Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer BiographyArchitect (1907–2012)

Architect Oscar Niemeyer was born on December 15, 1907, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Niemeyer landed his first major project in 1941, planning buildings for the Pampulha Architectural Complex. His designs were noted for their free-flowing forms. Other projects included working on the United Nations building, and designing the Contemporary Art Museum in Niterói and major buildings in the capital city of Brasília. Niemeyer died in Rio de Janeiro on December 5, 2012, at age 104.

Early Career

Oscar Niemeyer was born Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho on December 15, 1907, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He grew up in a wealthy family without any aspirations toward being an architect, though he started drawing at an early age. "When I was very little," he later recalled, "my mother said I used to draw in the air with my fingers. I needed a pencil. Once I could hold one, I have drawn every day since." After graduating from Barnabitas College in 1923, Niemeyer wed a woman named Annita Baldo, to whom he would remain married until her death in 2004.