Oscar Niemeyer quotes

Oscar Niemeyer was a Brazilian architect renowned for his pioneering use of modernist forms and curves in architecture. His visionary work shaped the design of Brasília, Brazil's capital, and influenced architects worldwide. He remains celebrated for his innovative spirit and emphasis on the beauty of architecture. Here are 47 of his quotes:

My work is not about 'form follows function,' but 'form follows beauty' or, even better, 'form follows feminine.' (Oscar Niemeyer)
Curves are the essence of my work because they are the essence of Brazil, pure and simple. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
I had some good opportunities. I was lucky to have had the chance to do things differently. Architecture is about surprise. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
My ambition has always been to reduce a building's support to a minimum. The more we diminish supporting structures, the more audacious and important the architecture is. That has been my life's work. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
I am a Brazilian before I am an architect. I cannot separate the two. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
I was attracted by the curve - the liberated, sensual curve suggested by the possibilities of new technology yet so often recalled in venerable old baroque churches. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
I have always accepted and respected all other schools of architecture, from the chill and elemental structures of Mies van der Rohe to the imagination and delirium of Gaudi. I must design what pleases me in a way that is naturally linked to my roots and the country of my origin. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
It is not the right angle that attracts me, nor the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. What attracts me is the free and sensual curve - the curve that I find in the mountains of my country, in the sinuous course of its rivers, in the body of the beloved woman. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
Life is very fleeting. It's important to be gentle and optimistic. We look behind and think what we've done in this life has been good. It was simple; it was modest. Everyone creates their own story and moves on. That's it. I don't feel particularly important. What we create is not important. We're very insignificant. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
We hated Bauhaus. It was a bad time in architecture. They just didn't have any talent. All they had were rules. Even for knives and forks they created rules. Picasso would never have accepted rules. The house is like a machine? No! The mechanical is ugly. The rule is the worst thing. You just want to break it. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
I deliberately disregarded the right angle and rationalist architecture designed with ruler and square to boldly enter the world of curves and straight lines offered by reinforced concrete.... This deliberate protest arose from the environment in which I lived, with its white beaches, its huge mountains, its old baroque churches, and the beautiful suntanned women. (Oscar Niemeyer)
Architecture was my way of expressing my ideals: to be simple, to create a world equal to everyone, to look at people with optimism, that everyone has a gift. I don't want anything but general happiness. Why is that bad? View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
Here, then, is what I wanted to tell you of my architecture. I created it with courage and idealism, but also with an awareness of the fact that what is important is life, friends and attempting to make this unjust world a better place in which to live. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
Surprise is key in all art. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
The challenge of a cathedral is very good for architectural inventiveness. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
There is no reason to design buildings that are more basic and rectilinear, because with concrete you can cover almost any space. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
The artistic capability of reinforced concrete is so fantastic - that is the way to go. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
First were the thick stone walls, the arches, then the domes and vaults - of the architect, searching out for wider spaces. Now it is concrete-reinforced that gives our imagination flight with its soaring spans and uncommon cantilevers. Concrete, to which architecture is integrated, through which it is able to discard the foregone conclusions of rationalism, with its monotony and repetitious solutions. A concern for beauty, a zest for fantasy, and an ever-present element of surprise bear witness that today's architecture is not a minor craft bound to straight-edge rules, but an architecture imbued with technology: light, creative and unfettered, seeking out its architectural scene. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
It is not with architecture that one can disseminate any political ideology. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
Architecture is invention. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
I search for surprise in my architecture. A work of art should cause the emotion of newness. (Oscar Niemeyer)
Architecture will always express the technical and social progress of the country in which it is carried out. If we wish to give it the human content that it lacks, we must participate in the political struggle. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
Humanity needs dreams to be able to survive the miseries of daily existence, even if only for an instant. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
Sometimes I lose a whole morning waiting on journalists and other people who look for me. But I always find some time for reading, talking to my friends and feeling what is happening in this world. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer
When students leave college, they are like children who know nothing about the problems of life, and don't have a political stance. View quote
Oscar Niemeyer