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Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012), Rio de Janeiro, architect and urban planner, was one of the greatest names in Brazilian architecture.

"It's not the right angle that attracts me, nor the straight, hard, inflexible line created by man. What attracts me is the free and sensual curve, the curve I find in the mountains of my country, in the winding course of its rivers, in the waves of the sea, in the body of my favorite woman. The whole universe is made of curves, Einstein's curved universe" - Oscar Niemeyer

Niemeyer left an impressive legacy in the history of architecture, both nationally and internationally.

As well as architectural projects, Niemeyer also designed furniture. The need to have pieces that could harmoniously compose his spaces led him to create several icons with his daughter Anna Maria, such as the Rio Rocking Chair, the Marquesa Bench and the High Armchair. Later, he created the ON line, comprising a desk, a sofa and an armchair which reflected the famous curves of his architecture. 

He graduated in architecture from the National School of Fine Arts (Enba) in Rio de Janeiro in 1934. That year, he joined the office of architect and urban planner Lucio Costa (1902-1998). In 1936, he joined the commission set up to draw up the plans for the headquarters of the Ministry of Education and Health (MES) in Rio de Janeiro, under the supervision of the Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965), whom he assisted as a draftsman.

Between 1940 and 1944, he was commissioned by the then mayor of Belo Horizonte, Juscelino Kubitschek (1902-1976), to design the Pampulha Architectural Complex, which became a landmark in his work, as it broke with the strict concepts of functionalism and used a language of new forms, with curved surfaces, exploring the plastic possibilities of reinforced concrete. In 1947, he was invited by the United Nations (UN) to take part in the commission of architects responsible for defining the plans for its future headquarters in New York. His project, associated with that of Le Corbusier, was chosen as the basis for the definitive plan. In Rio de Janeiro, in 1955, he founded Módulo magazine and the following year, at the invitation of the President of the Republic, Juscelino Kubitschek, he began collaborating on the construction of Brazil's new capital, Brasília, whose urban plan was entrusted to Lucio Costa. In 1958, he was appointed chief architect of Brasilia, where he moved and remained until 1960.

Niemeyer was appointed coordinator of the School of Architecture at the University of Brasilia (UnB) in 1962, resigning three years later along with 200 other professors in protest at the university policy introduced by the military government. A member of the Brazilian Communist Party since 1945, the architect was prevented from working in Brazil and, in 1967, moved to Paris, where he designed the headquarters of the French Communist Party.

During his exile, Niemeyer carried out international projects such as the headquarters of the Mondadori publishing house in Italy and the University of Constantine in Algeria. His office was located on the Champs Elysées in Paris. He returned to Brazil at the beginning of the 1980s, with the end of the dictatorship.

In addition to his architectural projects, Niemeyer dedicated himself to making prints and sculptures, such as the Monument to President Juscelino Kubitschek (JK) in Brasilia and the one by hand at the Latin American Memorial in São Paulo. He edited magazines such as Módulo and wrote 12 books, such as "A forma na Arquitetura" and "As curvas do tempo - memórias"."