In recent years, the Brazilian architect has been hospitalized more than once, but each time he recovers safely and continues to work on projects. He was also hospitalized last month, but never left the hospital. According to Brazilian media reports, the cause of his death on December 5 was respiratory failure.
The last of the great masters of classical modernism, who for a long time outlived all his colleagues, Niemeyer held a unique position both in Brazil and in the world. A rich creative biography (Brasilia alone would have been enough for widespread fame, and in total Niemeyer had several hundred buildings in different countries of the world), amazing longevity and efficiency gave him nationwide and worldwide fame, rare for an architect.
In the last decades of Oscar Niemeyer's life in his native country, his authority as a public figure and thinker was indisputable, his opinion was interested in any significant matter (and he always expressed it). He adhered to leftist views, was a member of the Communist Party and laureate of the International Lenin Prize, was friends with Fidel Castro (he called himself and Niemeyer "the last communists on this planet"), designed a monument to Bolivar for Hugo Chavez.
In Brazil and abroad, his later buildings often automatically received his name: for example, a museum in Curitiba or a concert hall in Ravello in southern Italy. Sometimes Oscar Niemeyer donated his projects. This happened with the International Cultural Center in the Spanish city of Aviles, where the architect was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize. Having received such a gift in return, the city authorities could not fail to realize it.
Niemeyer has been a recipient of the Pritzker Prize, the RIBA Gold Medal and other prestigious awards. Brasilia was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List back in 1987, which was a unique case for such a "young" site.
N. F.
