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)
• LArt Decoratif daujourdhui (1925)
• La Ville Radieuse (1935)

2
Vers une Architecture(Towards an Architecture)

• Originally a series of articles published in
  LEsprit 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
  werent 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
  desiresarranging them in a way that the sight of
  them clearly affects us

5
Three Reminder to Architects

1. VolumePrimary forms (cubes, cones, spheres,
   cylinders, and pyramids) are what create
   beautiful architecture because they are clearly
   legible, not the ornamentation that adorn them.
2. 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 todays 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 Perrets Tower
  Cities idea resulted in Le Corbusiers 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.
• Mans 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 craftsmans 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 ConceptThe utilization of
  reinforced concrete to support slabs with columns
  away from the façade allowing ribbon
  fenestrations.

19
Architecture or Revolution

• Before now (1920s) the father of the house spent
  his entire day working to support his family.
• Often tutored his children to follow in his
  footsteps.
• The 1920s 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 werent.

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.