Oscar Niemeyer, Lagoa, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 1940
OfHouses presents “Pritzkers’ First Houses, part IV”: The first house bulit by Oscar Niemeyer (Pritzker 1988) was the residence of his friend João Cavalcanti. The two would practically become neighbors, after Niemeyer would move into his own Casa Amarela (1942) in Lagoa. The Cavalcanti Residence was internationally praised at the time, being published in ‘The Architectural Review’ and also included in the seminal ‘Brazil Builds’ exhibition organized by MoMA in 1943. Later, it was completely forgotten. The house was ‘silently’ demolished sometime between 2007-2008, without anyone noticing or taking stands… (Photos: G.E. Kidder Smith, Alan Weintraub. Source: Philip L. Goodwin, ‘Brazil Builds’ (New York: MoMA, 1943), pp 162-65.)
