Niemeyer, << NEE my uhr, >> Oscar (1907-2012), was a Brazilian architect. He became best known as the designer of the principal buildings of Brasília, the Brazilian capital (see Brasília ). Niemeyer often used primary forms for entire buildings, and in repetitious architectural elements. He said that his designs were inspired by Brazilian climatic and social conditions, and the nation’s colonial baroque art heritage.
Niemeyer was born on Dec. 15, 1907, in Rio de Janeiro. His early work was influenced by brief contact with the architect Le Corbusier. An example of this work is the Gustavo Capanema Palace (1943) in Rio de Janeiro. It is shaped like a slab, with windows set deeply into the concrete building to provide sun shades. During the early 1940’s, Niemeyer served as chief architect for Pampulha, a new residential suburb near Belo Horizonte. Among his other works are the headquarters of the French Communist Party (1975) in Paris; the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (2003) in Curitiba, Brazil; and the Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Center (2011) in Avilés, Spain. Niemeyer died on Dec. 5, 2012, at the age of 104.
