Step 1. To analyze a work by the architect studied in PA2.
Nereu Ramos Palace
The work I chose from the architect Oscar Niemeyer is the Nereu Ramos Palace, name that pays tribute to the president number 20 of Brazil, or also known as Congress National’s Palace located in the Three Powers Square in Brasilia. This work was inaugurated in 1960 for Niemeyer as architect and Joaquim Cardoso as structural and civil engineer. When Oscar Niemeyer was 100 years old, the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute named 34 of his works including the Nereu Ramos Palace as national heritage of Brazil.
This work is constituted by a horizontal main building that works as a platform for two domes, the concave one is from Federal Senate and the convex is from Chamber of Deputies. Also we are going to find on the main building and between the domes that there are two towers with 28 floors, one of they is of the Senate and the other one is of the Chamber just as the domes.
“Architecture is not a simple matter of engineering, but a manifestation of spirit, imagination and poetry”
In the Congress Palace, for example, the composition was formulated according to this criterion, the conveniences of architecture and urbanism, volumes, free space, opportunity and visual perspectives and, above all, the intention of giving it the character of monumentality with the simplification of its elements and the adoption of pure and geometric forms. Hence, the entire Palace project is carried out and the use of the local conformation is carried out, in order to create a monumental terrace at the level of the avenues that flank it and fix the domes that should characterize it hierarchically.
Is a sample of the importance of making something feel with architecture, because is not only novel it is that when observing it you see something more than just an extraordinary structure, it look imposing, it generated respect and intimidation when seeing it and that is what Niemeyer was looking for. Because the use that is given to the building is typical of what it generates.
Esta imagem é parte do Fundo Agência Nacional Série FOT Subsérie EVE
Another thing I would to highlight of this modern work is the combination with the straight lines and the curves. Let’s remember that Niemeyer said he hated the straight lines as much as the capitalism,
but still gave the opportunity to the straight lines to stand out with the curves. This show us that even though he didn’t like straight lines, he knew how to combine something that he used to avoid in his projects with something that characterized him as curves and he created something magnificent. For me, that is being an architect, not being closed with something but knowing how to use things and be creative.
“I have spent”, he said, “all my life at a table of projects and, if I wanted to summarize the contribution of my work, I would say that I have given my part to modernity”. Oscar Niemeyer with this and many other buildings showed us why he deserved to be considered one of the fathers of modern Latin American architecture.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://lostonsite.com/2009/11/12/niemeyer/
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/A9XyGW