FATA Headquarters [1975]

Designed for Italy’s Fabbrica Automazione Trasporti e Affini, Oscar Niemeyer’s building deploys ambitious cantilevers to offset the weightiness of the concrete and the rigidity of its columned grid . Though not one of his most well known, Niemeyer’s work for FATA embodies his forward-thinking Modernism, with slabs that slide into arches to define openings, an acute devotion to structural rationalisation with a ground connection restricted to three points and a clear diagram that projects mechanised strength as necessary for the company within.