Le Corbusier

1. Le Corbusier • Charles-Edouard Jeanneret • Born Oct. 6, 1887 • La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland • Died August 26, 1965 • Vers une Architecture (2nd Ed. 1924) • Urbanisme (1925) • L’Art Decoratif d’aujourd’hui (1925) • La Ville Radieuse (1935)

2. Vers une Architecture(Towards an Architecture) • Originally a series of articles published in “L’Esprit Nouveau” • 28 issues from 1920-1925 • Amedee Ozenfant (painter) and Paul Dermee (poet, publicist) • First appearance of pseudonym in essays on architecture as “Le Corbusier-Saugnier” • Written to win recognition as an intellectual and architectural reformer.

3. Vers une Architecture • Aesthetic of the Engineer, Architecture • Three Reminders to Architects • Regulating Lines • Eyes that Do Not See • Architecture • Mass Production Housing • Architecture or Revolution

4. Aesthetic of the Engineer, Architecture The engineer attains harmony through calculations and the law of economy. He puts us in accord with universal laws. Le Corbusier believed that Architecture schools weren’t teaching students correctly and that engineers would be the ones who save architecture. Architecture is a thing of plastic emotion. “It should use elements capable of striking our senses, of satisfying our visual desires…arranging them in a way that the sight of them clearly affects us…”

5. Three Reminder to Architects • VolumePrimary forms (cubes, cones, spheres, cylinders, and pyramids) are what create beautiful architecture because they are “clearly legible”, not the ornamentation that adorn them. • SurfaceWalls and doors of current architecture destroy the form when they need to accentuate it.

6. Three Reminders to Architects3. Plan • The Plan is the generator of order. If the ordonnance that groups volumes express clear rhythm, and rightly proportions volumetric and spatial relationships then the mind derives a satisfaction of high order. • There is too much incoherence in today’s plans. Large cities are too dense for the safety of their inhabitants but not dense enough for the new realities of business.

7. Three Reminders to Architects3. Plan Further development of August Perret’s “Tower Cities” idea resulted in Le Corbusier’s design of the Tower City Starting with the American Skyscraper, reinforced concrete will make possible the congregation of people into a few isolated points, 60 stories high. The air will be pure starting at the 14th floor. An indispensable calm will be created by bringing together efficiency, time, and energy savings.

8. Three Reminders to Architects3. Plan

9. Regulating Lines • Geometry is the language of man. • Man’s first established order by measuring, which he did by using his pace, foot, forearm, or finger. • A module measure and unifies; a regulating line constructs and satisfies.

10. Eyes That Do Not See1. Ocean Liners Liners are a feat of engineering that show the possibilities for architecture. “The first stage in the realization of a world organized in accordance with the new spirit.”

11. Eyes that Do Not See2. Airplanes “The lesson of the airplane is in the logic that governed the statement of the problem and its realization.” The airplane, which is a product of highest selection, shows us best how form is completely derived from function.

12. Eyes that Do Not See3. Automobiles Auto manufacturers strove for perfection through standardization and architecture works on standards. “Standards are things of logic, of analysis, of scrupulous study.”

13. Architecture: The Lesson of Rome This part is mostly a commentary on Roman Architecture (Ancient, Byzantine, Michelangelo, Rome and Us). It is difficult to tell whether he likes or dislikes what he is talking about. Since he is against decorative adornment he probably dislikes most of what he talks about. “To put architecture students in Rome is to wound them for life.”

14. Architecture: The Illusion of the Plan The plan is the generator that like a soap bubble is perfect and harmonious when the air is evenly distributed and properly ordered Ordonnance is the hierarchy of axes, which should lead to goals. Ecole des Beaux Arts does not teach this. The site should incorporate the views around the building, not just the building itself. Acropolis is a good example of this.

15. Architecture: Pure Creation of the Mind We say something is beautiful when the precision of the modeling and disposition of features reveal proportions that we sense as harmonious Man is organized along an axis that is the same as the one along which all phenomena and objects of nature align. Laws of physics follow this axis If anything is organized it is in alignment with this axis

16. Mass Production Housing Technology has advanced enough that building can be more economical with material. Central heating takes into account the structure of walls and windows. Roofs no longer need to be pitched to repel water and windows can become much larger in order to admit more light. World War I streamlined mass production and advanced technology. These can further be applied to housing in order to create more order and economy for everyone. The only problem we face is creating the state of mind for living in mass-production housing.

17. Mass Production Housing Example: This craftsman’s house and workshop is supported by a single hollow reinforced concrete column. The 7 meter square house is elongated by the 10 meter diagonal mezzanine which also allows the ceiling to fully develop.

18. Mass Production Housing Dom-ino Housing Concept:The utilization of reinforced concrete to support slabs with columns away from the façade allowing ribbon fenestrations.

19. Architecture or Revolution Before now (1920’s) the father of the house spent his entire day working to support his family. Often tutored his children to follow in his footsteps. The 1920’s brought along mechanization, depersonalizing a workers job. The eight hour work shift allowed people more free time for leisure. While newspapers and magazines advertised luxuries that were made possible through the emerging technologies, people were realizing that the world was developing but their homes weren’t.

20. Architecture or Revolution New tools and machines were being developed that helped the world around us but not our homes. Ownership patterns favor the inheritor and not the earner. This prevents people from building. However, this pattern is changing and will prevent a revolt if people are able to build. New building construction technology allows new design that can mimic nature. This is a revolution in the conception of Architecture. Man is seeing his living environment rise up against him to prevent him from pursuing the same spiritual path that he takes in his work. Also a detriment to family life.