Oscar Niemeyer celebrates 103rd birthday by opening museum

Niemeyer celebrated both events on Wednesay along with the opening of the main dome of his newest building, the Oscar Niemeyer cultural centre in Aviles, northern Spain.

Despite on-going health problems, the legendary modernist architect inaugurated the Oscar Niemeyer Foundation outside Rio de Janeiro, which he also designed, telling reporters he was pleased to see so many "friends" attending. The curved concrete structure contains drawings and models of his work.

Niemeyer has been responsible for 600 buildings in his 70-year career, including the UN building in New York and the whole of Brasilia, Brazil's purpose-built federal capital.

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