Oscar Niemeyer’s Itamaraty Palace is a Masterpiece of Modern Architecture in a City He Helped Plan

Intamaraty Palace. Brasilia, Brazil.

Famed Brazilian architect, Oscar Niemeyer, designed the Intamaraty Palace, and is considered one the greatest modern architects of the 20th century. The Intamaraty Palace is also known as the Palace of the Arches and houses Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is situated in Three Powers Plaza,in the nation’s capital, Brasilia. Niemeyer collaborated with structural engineer Joaquim Cardozo, urban planner Lucio Costa and landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx to design the capital, inaugurated in 1956. Brasilia is the only major city created in the 20th century to be awarded UNESCO status of “Historical and Cultural Heritage of Humanity”. The city is also a designated UNESCO “City of Design” and part of UNESCO’s “Creative Cities Network”. Niemeyer was principal architect for the city, known for its modern architecture. The Intamaraty Palace was inaugurated on 21 April 1970. The rectangular building is wrapped in a pool of water, whichincludes the sculpture, “Meteoro” by Bruno Giorgi, symbolizing the union between the 5 continents. A colonnade of arches of reinforced concrete with exposed framework lines the building’s façade and the building appears to be floating on the surface of the water. The concrete arches span 30 meters. The building’s interiors were designed by Milton Ramos and accentuate the interior hall, unobstructed and free of columns and its monumental, sculptured staircase. The building houses artwork by Brazilian, and naturalized Brazilian, artists and depict Brazil in previous centuries. The interiors also feature marble walls by Brazilian artist, Athos Bulcao. Famed Brazilian landscape architect, Roberto Burle Marx, designed interior and exterior landscapes. Architectural photographer stated his photos of the building highlight “the many complexities of this project, from the elaborate and expansive spaces to the concrete textures and his collaborations with artists Athos Bulcao and Burle Marx.” Its been noted that the building has been so successful its required no major structural changes, due to Niemeyer’s partnership with structural engineer Joaquim Cardozo. The building is constructed out of materials sourced in Brazil in part due to its role in welcoming foreign visitors to the nation’s capital. Niemeyer was known for his explorations of the aesthetic qualities of concrete as well as for his abstract forms and curves. In his memoirs Niemeyer wrote, “I am not attracted to straight angles or to the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. I am attracted to free-flowing sensual curves. The curves that I find in the mountains of my country, in the sinuousness of its rivers, in the waves of the ocean, and on the body of the beloved woman. Curves make up the entire universe, the curved Universe of Einstein.” He also described his design process to ArchDaily in an interview before his death in 2012. He stated, “[I’m] always searching for beautiful, expressive, different and surprising solutions.” The Intamaraty Palace is a spectacular welcome to Brazil’s foreign guests with its Brazilian tropical plants, interior gardens, Brazilian works of art, sculptural staircase, impressive central hallway and its striking façade, a row of arches reflecting in the water. Of such symmetry, Niemeyer explained, it was created to show that. “it is easy to please everyone with a correct and generous solution, yet simple, offering greater understanding and sensitivity its like a moment of pause and reflection to make the freer architecture that I prefer better understood.”