I really like his buildings, despite the fact that his politics sometimes scare me (seriously, he's designing a monument to hugo chavez? or is my spanish just rusty?).

That new theatre of his is quite stunning. I know it sounds sexist/chauvanistic, but the female form is a great starting ground for design.

Your Spanish isn't rusty. He is planning creating a monument to the Chavmeister. Although Chavez claims to be democratic socialist, Oscar still has a strong affinity for him.

Oscar has stood strong with his communist ideals his whole life. He has lost many, many high profile commissions because he wouldn't rebuke communism. In fact Fidel Castro once said: "Niemeyer and I are the last Communists of this planet."

n_ This new building is located near the Contemporay Museum of Art in Nietro, across the bridge from Rio. It does have a very similar look at the Museum, which I have visited twice in the last three years.
We will go and visit his new Architectural Woman on our next trip, hopefully catch a play or performance there.

I know at the top of sugar loaf there is a wonderful piece of sculpture
of the form of a woman with a wonderful poetic verse about the Women of Brazil. They do have a distinctness about themselves, a
pride which has certainly carried over the American and Euopean model runways.

There is a video somewhere where he talks at length about the form of women....and how it has always been and inspriration to his work.

Some ideas just die hard i guess.

is there really something wrong with being communist or is it the manifestations and projected versions we see/read about in non-communist media/literature?

i'm more frightened about their honeymoon...

does anyone here know anything about neimeyer's office? i'm planning a trip to brazil this year and would love a chance to see the office of one of the last great modern masters.

i, personally, feel there in nothing seriously wrong with being a communist. of course, it has its pros and cons but that can be said about any political entity.

i naively hope that anyone who passionately declares themselves to be part of a politcal party (whether it be communist, socialist, democrat, republican, etc) be well-informed, open-minded, and knowledgeable about their party's stance on matters. no one likes an ignorant preacher.

Nice article about Niemeyer in this week-ends FT:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/db740a7a-e897-11db-b2c3-000b5df10621.html

Ummmm....his Bolivar monument, in Caracas, will be shaped like a lance pointing at the US.

Did anyone else notice that in the article above?

I would probably BE a communist if it weren't for that tricky second stage (the transfer of all wealth to the "proletariat dicatorship"). Ain't nothing wrong with communism or communists, it's always the assholes who betray the revolution and turn things into autocracy. I don't like socialism, because i don't trust governments or corporations or anything else that concentrates power.

Great, he hates Bush too, welcome to the club O.N! Love your work!

I wear communist-style clothes all the time. Maybe I should convert.

Vie la revolucion!!

some of the my favorite works of architecture were completed by so-called "communists" or "socialists"

i've heard convincing arguments one of the reason the quality of projects in europe is due to it's heavily social-leaning goverments.