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Niemeyer was considered one of the patriachs of Brazilian modernist architecture. He'd been hospitalized since early November suffering from kidney failure. This is an aerial view taken on April 30, 2009 of the famous Museum of Contemporary Art in Niteroi, near Rio de Janeiro, designed by Niemeyer. VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images
Popularly known as "el Niemeyer" in Spanish, the Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre in Aviles, Spain, was inaugurated in 2011. Niemeyer is said to have called this work his "most important and beloved outside Brazil." Luis Davilla/Cover/Getty Images
The cornerstone of Niemeyer's Cathedral of Brasilia was laid in 1958. This hyperboloid structure consists of 16 concrete pillars, each weighing 90 tons, and covers a circular area that is 70 feet in diameter. This photo was taken in the 1960s, but the building was finally inaugurated in 1970. Archive Photos/Getty Images
Colored glass panes stretch between the cathedral's pillars and let natural light into the building during the day.
Night view of the columns of the Federal Supreme Court in Brasilia taken on 11 December 2007, designed by Niemeyer and inaugurated in 1960. EVARISTO SA/AFP/Getty Images
Niemeyer is kissed by great-great grandson Ivan during his 104th birthday celebration on December 15, 2011 in Rio de Janeiro. ANTONIO SCORZA/AFP/Getty Images
View of the Planalto Palace in Brasilia. EVARISTO SA/AFP/Getty Images
The Amalfi coast and the mountains are reflected in Ravello's Auditorium Oscar Niemeyer the day of its official inauguration on January 29, 2009. After ten years of controversy, the auditorium opened in the southern Italian town of Ravello on the Amalfi coast. ROBERTO SALOMONE/AFP/Getty Images
Brazilian football legend Edson Arntes do Nascimento, known as Pele, kisses Niemeyer's hand on November 4, 2010, in Rio de Janeiro during a press conference. Niemeyer was in charge of the design for a Football Museum in Santos. JULIO CESAR/AFP/Getty Images
The National Museum of the Republic in Brasilia was inaugurated in 2006, on Niemeyer's 99th birthday. The museum, which is also known as National Museum Honestino Guimarães, was named after a student by that name who fought for democracy and disappeared. EVARISTO SA/AFP/Getty Images
The first building of the Oscar Niemeyer Museum was designed by him in 1967. The museum, located in Curitiba, Brazil, first opened in 1978, but more than two decades later, further expansions were made and the museum was reopened in 2003. David Silverman/Getty Images
The Oscar Niemeyer Museum has about 35,000 square meters of building area and more than 17,000 square meters dedicated to exhibitions -- making it the biggest museum in Latin America. ALEXANDRE MAZZO/AFP/Getty Images
In the 1960s, Niemeyer designed the National Congress building located in Brasilia. Archive Photos/Getty Images
Cuban dancers perform in front of a 15 meter giant sculpture offered by Niemeyer. The sculpture represent a Cuban fighting against an imperialist monster. STR/AFP/Getty Images
Niemeyer designed this footbridge in Rocinha, which is located in the south of Rio de Janeiro. VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images
Circa 1955: A modern church in the grounds of the presidential palace in Brasilia designed by Oscar Niemeyer. The church is connected to the palace by an underground hallway. Kurt Severin/Three Lions/Getty Images
Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer died just days short of his 105th birthday, on December 5, 2012. Here, he's seen on the balcony of his studio in Copacabana in 2007. ANTONIO SCORZA/AFP/Getty Images