ARCHITECTS | Zaha Hadid, Richard Meier + Frank O. Gehry :: Contrary Opinions about Oscar Niemeyer’s Legacy

Photo > “Frank Gehry” by Smaku, Flickr

Zaha Hadid practically gushes in her enthusiasm for Niemeyer’s work (I’m with her!) and Richard Meier accords the man due respects.

Frank Gehry, on the other hand, dismisses Niemeyer’s work whilst acknowledging his own geographical ignorance.

FYI, Frank, Brasília was built in Brazil’s altiplano, or highlands (the grey bits on the map, above), not “hacked out of the middle of some jungle” (that would be the green bits).

If you saw photos (like Marcel Gautherot’s, below) of the City of the Future being built back in the day, you’d notice a distinct lack of foliage and a lot of red dust.

And as far as “liberal” architects go, you can’t get much more “liberal” than Oscar’s long-term membership in the Communist Party.

All three architects, I believe, owe a debt of gratitude to Niemeyer for freeing modernism from its straightjacket and reintroducing the feminine curve back into the architectural lexicon.

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YOOX.com | Zaha Hadid @ MAXXI

FOLHA.com | Read testimonials from foreign architects about Oscar Niemeyer

The New York Times | The Last of the Moderns

L’Express | Oscar Niemeyer: I always try to ”invent”

Photos > ZAHID, MEIER, GEHRY, NIEMEYER

designKULTUR | ARCHITECTURE | Frank O. Gehry’s Art Gallery of Ontario