64 Quotes by Oscar Niemeyer

I am a Brazilian before I am an architect. I cannot separate the two.

The artistic capability of reinforced concrete is so fantastic - that is the way to go.

I search for surprise in my architecture. A work of art should cause the emotion of newness.

It is not with architecture that one can disseminate any political ideology.

When students leave college, they are like children who know nothing about the problems of life, and don't have a political stance.

It was the drawing that led me to architecture, the search for light and astonishing forms.

Architecture will always express the technical and social progress of the country in which it is carried out. If we wish to give it the human content that it lacks, we must participate in the political struggle.

Of course, I have given my engineers some headaches over the years, but they go with me. I have always wanted my buildings to be as light as possible, to touch the ground gently, to swoop and soar, and to surprise.

The challenge of a cathedral is very good for architectural inventiveness.