Niemeyer Complex in Niteroi Don't put anything here Don't put anything here Page Content Page Name (for URL) Page Title Breadcrumb Text Don't put anything here Back in June we went to Niteroi and while there decided to see the complex of buildings designed by Niemeyer, which our guide book featured prominently. I was assuming that those were built a while back, since Niemeyer was most famous things he did in 1950s and 1960s, and those buildings did look 1950s style on the pictures. Well, we learned an important lesson, or actually two. First, if you get famous for a specific architectural style in 1950s, you can well continue working in it for the next 60 years. (Seriously, compare the photos below with the photos of [Pampulha](http://www.freewisdom.org/en/belo-horizonte/entries/) built in mid 1950s. Though, while it took the catholic church 15 years to accept and consecrate the church in Pampulha, this time they _ordered_ a cathedral for themselves.) Second, when traveling in Brazil, make sure that your tour guide is not too _new_. Of the complex that was presented in the book as if it was done, only one building is ready, a few more are in the works, for one construction is about to start this year, one got sent to back for redesign, and one got canceled. Anyway, it's was an interesting site: it's not every day in 2007 that one can see 1950s architecture in the process of construction. Well, not exactly in the process of construction, since it is actually frozen now, awaiting some kind of judicial decision. And not that I am not complaining - the one building that is ready is quite nice and repeats the outline of Pão de Açúcar. (Or, perhaps, of Pampulha.) Anyway, the bottom line is that in a few years reality will hopefully catch up with the guide book, which, paradoxically, will then be quite a bit more useful. (Compare this with China, where you really must have an up-to-date guide to avoid arriving to some place looking for a restaurant and discovering that not only is the restaurant no longer there, but in fact the whole chunk of the city has been demolished.) <2~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ x3 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_067_0233 --- --- 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_070_2140 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ --- --- --- 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_071_7557 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ --- --- --- 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_088_2304 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_080_4044 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_081_1517 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_091_8463 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_093_4065 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_094_1437 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_107_0890 ~~~~~~~~~~~ 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_098_6202 x2 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_105_9767 --- 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_082_7195 ~~~~~~~~~~~ 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_092_4054 --- --- 2007-06-16-b-niteroi-niemeyer/20070616_084_4754 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> Now, for the drawings on the walls - supposedly those were done by Niemeyer himself. They are not exactly visually attractive, but I suppose they make an important point - even just someone scribbles can be a work of art. (Of course, if that someone has powerful friends. Otherwise they would be called "grafitti".) Advanced Fields Category 2002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014E. AsiaE. EuropeL's FamilyL's FriendsN. AmericaN. EuropeS. AmericaS. AsiaW. EuropeY & LY's FamilyY's Friends Prototype Redirect Permissions0 Actions Config Markup Module HTML/Meta/Keywords HTML/Meta/Description Save Hook HTML Fields Main Head Body Header Menu Logo Page Content Template Sidebar Footer Tags Allowed for XSSFilter HTTP Fields Cache-Control Expires Guru Fields Templates Translations Fields Edit UI Admin Edit UI Don't put anything here A summary of your changes Edit Summary Don't put anything here Don't put anything here save preview cancel
