I had some good opportunities. I was lucky to have had the chance to do things differently. Architecture is about surprise.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Niemeyer reflects on the luck involved in having opportunities to innovate. He defines architecture as an art of creating surprise.
- In plain terms
- Good chances let me try new things, and buildings should surprise people.
- What can you take from it?
- Embrace chance and design for unexpected moments.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How much of success is luck?
- Where do you find surprise?
Another view
Luck is not something you can plan or control.
More from Oscar Niemeyer
It is not the right angle that attracts me, nor the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. What attracts me is the free and sensual curve - the cu…
Permalink to quote #7 My ambition has always been to reduce a building's support to a minimum. The more we diminish supporting structures, the more audacious and important the archi…
Permalink to quote #9 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 import…
Permalink to quote #6
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