This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
CHECK-OUT


Oscar Niemeyer December 15, 1907 – December 5, 2012


Although they were not his best known works, the celebrated Brazilian architect completed several hotel projects during his 70-year career.


The architectural world was united in mourning the passing of Oscar Niemeyer – widely recognised as one of the key figures of 20th century modernist architecture. Buildings such as the National Congress in Brasilia, the United Nations complex in New York, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Niterói, have been acknowledged extensively in obituaries throughout the world press. Although they were not amongst his best known works, several of the 600 or so projects the Brazilian maestro completed during his 70-year career were hotels. They may not match the daring innovation of his most celebrated projects but these projects still display Niemeyer’s mastery of form and scale, combining sweeping curves of solid concrete with an elegant lightness of touch. In fact one of Niemeyer’s earliest works, completed in 1938, was a hotel. Elements of his signature style are already visible in the design of the Grande Hotel de Ouro Preto – a curving two-story building on a hillside overlooking this 18th century gold rush town. Another hotel – the Hotel Tijuco in Diamantina – was completed in the early 1950s as a gift to President Jusce- lino Kubitshek. But it was his masterplan for the new capital Brasilia which Niemeyer undertook in the 1950s and 1960s which remains his greatest gift to his home country. His designs for key civic build- ings throughout the city included those for the Brasilia Palace Hotel – completed in 1958 so that guests invited to view the construction of this brave new city had somewhere to stay. The three-storey, 135-room block, supported by black anodized alu- minium clad pillars, appears to float above ground – another fa- miliar hallmark of Niemeyer’s work. Exiled from Brasil under the military dictatorship of General Branco, Niemeyer moved to Paris in 1966, where he worked on various international projects, including his 1976 design for the Casino da Madeira at Funchal, Madeira. A 19th century hotel was removed to make way for the casino – a hyperboloid struc- ture reminiscent of the Cathedral of Brasília. A new hotel, pic- tured here, was built alongside the casino. Niemeyer returned to Brazil in the mid 1980s, and continued to work there until his death, ten days before his 105th birthday.


© 2012 photo@leonardofinotti.com 146 JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2013 WWW.SLEEPERMAGAZINE.COM


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148