At the end of the 1950’s, the then
president of Brazil, Juscelino Kubischek, conceived the idea of creating
a new city, designed for half a million inhabitants and built according
to the most avant-garde, functionalist architectural design. He gave
the commission for this project for a new Brazilian capital to Niemeyer
and his fellow countryman Licio Costa, who took four years to make it a
reality. Brasilia was inaugurated in 1960 by the Brazilian president.
Noteworthy among its principal architectural achievements are the Plaza
of the Three Powers, where the Palace of Government, the Supreme Federal
Court and the National Congress are located; the Itamaraty Palace, seat
of the Chancery; the Avenue of the Ministries; and the Presidential
Residence, the Alvorada Palace. The quality of the buildings and their
harmony with the natural setting led UNESCO to declare Brasilia
“Heritage of Humanity” in 1987. In 1962, Niemeyer settled in France,
where he was to remain until 1974. During this time, he carried out many
architectural projects in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The
most outstanding of these are the headquarters of the French Communist
Party in Paris; the main building for the Mondadori publishers in Milan,
and the Mosque, Civic Centre and University of Algiers. Back in Brazil,
Óscar Niemeyer designed a recreation centre which is popularly known as
the Sambodrome, which was built between 1983 and 1984 and has been used
since then as the permanent venue for the Samba schools in the Rio
Carnival. Another major work is the Memorial to Latin America,
inaugurated in 1989. This building, situated in Sao Paulo, consists of a
3,200-square-metre hall, a lecture hall with capacity for 4,000 people,
a library with 60,000 volumes, an exhibition pavilion, a restaurant,
three car parks, an administration and control building and a large
civic plaza with a monumental balcony. He also designed the headquarters
of the Luso-Brazilian Foundation for the Development of the
Portuguese-speaking World, in Portugal, and the Popular Theatre of
Niteroi (2007), in Brazil. 2010 saw the inauguration of his work in Belo
Horizonte for the President Tancredo Nieves Administrative City, the
seat of government of Minas Gerais. One of his latest projects is the
Óscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre in Avilés, Asturias (Spain).
Among other important awards, Óscar Niemeyer is the holder of the Lenin
Peace Prize (1963), the Arquitectura de Hoy International Prize
(1966), the Pritzker Prize (1988), the Grand Cross of the Spanish
Military Order of Santiago (1994), the title of Commander of the French
National Order of the Legion of Honour (2007) and the Order of Arts and
Letters bestowed by the Government of Spain (2009).
