OSCAR NIEMEYER

WALTER GROPIUS

MODERNISM, Corbusian

“I’m not attracted to hard right angles and inflexible straight lines. My attraction is to curves, the curves of my country’s mountains, of her rivers and of the bodies of her women. The universe is made of curves.”

“Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life, necessary for everyone in a civilized society.”

Oscar Niemeyer HouseCanoas, Barra de Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Brazilian Pavilion New York World Fair

Cathedral of BrasiliaBrasilia, Brazil

Expressionist Modernism structural

MONUMENTAL Modernism, Irregular Expressionist Modernism sculptural,

MONUMENTAL, UFOExpressionist Modernism sculptural, EYE

Oscar Niemeyer Museum Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

Niterói Contemporary Art MuseumNiteroi, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

BUILT IN LINCOLN, MASSACHUSETTS IN 1938 THE GROPIUS HOUSE WAS DESIGNED FOR WALTER GROPIUS

AND HIS FAMILY WHEN THEY MOVED TO AMERICA FROM EUROPE. THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GROPIUS

HOUSE IMPACTED AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE DRAMATICALLY AND WAS ONE OF THE FIRST EXAMPLES OF

‘INTERNATIONAL STYLE’

1939

1959193819251913 1922

BUILT IN CANOAS, RIO DE JANERIO, BRAZIL IN 1953. OSCAR NIEMEYER’S HOUSE WAS DESIGNED FOR OSCAR NIEMEYER

AND HIS FAMILY , WHICH WAS LATER USED AS HEADQUATERS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY IN BRAZIL. IT IS CONSIDERED TO BE ONE

OF THE FIRST EXAMPLES OF “FREEFORM” MODERN ARCHITECTURE

Fagus Factory

Alfad, Germany

Chicago Tribune Competition BauhousDessau, Germany

Gropius HouseLincoln MASSACHUSETTS

Embassy of the US in Athens

WALTER GROPIUSGROPIUS HOUSE

LINCOLN, MASSACHUSETTS 1938

OSCAR NIEMEYERNIEMEYER HOUSE

RIBBON WINDOWS

EXTRUDED CANOPY

ALONG ANGLED PATH

GLASS BLOCK ALONG ENTRY

THE RIBBON WINDOWS ALONG THE SECOND FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IS AN ELEMENT IN RESPECT TO CORBUSIER’S

FIVE POINTS OF ARCHITECTURE.

THE EXTRUDED CANOPY COVERING THE ANGLED PATHWAY SIGNIFIES A DIRECT ROUTE INTO THE HOUSE AND REPRESENTS A

SENSE OF OPENNESS AND WELCOMING, ALLOWING A FILTERING EFFECT TO OCCUR FROM THE STREET INTO THE HOUSE.

THE GLASS BLOCK ALONG THE ENTRY IS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW GROPIUS WANTED TO UNITE TRADITIONAL NEW

ENGLAND MATERIALS WITH MORE MODERN AND TECHNOLOGICALLY DRIVEN ASPECTS.

DRIVING COMPONENTS

Roof Curveature to allow Nature

to penetrate into the spaces

Interior

Boulder acts as a Joint connecteing the

exterior and interior. Inside the boulder

begins to become part of the space-

becoming a stair

r

The pool of water begins to shape

circulation into the house

OSCAR NIEMEYER USES THE SITE CONTEXT TO DRAW THE IRREGULAR SHAPE. HOUSE IS MADE UP OF THREE BASIC ELEMENTST: THE CONCRETE ROOF OVER

THE TERRAIN SLOPE, THE BOULDER AND SWIMMING POOL. THE CURVY SHAPE OF THE ROOF SLAB MATCHES THE THE CURVY SHAPES OF THE ROOF SLAB

MATCH THE SHAPES OF THE HILL AND THE ORGANIC VEGETATION THAT SURROUNDS THE HOUSE. NIEMEYER USES THE BOULDER ON SITE AND INCORPO-

RATES IT INTO THE HOUSE, “: THE ROCK, LIFT INITS NATURAL FORM AND SIZE, FUNCTIONS ALMOST LIKE A JOINT, SOFTLY PENETRATING THE HOUSE” . THE

THIRD ELEMENT, THE POOL ORGANIZES THE EXTERIOR SPACE, DIRECTING THE CIRCULATION INTO THE ENTRY. THE THREE ELEMENTS ARE HEAVLY INFLU-

ENCED BY THE EXISTING SITE CONDITIONS. OSCAR NIEMEYER USED “NATURE AS HIS INTERIOR DECORATOR”.

