Oscar Niemeyer, the best known Brazilian architect, would have been 105 on December 15, 2012. He didn’t make it, dying on Dec 5th. It’s about the only deadline he didn’t meet. I have personally sought out most of his buildings in Rio, Brasília and elsewhere, and have been mightily impressed by his vision and style. […]
What do you call someone from..
We all know Londoner, Parisian and New Yorker. But what are the names for the citizens of other cities and states? Or, as we call them, demonyms? Easy to make up one by adding -er or -ian (or -ois in French) to the name. But I’ve been long interested in the more obscure appellations and […]
The Brazilian flag
The Brazilian flag has featured a lot in London recently, what with the Olympics, the Paralympics and the choice of Rio as the seat of the Football (or Soccer) World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. So much of the international bunting I’ve seen has got it wrong and many have asked me […]