São Paulo – Apart from Brazil, the country that’s home to the most works by architect Oscar Niemeyer is Algeria. Four have already been built and one is being planned. A sixth design – a mosque over the ocean – never left the paper. Photographs of his “Algerian adventure,” as he himself used to dub his legacy in the African country, are featured in Concrete Spring, showing at Casa Niemeyer, in Brasília, until December 8.
Marking the reopening of the venue, the exhibit is a tribute from the embassy of Algeria and the University of Brasília (UnB) to the architect, who passed away five years ago. It also celebrates the fact that it has been 55 years since Brazil and Algeria established diplomatic ties, and 30 years since Unesco declared Brasília a World Heritage Site. The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce is one of the sponsors of the showing, which premiered last Friday (11).
Niemeyer’s completed works in Algeria, whose pictures by British photographer Jason Oddy are featured at Casa Niemeyer, are the University of Science and Technology Houari-Boumediene, named in honor of the Algerian president who invited Niemeyer to the country, the National Polytechnic School and the sports complex La Coupole d’Alger Arena, all set in the capital Algiers, and Constantine 1 University, in Constantine – the first one to be built.
Construction for his fifth design in the country, the Arab-South American Library – one of his final creations, shortly before his death – is about to begin.
Before the Brasília showing, the exhibit had legs in the Milan Triennial; at the Tropenmuseum, in Amsterdam; and as part of an exhibit on Algeria at the MuCEM, in Marseille. According to the embassy of Algeria in Brasília, the next destinations will be Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro.
“Our ties have always been ones of deep friendship and solidarity. Algerians have a special place in their hearts for the works of Niemeyer, which best signify these special ties we sustain with Brazil,” said ambassador Toufik Dahmani.
Quick facts
Concrete Spring
Casa Niemeyer – SMPW Qd 26, Conj. 3, Casa 7, Epia Sul, Brasília-DF
Open daily from 9am to 6 pm (through December 8)
Free admission
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
