A few Oscar Niemeyer buildings in Belo Horizonte

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Oscar has been a busy boy during is 102 years on earth so far.  He's very famous outside Brazil for his work at Brasília, but BH has had his attention quite a few times.

My favourite of the few I've seen in the flesh is Edifício Niemeyer.  The stunning sinuous curves supposedly reference the mountainous terrain of Minas Gerais state - it's just a beautiful modernist building (is that an oxymoron?).

Edifício Niemeyer (1955), Praça da Liberdade, Belo Horizonte

The Igreja São Francisco de Assis (Church of St Francis of Assisi) was so disquieting to the establishment when constructed in 1943 that the Catholic Archdiocese of BH initially refused to consecrate it as a church!  Now of course it's one of the city's main tourist attractions, and an operating church.

Igreja São Francisco de Assis (1943)

In contrast to the last two, his public library building, Biblioteca Pública Estadual Luiz de Bessa, on the other side of Praça da Liberdade from the Edifício Niemeyer, blends in to its surroundings somewhat.

Biblioteca Pública Estadual Luiz de Bessa (1954)