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| Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect, dies at 104 | Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect, dies at 104 |
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| Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who designed some of the 20th Century's most famous modernist buildings, has died just before his 105th birthday. | Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who designed some of the 20th Century's most famous modernist buildings, has died just before his 105th birthday. |
| He rose to international fame as the architect of the main government buildings in the futuristic Brazilian capital, Brasilia, inaugurated in 1960. | He rose to international fame as the architect of the main government buildings in the futuristic Brazilian capital, Brasilia, inaugurated in 1960. |
| He also worked with Swiss-born modernist architect Le Corbusier on the UN building in New York. | He also worked with Swiss-born modernist architect Le Corbusier on the UN building in New York. |
| He continued to work on new projects until earlier this year. | He continued to work on new projects until earlier this year. |
| He died on Wednesday at a hospital in Rio de Janeiro. | He died on Wednesday at a hospital in Rio de Janeiro. |
| Inspirational women's curves | Inspirational women's curves |
| Oscar Niemeyer started his career in the 1930s, when Brazil was still copying neoclassical European architecture and designing ornate palace-like buildings. | |
| His bold futuristic designs in Brasilia made the new capital a dramatic statement of confidence in the future of Brazil, and an icon of modern architecture. | His bold futuristic designs in Brasilia made the new capital a dramatic statement of confidence in the future of Brazil, and an icon of modern architecture. |
| A student of Le Corbusier, he developed a distinctive style defined by stark concrete and sweeping curves. | |
| He famously once said the stylized swoops in his buildings were inspired by the curves of Brazilian women. | He famously once said the stylized swoops in his buildings were inspired by the curves of Brazilian women. |
| "When you have a large space to conquer, the curve is the natural solution," he said. | |
| "I once wrote a poem about the curve. The curve 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." | |
| A firm communist - and a personal friend of Cuban leader Fidel Castro - Niemeyer fled the country during Brazil's military dictatorship and forged an international career while in exile in France. | |
| In 1988, he was awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize. | |
| His style was not to everyone's taste, and for a communist some people say his work was not very people-friendly - focusing more on the architecture's form than on its inhabitants or functionality. | |
| Niemeyer went on to create more than 600 buildings around the world. His legacy endures in museums, monuments, schools and churches in Brazil and beyond. | |
| Many of the designs were initially sketched on a table overlooking his beloved Rio de Janeiro and its famous Copacabana beach, replete with the women, waves and hills from which he drew such inspiration. |