Oscar Niemeyer (1907 - 2012)

A sad farewell to iconic Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who passed away in Rio de Janeiro yesterday just a few days before his 105th birthday, leaving a rich and unique architectural legacy in his home country and around the world.
We met with the design legend during our Born in Brazil adventure two years ago and looked with admiration at his seminal projects in Brasilia, where he masterminded landmark governmental, residential and cultural buildings, such as the Cathedral of Brasilia, the country's National Congress and the National Theatre.
His work, such as the Ravello auditorium in Italy, his prefabricated schools across Brazil, his complex at Ibirapuera Park in Sao Paulo and his Cultural Centre at Goiania - awarded Best Public Building in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2007 - was immensely influential on the global architecture scene, defined 20th century Brazilian architecture, and frequently graced the pages of wallpaper*. Niemeyer was the last of the great Modernists and he will always be cited among the last century's most important architects.
To celebrate the life and legacy of Niemeyer, Wallpaper* has produced a 28-page tribute to the architect to go with our February issue. Buy a copy of our February issue or download the iPad edition to see more
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
A new Tadao Ando monograph unveils the creative process guiding the architect's practice
New monograph ‘Tadao Ando. Sketches, Drawings, and Architecture’ by Taschen charts decades of creative work by the Japanese modernist master
-
Inside the sculptural and sensual philosophy of jewellery house Renisis
Sardwell, founder of jewellery house Renisis, draws on sculpture, travel and theatre to create pieces that fuse sensual form with spiritual resonance
-
Feldspar's furniture is designed to make you smile
Feldspar's furniture debut includes a dining table, side tables, a bench, a floor lamp and the possibility of a cheval mirror, all made in their workshop in Devon
-
A masterful house in São Paulo invites jungle vegetation, water and natural light in
A house in São Paulo by Meireles + Pavan Arquitetura, FR House, is a richly curated series of spaces designed to create worlds within worlds
-
The best of California desert architecture, from midcentury gems to mirrored dwellings
While architecture has long employed strategies to cool buildings in arid environments, California desert architecture developed its own distinct identity –giving rise, notably, to a wave of iconic midcentury designs
-
A restored Eichler home is a peerless piece of West Coast midcentury modernism
We explore an Eichler home, and Californian developer Joseph Eichler’s legacy of design, as a fine example of his progressive house-building programme hits the market
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the month
Wallpaper* has spotlighted an array of remarkable architecture in the past month – from a pink desert home to structures that appears to float above the ground. These are the houses and buildings that most captured our attention in August 2025
-
Meet Rodrigo Oliveira, landscape architect to some of Brazil’s finest buildings
We delve into Rodrigo Oliveira's naturalistic approach and explore his landscape architecture work, gracing buildings designed by some of Brazil's finest contemporary architects
-
La Maison de la Baie de l’Ours melds modernism into the shores of a Québécois lake
ACDF Architecture’s grand family retreat in Quebec offers a series of flowing living spaces and private bedrooms beneath a monumental wooden roof
-
A rammed-earth house near Brasília pairs the traditional technique with contemporary forms
Valéria Gontijo + Architects has completed Casa Taipa, pairing earthy tones and natural materials with refined design and a generous floorplan
-
This cinematic home in Palm Springs sets a new standard for Desert Modern design
Jill Lewis Architecture and landscape architecture firm Hoerr Schaudt joined forces to envision an exceptional sanctuary