Dovetailing with a Rio focus – see Eight Rio Design Golds – this article spotlights Brazil’s best-loved architect, Senhor Oscar Niemeyer. Born in 1907 in Rio de Janeiro, Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil’s most famous architect, had not at first considered architecture as his vocation. Nevertheless, there was evidently something in his psyche and Niemeyer did enjoy drawing from a young age (his mother recalled that as a baby, Oscar appeared to draw in the air with his fingers).Oscar Niemeyer (1907?2012). Photo via by Kamy.‘Oscar’ (as he is affectionately known in Rio) hailed from a wealthy, bourgeois family and in his early days felt little compulsion to work, choosing instead to enjoy a more bohemian lifestyle. As a young man, Niemeyer reportedly loved four particular things: drawing, nature, women and communism. Indeed, Niemeyer’s proclivity for curves (the female form) and natural lines are evident throughout his many works. His style of modernism was distinctly Brazilian, both whimsical and romantic.Seminal WorksWith his penchant for drawing, Niemeyer graduated in 1934 with a degree in architecture from Rio’s Escola Nacional de Belas Artes (School of Fine Arts). Before graduating, he was hired by architect Lucio Costa to work on the modernist Ministry of Education and Health Building in Rio, known also as the Palácio Gustavo Capanema. While working on this project, Niemeyer met Le Corbusier who was tasked with evalu...