An aesthetic evaluation of Oscar Niemeyer's projects

Abstract

This study aims at the individual assessment and identification of preferences and justifications in relation to six projects by Oscar Niemeyer, awarded the Pritzker Prize for Architecture in 1988, by people with different levels and types of college education. Data were collected through a questionnaire answered by 65 architects, 134 non-architects college graduates and 21 non-college graduates, through the LimeSurvey program available via internet, after contact via email including an invitation letter with explanations about the research and the access and the use of the program. For data analysis, the non-parametric Kendall's W and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests were used in the PASW Statistics program. The results show, for example, the relevance of ideas of order and visual stimulus and, therefore, of formal aesthetics. The differences between the preferences by the three groups are justified by the greater valorization of the existence of order by architects and the greater appreciation of the visual stimulus  especially by non-college graduates. This study makes contributions to the aesthetics of buildings, specifically, to reinforce the importance of formal aesthetics, the presence of ideas of order and visual stimulation in building projects.