246 Estrada-das-Canoas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

© Arquivo Público do DF

As a young man, Niemeyer worked with Le Corbusier. It is remarkable that they got along. Corbusier's architecture is all about function and technology; if he could, he would have forbidden architects to think about beauty. Niemeyer was the exact opposite. His architecture is poetic, sculptural, soft. He spoke of being inspired by the contours of the female body. Before Niemeyer, concrete was considered hard and severe. Niemeyer showed that it could be as plastic as clay. The architect's home is a manifesto of his lyrical modernism. In large projects, Niemeyer could not altogether avoid sharp angles, but he would, at least for the ground-level portion of the structures, keep the lines flexible and responsive to the contours of the statuary set about in the undergrowth.

Living room © All photos by Leonardo Finotti