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Quote by Oscar Niemeyer

“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.”

Quote by Oscar Niemeyer

Author

Oscar Niemeyer was a Brazilian architect known for his modernist style and unique architectural forms. Born on December 15, 1907, and passing away on December 5, 2012, Niemeyer's works are scattered across the globe. His most iconic buildings include the government buildings in Brasília and the São Paulo Cathedral. more

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“Camus says in 'The Stranger' that reason is the enemy of imagination. Sometimes you have to put reason aside and make something beautiful.”

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“I had some good opportunities. I was lucky to have had the chance to do things differently. Architecture is about surprise.”

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“We hated Bauhaus. It was a bad time in architecture. They just didn’t have any talent. All they had were rules. Even for knives and forks they created rules. Picasso would never have accepted rules. The house is like a machine? No! The mechanical is ugly. The rule is the worst thing. You just want to break it.”

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“Architecture was my way of expressing my ideals: to be simple, to create a world equal to everyone, to look at people with optimism, that everyone has a gift. I don’t want anything but general happiness. Why is that bad?”

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“We need to feel that life is important; we need that fantasy so we can live a little better.”

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“We have to have dreams, even if they never come true.”

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“It is not the right angle that attracts me, nor the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. What attracts me is the free and sensual curve - the curve that I find in the mountains of my country, in the sinuous course of its rivers, in the body of the beloved woman.”

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“Turning 102 is crap, and there is nothing to commemorate.”

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“Life is very fleeting. It’s important to be gentle and optimistic. We look behind and think what we’ve done in this life has been good. It was simple; it was modest. Everyone creates their own story and moves on. That’s it. I don’t feel particularly important. What we create is not important. We’re very insignificant.”

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“I went to see a shaman. He put his hands on me, and I cried like a baby for an hour.”

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