Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, who used his grandfather’s surname and reinvented himself as Le Corbusier, was born on October 6, 1887 (“Le Corbusier: Biography,” 2013). He was considered as one of the pioneers of the modernist movement in architecture. He was also a designer, writer, urbanist, and painter. Le Corbusier was born in Switzerland and he changed his citizenship into French in 1930 (“Le Corbusier: Biography,” 2013). His architecture career reached fifty years and his buildings and designs were all over Europe, India, and the United States (Sharp, 2002). He initiated the study of modern high design and he was a big proponent of modern urban living.
During the 1930s, Le Corbusier altered his theories on urbanism and it was published in La Ville radieuse (The Radiant City) in 1935 (“Le Corbusier: Biography,” 2013). The Radiant City was embedded into a controversy, similar with the other projects of Le Corbusier. At the close of the 1930s and through the end of the Second World War, he kept busy with creating such visible projects as the proposed master plans for the Algiers and Buenos Aires cities. Le Corbusier also applied his political connections to build egalitarian designs but he failed (Sharp, 2002).
The hallmarks of modern designs included the exploration of new materials, a veering away from the traditional past, and the simplification of forms through less ornaments. Modernism meant the new fashion in contrast with the old ways. At the end of the seventieth century, this term was more related to the “new art” of the twentieth century (Jeremiah, 2000). Le Corbusier, together with Walter Gropius, the leader of the Bauhaus, the German school of art and architecture, became the two major spokesmen of the architectural industry. This was during the 1920’s, when modern designers and artists started to utilize new technologies and the prospect of mass production (Jeremiah, 2000).
A central theme in modern architecture is the aesthetic of the machine (Jeremiah, 2000). Le Corbusier became the most powerful influence in modern architecture with his engineering designs such as grain silos, cruise ships and automobiles. He fully developed these ideas through his book, Vers Une Architecture (“Towards a New Architecture”), which was printed in 1923 (Henyen, 2001). This was Le Corbusier’s passionate testament to modern architecture. This book remains the most popular architecture book, which engraved the author’s most famous line, “A house is a machine where people live” (Henyen, 2001). With the immigration of the major European artists to the United States, the practice of modernism became widespread. The major style of progressive artists then was the “tradition of the new.” This then became the dominant art and style form of the twentieth century (Henyen, 2001).
Le Corbusier’s proposed modern architecture aimed to fulfill the industry’s demands. Functionalism defined this generation and this abided architectural form (Sharp, 2002). This functionalism has transcended the then very much followed city planning based on economic class. However, Le Corbusier defied this trend and proposed his first city plan, the Contemporary City. This had two housing types as the main reflection of his architecture philosophy, the Maison Monol and the Maison Citrohan, which he defined as the “the machine of living” (Behrens, 2005).
Le Corbusier proposed prefabricated houses, as if he was producing an automobile’s assembly line. The Maison Citrohan showed the characteristics of modern architecture - support pillars which elevate the house above the ground, a roof terrace, an open floor plan, a Zen-like facade and horizontal windows in strips for the best, natural light (Behrens, 2005). His ideas became both the standards and perfection in architecture. His artistic philosophy likened the house to an automobile whose form was not an end in itself but rather as a means to realize its engineering service of comfort, motion and speed. This ingenuity brought the cars towards perfection and this was also achieved by Le Corbusier through his architectural works and designs which transcend old forms (Henyen, 2001).
Le Corbusier considered men to have the same needs and that a house should serve these needs universally. He was very much inspired by the Parthenon, the building of the ancient Greek whose classical architecture of columns, metopes and pediments, among others, created an ideal structure and a classic beauty (Henyen, 2001). This universal utility and form struck Le Corbusier’s works.
His first solo projects were theoretical urban plans for the modern city designs. His proposed Contemporary City aimed to house about 3 million inhabitants through an X-shaped cluster buildings of apartments to be built around a transport hub for public vehicles. He also intended a priority lane for cars, including a pedestrian. These apartments were identical housing units, from one level up. These were designed to cater to all men, without preference for their economic positions in society (Henyen, 2001).
