Brazil is mourning the loss of one of the country's best and brightest creative minds, famed architect Oscar Niemeyer.
A couple of weeks ago the Brasilia architect Oscar Niemeyer passed away at 104. His architecture redefined the Brazilian identity in postwar era. An unabashed modernist and dyed in the wool communist he never took a foot back from his architectural style and his political ideology. As famous as he was, still he had to pay a heavy price for his convictions.
During the military dictatorship of the 1960-70 he he had to live in France on a self imposed exile to avoid the wrath of the military dictatorship. Being the man who provided the identity for the the newly created capital of Brasilia was not good enough for the dictators.
More than his modernist architectural style, it was how he managed to interpret his political ideology through that style that left a deep impact on the common man in Brazil. He designed for his people, most of whom are poorest of the poor in the world.
Can we feel the same about leftist / socialist ideologists or for that matter architects of Sri Lanka?
Wikipedia
Obituary @ the Economist
Pictorial Essay @ The Guardian
"who stood up for social inequality in one of the most unequal nations on earth"
ReplyDeleteIsn't it sad that we don't have any architect's of that calibre in Sri Lanka even though we have a ever widening gap between the rich and the poor.