“My priority was design the residence with total freedom, adapting it to

the land topography, without change it, making the house in curves, in a

way that the vegetation can penetrate in it, without the ostensive break-

down of the straight line.”

OSCAR NIEMEYER USES THE SITE TYPOGRAPHY, TO LAYOUT

HIS INTERIOR SPACES.THE PRIVATE SPACES ARE LOCATED IN

THE LOWER LEVEL, AND PUBLIC ON THE UPPER LEVEL.OSCAR

KEEPS THE UPPER LEVEL OPEN AND TRANSPARENT. ALLOW-

ING THE LIVING ROOM SPACES TO FLOW INTO THE

SURROUNDING LANDSCAPE.

OSCAR CREATES A CEREMONIAL ENTRY, MAKING THE USER

LEAVE THE CAR PARKED DOWN THE SLOPE AND FORCING

THEM TO EXPIERENCE THE NATURAL SURROUNDINGS OF THE

AREA. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT NIEMEYER WANTED THE

VISITORS TO LEAVE THE WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY AND ENTER

INTO THE REALM WHERE ARCHITECTURE MEETS NATURE.

Public

Private

WALTER GROPIUSGROPIUS HOUSE

LINCOLN, MASSACHUSETTS 1938

OSCAR NIEMEYERNIEMEYER HOUSE

LINCOLN, MASSACHUSETTS 1938

FORM

INTERIOR ORGANIZATION

UNLIKE THE GROPIUS HOUSE, WHICH PLACED PRIVATE ROOMS ON THE HIGHER LEVEL,

PRIVATE FACILITIES FOR THE NIEMEYER HOUSE IS LOCATED BELOW LEVEL.

BOTH PROJECT SHARE THE IDEA OF PLACING PUBLIC ROOMS ON GROUND LEVEL.

THE SHARP ENTRY INTO THE GROPIUS HOUSE IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM

THAT OF THE “HIDDEN” ENTRY WAY OF THE NIEMEYER HOUSE.

THE ANGLED AND ROUGH LINED CANOPY SIGNIFIES A STRONG AND

DIRECT ROUTE INTO THE BUILDING.

THIS ANGLED CANOPY CONTRASTS THAT OF THE REST OF THE HOUSE

WHICH CONSISTS OF MOSTLY RIGHT ANGLES.

THE FORM OF THE GROPIUS HOUSE IS VERY LINEAR. FROM LOOKING AT THE BUILDING PLAN

IT APPEARS AS IF THE OVERALL SHAPE OF THE BUILDING IS COMPRISED OF THREE

RECTALINEAR FORMS WITH THE ANGLED CANOPY PROTRUDING THOUGH FROM THE

SIDE OF THE BUILDING. THIS EXTREME ANGLE SIGNIFIES THE ENTRY INTO THE BUILDING,

WELCOMING VISITORS FROM THE NEARBY ROAD.