In 1925, Le Corbusier also presented a pavilion entitled, L’Esprit Nouveau or the New Spirit. This was a Universal Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris where he showed an example of his universal living unit. His building was colored stucco white, with flat-roofed structure or reinforced concrete stilts, and ribbon windows (Behrens, 2005). His modern style was minimalist and light and airy. It had built-in case furniture, which distinguished the open spaces from the rest. These features became Le Corbusier’s architectural trademarks (Behren’s 2005).
In 1931, he also featured these standards through the Villa Savoye, a French country house outside of Paris. Le Corbusier used this trademark designs and structures all over again in various countries around the world. His building designs originally required steel frames. However, the contingency for materials during the post-war led him to use rough-cast concrete, a cheaper alternative which inspired the architectural style popularized as Brutalism (Behrens, 2005).
During the 1950s, Le Corbusier helped plan and construct Chandigarh. This was India’s new capital of Punjab, which was aimed to become a symbol of India’s future and its involvement in the modern world (Behrens, 2005). In 1954, Le Corbusier also built a famous French chapel of Notre Dame du Haut in France. This chapel played with light and color an dit was trailing between primitive and modern.
Fig. 1. Villa Savoye, designed by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret (1928-31). It incorporated 5 elements: pilotis, free facade, open plan, ribbon windows and roof garden.
Fig. 2. Unité d'Habitation in Marseilles. This was Le Corbusier's utopian apartment block (1947-52)
and the inspiration for Brutalist architecture.
Perhaps, Le Corbusier is best known for his urban planning innovations and his proposal to solve the slums and urban housing problems during his time. He believed that the plain, minimalist buildings he designed would help clean up and enlighten the cities as well as make it healthier (Jeremiah, 2000). His urban ideals were realized in the Unité d'Habitation or the "Radiant City" in Marseilles, France as was initially mentioned. The Unite integrated shops, function rooms and living quarters for about 1,600 people through a 17-story building (Jeremiah, 2000).
Le Corbusier made grand use of the simple technological force through the revolutionary inventions such as the car and the telephone. He applied it through his architecture. He made use of glass, steel and concrete in his building and structural designs. Later on, these materials would pave the way for skyscrapers and other tall structures in the urban life. Such buildings redefine the urban landscape and much is owed to Le Corbusier.
He and the other modernist architects affirmed the form of a dwelling must follow its functions. This purity of form was well inspired by the form and function of the technological production such as cars and other vehicles. This inspiration now serves many of the commercial buildings that fill the modern landscapes.
Le Corbusier summed up the five points of architecture of the 1920’s. These points include the lifting of the major structure off the ground and supporting it by pilotis. Then, he reinforced this with concrete stilts. His innovation with the pilotis, allowed him to supply the other major architectural points relating to a free façade, which means that there are non-supporting walls which the architect could design as he wishes. It enables the provision of an open floor plan which leaves the floor space as free. These free spaces could be configured into rooms even without supporting walls. The second floor of this structure includes long strips of ribbon windows which enable unencumbered views of the large, surrounding yard. This constitutes the fourth point of his architectural design. The last point is the roof garden which can be used as a green space to compensate for the building space.
References:
Behrens, Roy R. (2005). Cook Book: Gertrude Stein, William Cook and Le Corbusier. Dysart, Iowa: Bobolink Books.
Henyen, H. (2001). Back from Utopia: The Challenge of the Modern Movement. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers.
Jeremiah, D. (2000). Emergency, Economy and Modernisation: 1940-1953. In: Architecture and Design for the Family in Britain, 1900-70. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 123-163.
“Le Corbusier: Biography.” (2013). Bio True Story Website. Retrieved on May 6, 2013 from, http://www.biography.com/people/le-corbusier-9376609?page=1.
Sharp, D. (2002). Twentieth Century Architecture: A Visual History Images Publishing Group: Melbourne p.351
