XVII Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association

Power References: Oscar Niemeyer and Robert Moses (1938-1961)

• In Event: Circulation of ideas between Brazil and elsewhere

Abstract

Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012) went twice to the United States of America during his career, to participate in highlighted initiatives in New York. In 1938, he spent six months in the city to design the Brazilian Pavilion for the World’s Fair, and in 1947 he integrated the international team for the project for the U.N. Headquarters. These events were of interest for the Public Services Agencies of the city, under the direct authority of architect and urban planner Robert Moses (1888-1981). Moses was one of the main promoters of the World’s Fair, for the development of the area in Flushing Meadows, and was an active interested party during the U.N. design. Moreover, Moses was a powerful architect with active voice in most public processes in New York during the two occasions Oscar Niemeyer visited the United States. Years later, Niemeyer would direct the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture for the Company for the creation of Brasília (NOVACAP), in which he had unprecedent control of the buildings and urban works in a city made from scratch in the Mid-West Brazil. Niemeyer had only seen a similar degree of authority in Moses centralized city planning of New York, being a power reference. On relying in documents gathered in archives of New York and Brasília, this paper seeks to compare how Moses actions in New York in 1938 and 1947 relate with Niemeyer’s executive control on the new capital of Brazil.

Author

• Rafael Frajndlich, Unicamp