64 Quotes by Oscar Niemeyer

Architecture is my work, and I've spent my whole life at a drawing board, but life is more important than architecture. What matters is to improve human beings.

I pick up my pen. It flows. A building appears. There it is. There is nothing more to say.

There is no reason to design buildings that are more basic and rectilinear, because with concrete you can cover almost any space.

Sometimes I lose a whole morning waiting on journalists and other people who look for me. But I always find some time for reading, talking to my friends and feeling what is happening in this world.

I think of myself as no more than 60. What I could do at 60, I can still do now.

I enter my studio at 9 a.m. I have lunch here, I return right away to my work and I go out to dinner at 8 p.m. My daily tasks vary very much.

In architecture it isn't enough to just have the right building that works well. It can also be beautiful. It can also be different. It can create surprise. And surprise is the main thing in a work of art. [] I like and respect Brasí­lia very much. It is a simple city, a rational one. I always defend the urban design of Brasí­lia

A church is something very beautiful. It is nice when people feel happy in it. But I am not a religious man. Look at us, and then at the infinity of space. We are rather small insignificant creatures, wouldn’t you say?

Architecture does not change anything. It's always on the side of the wealthy. The important thing is to believe that it can make life better.