SCALE

Oscar Niemeyer uses human scale for aesthetic effect, using structural purity and clarity of form. He creates an scale that even though it looks monumental from a distance, is really well adapted to the human measurement, so it won't be overwhelming. In this pictures we can see that there's a big scale and it makes peopple feeling like they're in a important place, however there's not a level of monumentalism that make the human scale be totally overcome by it. There's a sence of aesthetics in making this scale, that provides confortness and proportion to the buildings

                                                                                               

CIRCULATION

When it comes to circulation the architect has very diverse ways to achieve it.  In vertical circulation he uses a lot of ramps because he's really interest in making a recognition of the spaces and a ramp gives much more of a slow way to enjoy the amazing spaces that he creates.  It's a way to make sutil the transtition of one place to another .

                                                                                                         

In general i think Niemeyer preffers horizontal circulation because it gives a longer tour of the buildings, in this last example we can see that is a vertical building but the main circulation point, the first floor, is a walk with complete horizontal circulation for a better apretiation of space. 

RYTHM

Niemeyer was an architect of monumental works, representing emotions through architecture. In many of his projects repeated ways to highlight a facade or give greater prominence to an element. Also in the structural part he uses the rhythm of elements like in the Cathedral of Brasilia, UN Headquarters, Ministry of Education and Health and many others. We can notice how he enter curves and oval shapes in rhythm and uses materials such as concrete and glass with steel elements and creates different textures for emphasize the beauty of the building.

               

TEXTURE

The use of texture by Oscar Niemeyer is quite sutil, we can see it for example in this picture of the Iberapuera auditorium in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He uses texture to difference the planes of the space, for instance here we have a soft texture for the sealing plane, then another one for the background wall, witch is made of soft wood, and the chairs and floor have a really soft textile material to make it confortable and nice for the people to sit and enjoy the show.

                                                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Iberapuera auditorium in Sao Paulo, Brazil

At Niemeyer Centre the first plane that we see is made completly out of glass and it's amazing how it reflects the sun and the clouds it gives it a really sutil texture. Underneath is made out of reinforced concrete and it reflects the lake that's under the construction giving it a really nice soft texture even though is concrete. The column that supports all the construction it's decorated with yellow tiles and it's used to diference it from the rest of the building. 

            

COLOR

Niemeyer works to impress, and used mostly white. His works are monumental and show great knowledge about color. He mix the colors with lighting of the work to achieve greater contrast and play of perspectives.

Light, shadow, color, texture are the projective limitations, which require a great exercise of intellectual abstraction that has to take in mind the unpredictability of the lighting. Niemeyer seeks greater expressiveness, he manages to recover the lost excitement with the rigors of rationalism.

                                                                                    

                                                                                          

LIGHT

The concept of architectural lighting as "modeling space by light" must be one of the premises for the bright careful environmental design. The lighting in architecture must be a resource that must be managed consistently and this is where the famous architect Oscar Niemeyer comes. He used natural light as a tool for classification of spaces and forms, and how requirement of expression and meaning. Talking about the works of Niemeyer, is talking about examples of diverse influences and their ability to adapt to local conditions where light is expressed, without emphasizing in a game of chiaroscuro, or shaded volumes. It focuses on the stark contrast between lighted areas and shaded areas and volumes under the sun. Some of their projects use light to define constructed elements, others take light as its theme. 

Biography

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.

As a young man, Niemeyer worked for his father at a typography house for a short while before entering the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes, from which he graduated in 1934. Shortly before graduation, he joined the offices of Lúcio Costa, an architect from the Modernist school. Niemeyer worked with Costa on many major buildings between 1936 and 1943, including the design for Brazil's Ministry of Education and Health building, which was part of a collaboration with Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier. Costa and Niemeyer also worked together on Brazil's iconic pavilion in the 1939 New York World's Fair; legendary Mayor Fiorello La Guardia was so impressed with Niemeyer's design that he declared him an honorary citizen of New York.

In 1941, Niemeyer launched his solo career by designing a series of buildings called the Pampulha Architectural Complex in the city of Belo Horizonte. Here, Niemeyer started developing some of his design trademarks, including the heavy use of concrete and a propensity toward curves. "I consciously ignored the highly praised right angle and the rational architecture of T-squares and triangles," he said, "in order to wholeheartedly enter the world of curves and new shapes made possible by the introduction of concrete into the building process."