews

[Matthew O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice short introduction to Oscar Niemeyer. Its a very short book however the section of the French Communist Party headquarters was very interesting. I think it could have leaned more into the anti-colonial nature of his architecture in particular the Université des sciences et de la technologie Houari-Boumediene in Algeria however it was still a nice little book. I will certainly buy more books from this range.