SITE

TYPOLOGY

THE HOUSE IS SITUATED ON A FLAT SITE WITH VERY MINIMAL

CHANGE IN ELEVATION. THE HOUSE IS ISOLATED WITHIN A CONGESTED FOREST,

WITH THE NEAREST HOUSE LOCATED OVER 100 FEET AWAY

1

2

3

PARKINGENTRY &

CIRCULATION

PRIVATE FACILITIES

PUBLIC

PRIVATE FACILITIES

PUBLIC

MATERIALITY & STRUCTURE

CONCRETE

OSCAR NIEMEYERNIEMEYER HOUSE

LINCOLN, MASSACHUSETTS 1938

GLASS

WALTER GROPIUSGROPIUS HOUSE

CLAPBOARDMOSTLY USED TO ENCLOSE THE STRUCTURE OF FARMHOUSES

BRICK

THE LOCATION OF THE SITE HIGHLY INFLUENCED THE STYLE OF THE GROPIUS HOUSE. IN ORDER TO KEEP

RESPECT TO THE NEW ENGLAND FARMHOUSE AESTHETIC AND VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE,

WALTER GROPIUS AND HIS FAMILY TRAVELLED AROUND THE NEW ENGLAND AREA

IN SEARCH FOR INSPIRATION AND GUIDANCE. THE EXPLORATION LED TO THE HOME’S FINAL DESIGN

WHICH COMBINED TRADTIONAL NEW ENGLAND ELEMENTS SUCH AS CLAPBOARD, BRICK AND

FIELDSTONE WITH MODERNISTIC TECHNOLOGIES THAT GROPIUS WAS ACCUSTOMED TO BACK IN EUROPE.

ALTHOUGH GROPIUS’ MAIN CONCERN AND GOAL WAS TO NOT OBSTRUCT THE NEW ENGLAND VERNACULAR STYLE,

HE IMPOSED THE FARMHOUSE ARCHITECTURE WITH INNOVATIVE MATERIALS RARELY USED FOR

DOMESTIC TYPOLOGIES AT THAT TIME, SUCH AS GLASS BLOCK, ACOUSTICAL PLASTER, CHROME BANISTERS

AND USED THE LATEST TECHNOLOGIES IN FIXTURES. ALONG WITH THESE MATERIAL ADDITIVES,

GROPIUS ALSO PAITED THE HOUSE WITH A STARK WHITE. WHICH WHEN COMBINED

WITH THE TINTED RIBBON WINDOWS AND THE GLASS BLOCK WOULD GIVE A SLIGHTLY CORBUSIAN FEEL.

THE SITE PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE DESIGN OF THE HOUSE. BUT UNLIKE WALTER

GROPUIS HE DOES NOT DESIRE TO INCORPARTE BRAZILS VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE.

INSTEAD HIS DESIGN BEGINS TO MIMC THE EXISTING LAND TOPOGRAPY, DESIGNING THE RESI-

DENCE WITH COMPLETE FREEDOM. OSCAR’S INSPIRATION WAS THE NATURAL ELEMENTS OF THE

SITE, USING THE BOULDER, AND LAND TOPAGRAPHY, AND VIEWS.

OSCAR DECIDES TO PRESERVE THE VIEWS BY ENSURING ALMOST TOTAL VISUAL CONTINUITY THROUGH

THE INTERIOR - DEMANDING LARGE AREAS OF GLASS SHADED BY AN OVERHANG ROOF TO ENSURE TRANS-

PARENCY AND MINIMAL INTERNAL DIVISION. NIEMEYER USES MODERN TECHNOLOGY TO ACHIEVE THE

FEELING OF LIGHTNESS AND TRANSPARENCY.

WORKS CITED

Schariach, Cecilia. Oscar Niemeyer: A Legend of Modernism. Berlin: Birkauser, 2003. Print.

Bradbury, Dominic. The Iconic House: Architectural Masterworks since 1900. London: Thames & Hudson, 2009. Print.

"Walter Gropius House." People enjoying buildings worldwide. Galinsky, 2004. Web. 25 Apr 2012.

<http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/gropiushouse/index.htm>.

"Gropius House." Historic New England. Historic New England, 07/04/2012. Web. 20 Apr 2012.

<http://www.historicnewengland.org/historic-properties/homes/Gropius House/gropius-house>.

Andreas, Paul, Ingeborg Flagge, and Oscar Niemeyer. Oscar Niemeyer: Eine Legende Der Moderne = a

Legend of Modernism. Frankfurt: Deutsches Architektur Museum, 2003. Print.

Hess, Alan, and Alan Weintraub. Oscar Niemeyer Houses. New York: Rizzoli, 2006. Print.

Lejeune, Jean-François. Cruelty & Utopia: Cities and Landscapes of Latin America. New York: Princeton Archi-

tectural, 2005. Print.

Weston, Richard. Plans, Sections and Elevations: Key Buildings of the Twentieth Century. London: Lau-

rence King Pub., 2004. Print.