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Architecture was my way of expressing my ideals: to be simple, to create a world equal to everyone, to look at people with optimism, that everyone has a gift. I don’t want anything but general happiness. Why is that bad?

— Oscar Niemeyer

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More quotes by Oscar Niemeyer

My work is not about "form follows function," but "form follows beauty" or, even better, "form follows feminine."

Here, then, is what I wanted to tell you of my architecture. I created it with courage and idealism, but also with an awareness of the fact that what is important is life, friends and attempting to make this unjust world a better place in which to live.

The Curves of Time: The Memoirs of Oscar Niemeyer (2000)

My ambition has always been to reduce a building’s support to a minimum. The more we diminish supporting structures, the more audacious and important the architecture is. That has been my life’s work.

It's funny, the power of beauty, to make us forget such injustice. É estranho o poder da beleza, que nos faz esquecer tanta injustiça.

I had some good opportunities. I was lucky to have had the chance to do things differently. Architecture is about surprise.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Oscar Niemeyer (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.