The architect’s ability to land big works in his home country before and after his exile speaks to Brazil’s enthusiasm for civic gigantism and Modernism.
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Niemeyer’s ability to land large-scale work in his home country before and after his lengthy Paris relocation speak not only to his durable preeminence but also Brazil’s waves of civic gigantism, its enthusiasm for Modernism, and the difficult political and economic currents it has constantly had to surmount. There are ironies involved in Niemeyer’s success: for an outspoken leftist he was most often reliant on elites for work, whether of the left or the less strident right. And it was unusual that so many were happy to hire him, including many who didn’t share his politics—a reflection of unusual open-mindedness over a remarkably sustained period.
Modernism in the United States most often constituted poles of the built environment: high-profile corporate and civic commissions at the top and social housing at the bottom with little in the middle. Brazil is different, with Modernism constituting the style of a vast amount of construction, including large numbers of homes essentially built by their residents. To achieve the summit like Niemeyer was not to design a few buildings that stand radically apart from traditionalism, but to build the best of a very common style.
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