Brumadinho, a town in the state of Minas Gerais, will have two unique works by Oscar Niemeyer, a renowned Brazilian architect. In 2011, Niemeyer designed 15 porticos (columns and covered structures, for example arches, located at the entrance of buildings, cities, and temples) for the city of Niterói (Rio de Janeiro state), but none of them had ever been built. Now, two of them have finally been turned into an architectural project and will be built in Brumadinho.

The porticos will feature cultural and tourist centers with areas that pay homage to Niemeyer. Thus, it should help rekindle tourism after the January 2019 tragedy, when a mining dam collapsed, killing 272 people. Brumadinho is a popular tourist destination because of Inhotim, an open-air museum in the town.

The construction of the porticos is an initiative by Kadu Niem eyer, th e architect’s grandson and a photographer, and Jair Valera, an architect who also worked alongside Oscar for many years and designed the two porticos with him. Jair will be the technical manager of the project which features the modern curves and traits so characteristic of Niemeyer’s work.

The first portico will be built on the Fernão Dias highway, right where the access to Brumadinho is located. It will be 47 meters long, 6 meters wide, and 5,6 meters tall. The second portico will be located at the entrance of the Serra do Rola-Moça State Park. It will be 36 meters long, 6 meters wide, and 5,6 meters tall. Construction work has already started and the inauguration is expected to take place in October 2023.

Who was Oscar Niemeyer?

Born in the city of Rio de Janeiro in 1907, Oscar was responsible for works that became landmarks of modern architecture in Brazil. Some of his most wellknown works are the government buildings in Brasília (Federal District), including the Palácio do Planalto and the National Congress building. Niemeyer died in 2012.

Sources: Escritório da Arte, Estadão newspaper, Kadu Niemeyer’s Instagram profile, and Museu magazine.

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