Oscar Niemeyer: Mighty Waves

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Brasília

In the centre of the country, Brasília represented the greatest challenge an architect could ever dream of. Planned in the ‘50s as the new federal capital, the city was built from scratch and based on designs by Niemeyer and town planner Lucio Costa. A large blank canvas, the once deserted plains in the heart of Brasil gave way to a meticulously planned city in the shape of a plane. The city’s buildings established Niemeyer as one of the most influential architects of the 20th Century and symbolised the economic transformations the country was passing through.

Niemeyer hoped to influence a more equal society, and the common denominator was meant to be the ‘Superquadras’, enormous housing estates built on the ‘wings’ of the city. Designed to be self-sufficient, every four estates were equipped with expansive green fields, shopping centres, schools and churches; all indispensable for the smooth running of a neighbourhood. The community spirit, however, didn’t last long. Rising house prices ended up driving poorer residents to outlying towns and certain areas became more exclusive.

But the architect’s innovations, which have rendered him the epithet “the poet of curves”, are to be found in the centre of the plane-shaped city. The Praça dos Três Poderes houses the unmistakeable National Congress, two enormous office buildings accompanied by two inverted half-domes
that house the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate. Close by is Brasília Cathedral, a circular construction with diagonal columns that meet at the top and allow ample rays of light to pass through the stained glass windows. Other buildings that had been initially planned only came
to light decades later. The Library and the National Museum were open in 2006.

Oscar Niemeyer: Mighty Waves

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