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I search for surprise in my architecture. A work of art should cause the emotion of newness.
Oscar Niemeyer
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Architecture should evoke a sense of wonder and freshness.

In this quote, Oscar Niemeyer emphasizes the importance of surprise and innovation in architecture. He believes that a successful work of art must evoke emotions and challenge perceptions, allowing viewers to experience something novel and refreshing.

Themes

ArchitectureArtSurpriseEmotionNewness

In practice

Example use cases

During a keynote speech at an architecture conference, one might use this quote to inspire attendees to seek innovation.

More from Oscar Niemeyer

Life is more important than architecture.
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I deliberately disregarded the right angle and rationalist architecture designed with ruler and square to boldly enter the world of curves and straight lines offered by reinforced concrete... This deliberate protest arose from the environment in which I lived, with its white beaches, its huge mountains, its old baroque churches, and the beautiful suntanned women.
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We need to feel that life is important; we need that fantasy so we can live a little better.
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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.
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When you have a large space to conquer, the curve is the natural solution.
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I was attracted by the curve β€” the liberated, sensual curve suggested by the possibilities of new technology yet so often recalled in venerable old baroque churches.
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Quote by Oscar Niemeyer | QuoteProject