One of Oscar Niemeyer's final designs will be built in Germany

The Brazilian modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer may have passed away in 2012, but at least one of his late projects lives on. Sketched shortly before his death, this bonkers concrete-and-glass addition to a German crane factory will soon become a reality. Measuring nearly 40 feet in diameter, the latticed sphere will cling to a corner of the existing red brick Kirow Leipzig building, making space for a worker canteen, lounge, and bar.

The interior design was inspired by Brazilian music clubs of yesteryear—the Bossa Nova and Copacabana. It will be covered in tile and blue carpeting, and filled with comfy armchairs and digital versions of Niemeyer’s artworks.

Test segments of the addition’s complex, spherical concrete shell have already been manufactured, with project completion slated for spring of 2018.

The unlikely project came about when the crane company’s president wrote a letter to Niemeyer in 2011 asking for a design for a cafeteria addition. Three week later, the then 104-year-old architect drew five felt pen sketches of the structure. After Niemeyer’s death, Kirov’s president worked with the architect’s assistant to bring the plans to fruition.

Kirow Leipzig

Want more Niemeyer? Tour two more of his unbuilt designs this way.

Via: ArchDaily, MDR, LVZ