Daily sketches #9-15: Niemeyer in B&W

A little more Niemeyer, a little more catching up! Keeping it in São Paulo this time, and staying at the Latin America memorial from the last post, there’s the Simón Bolívar auditorium with #9. A great looking building, with its minimal concrete shells, that unfortunately was in a huge fire late last year. Following that are a few more of Oscar’s projects in the Ibirapuera park, with Oca (#10), the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo pavillion (#11 and #12), the Palácio da Agricultura / old DETRAN building next to the park with its recently renovated (#13) and old façade (#14) and finally the Afro Brasil museum (#15).

#9 Simón Bolívar Auditorium, 1989 (originally designed in the 1950s), by Oscar Niemeyer in São Paulo, Brazil

#10 Lucas Nogueira Garcez Pavilion (Oca), 1954, by Oscar Niemeyer in São Paulo, Brazil

#11 Fundação Bienal de São Paulo Pavillion (exterior), 1957, by Oscar Niemeyer in São Paulo, Brazil

#12 Fundação Bienal de São Paulo Pavillion, central staircase, 1957, by Oscar Niemeyer in São Paulo, Brazil

#15 Manoel da Nóbrega Pavilion (now Afro Brasil museum), 1954, by Oscar Niemeyer in São Paulo, Brazil

#13 & 14 Palácio da Agricultura (former home of DETRAN, now the modern art museum for USP), renovated façade (left, 2012) and original (right, 1955), by Oscar Niemeyer in São Paulo, Brazil

The sketches were done at different speeds and I rather like some of them, as well as experimenting with B&W shading and lineweights. The Palácio da Agricultura is my favourite of the batch, but since it also took the longest… well, with some luck I’ll get to do some more of the more detailed stuff when I’ve fully caught up.