Athos Bulcao

Brasilia is a city withholding many hidden treasures. Athos Bulcao is one of these major contributor  to the creation of the city, yet his name and work are unknown by most.  This lack of fame is only paralleled by his immense legacy, with more than 80 buildings around the city integrating his ceramic artwork, reliefs and mosaics. The creative patterns he played with, their vibrant colors and their playful combination have also illuminated many of the works of Niemeyer. The French school also has a few of his work integrated into its buildings (but not from Niemeyer).
Bulcao does not believe in inspiration. For him, there is talent and hard work. "Art is cosa mentale" he says, quoting Leonardo da Vinci.
I am quoting here this interesting site:
It was Niemeyer who brought Bulcão to Brasilia, having met him as early as 1943. (...) Bulcão once likened their relationship to that between filmmaker Federico Fellini and composer Nino Rota: Bulcão worked to create graphic moments inside of Niemeyer’s volumes — which might mean designing a room divider, a bas-relief or a tile composition to cover a wall. At times Bulcão’s work calls to mind the math-play of Max Bill, or the generative iterations of Sol Lewitt. Bulcão’s orientation was not so much artistic as architectural, and the net effect is nothing short of mesmerizing.
Here is few images of his work:

Thank you Google. 
I came across the work of this important artist because of my kids and their teacher. At first I heard them pronounced this strange name (a-tos-boo-con). Then slowly, after numerous collages and drawings brought home, I came to interest myself a bit more about Bulcao's legacy. And slowly, we have started to spot Bulcao's work here and there around the city. Emmanuel is best at pointing it out.
Only today I realized that the entire primary school was in fact creating and working following Bulcao's inspiration. A group called Triade was invited to familiarized the students with the artist's work, and learn from him in various workshops and ateliers.  Interestingly, Triade received several recognitions for its contribution to the promotion of the historic heritage of the city.  Here is a little movie about how Triade is working with the students.
Today by accident we came across Niemeyer's Igrejigha - the tiny chapel with lyrical proportions - in the asas. We stopped, paused in front of the azulejos (ceramic tiles), and felt happy to live in such an interesting place.  Later, this interesting exhibition of our children's work gave us something more to be proud of.