For our Pre-Spring 26 collection, we journey back to our Origens. Stepping back in time to Rio de Janeiro in the 1940s where the rise of modernism began to define the landscape of the ‘Cidade Maravilhosa’ as we know it today. Simultaneously with the inception of the game of frescobol, the career of Oscar Niemeyer, one of Brazil’s most impactful architects, had begun.

Born in 1907 in Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro, Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho was brought up amongst the bohemian echelon of Carioca society, always knowing what he wanted to pursue. In 1929, Niemeyer enrolled in the Engineering and Architecture program at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes do Rio de Janeiro. The program director at the time, renowned architect Lúcio Costa, completely restructured the syllabus to reflect the modernist principles of early-20th-Century Europe. 

Left: A young Oscar Niemeyer; Right: Palácio Gustavo Capanema

This modernist approach was a defining moment for Niemeyer and his peers: modernism spoke to the Brazilian people through its organic shapes, unexpected aesthetic techniques, and the rejection of traditional architectural practice. In keeping with this philosophy, Niemeyer opted against interning at a firm, as was expected, and chose instead to work for free under  Costa, and other titans of Brazilian architecture such as Gregori Warchavchik e Carlos Leão. His early career was punctuated heavily by the influence of Costa and Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, both of whom incorporated Neimeyer’s modernist ideas into their projects such as the Palácio Gustavo Capanema in Rio. An early iteration of his signature style through the incorporation of curves on concrete and garden, encouraging levity among the sharp lines of the rest of the building.

In 1940, Niemeyer meets Juscelino Kubitschek, then-governor of Belo Horizonte, and is hired to develop a new modernized area of the city, now known as the Conjunto Arquitetônico da Pampulha: “[Pampulha] gave me the opportunity to challenge the monotony of contemporary architecture” (Oscar Niemeyer, 1943).  It was through this project that Niemeyer first collaborated with Roberto Burle Marx, marking the advent of his career, as the project gained global notoriety at the Brazil Builds exhibition at the MoMA in 1943. The decade that followed saw international opportunities for the architect; among them, collaborating on the headquarters of the United Nations in New York.

In 1956, Kubitschek, newly-elected president of Brazil, invited Niemeyer to design and construct the new national capital: Brasília. In the span of four years, the architect erects what are now some of the most iconic buildings across the country. It is with these projects that Niemeyer solidifies the now-recognized characteristics of his work: incorporating curves unexpectedly, a plethora of windows, decorative aspects that, at times, are not made for function, and the avoidance, whenever possible, of angular facades. Utilizing modernist principles as a foundation, Niemeyer pushed the boundaries of architectural conventions, employing the use of organic forms as the ultimate expression of freedom of movement and levity.

Clockwise from left: Congresso Nacional de Brasília, Palácio do Planalto; Catedral de Brasília; Supremo Tribunal Federal; Palácio da Alvorada

Four years following the completion of the city, the Brazilian government falls to a military coup – due to his known association with the PCB (Brazilian Communist Party), Niemeyer flees to Paris, where he continues to work on projects across continental Europe. Upon his return to Brazil in 1985, Niemeyer continued to work on widely-recognized projects, both locally and abroad. His best-known works in the Cidade Maravilhosa include Museu de Arte Contemporânea (MAC), the Sambódromo, the Niemeyer Theatre, and the Oscar Niemeyer Foundation. In 2008, Niemeyer designed the trophy for the F1 Brazilian Grand-Prix, pictured below being held by F1 Driver Felipe Massa.

Clockwise from left: Oscar Niemeyer Foundation; Museu de Arte Contemporânea; Felipe Massa holds the 2008 F1 trophy; Juscelino Kubistchek Memorial; Niemeyer Theater

Niemeyer worked until his passing in Rio de Janeiro, 2012, at 104 years of age. Leaving behind a revolutionizing legacy of modernist principles, that shaped not only the landscapes of an entire nation, but directly impacted the contemporary point of view of his time. 

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