LE CORBUSIER(October 6, 1887 – August 27, 1965)

CONTENTS

About the architect

Early training

Theories of Le Corbusier

Quotes by Le Corbusier

Five point programme

CONTENTS

Volumetric description of the five points

The modular system

Works of Le Corbusier

Most famous buildings

Other important works

ABOUT THE ARCHITECT

DATE OF BIRTH: October 6, 1887

PLACE OF BIRTH: La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland

NAME AT BIRTH: Born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret

DATE OF DEATH: August 27, 1965

ABOUT THE ARCHITECT

• Le Corbusier was a Swiss Architect Designer Urbanist Writer Painter

• Le Corbusier was famous for being one of the pioneers of Modern Architecture or International Style

EARLY TRAINING

Art education, La Chaux de Fonds

Studied modern building construction with Auguste Perret in Paris

Worked with Austrian architect Josef Hoffmann

THEORIES OF LE CORBUSIER

Le Corbusier's designs in architecture, urban planning and furniture, are based on his theory of functionalism and in the use of new symbols.

One of these is concept of flat roofs, that the introduction of the use of reinforced concrete in architecture made attainable.

THEORIES OF LE CORBUSIER

In his book Vers une architecture, Le Corbusier described "5 points of architecture" that became the guiding principles for many of his designs, most especially Villa Savoye.

An innovative urban planner, Corbusier anticipated the role of the automobile and envisioned cities with big apartment buildings in park-like settings.

QUOTES BY LE CORBUSIER

“A house is a machine for living in.”

“By law, all buildings should be white.”

“I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and leaves less room for lies.”

“To create architecture is to put in order. Put what in order? Function and objects.”

FIVE POINT PROGRAMME

Le Corbusier developed a five point programme for a new and contemporary architecture:

The pilotis (posts) The roof garden The free plan The horizontal strip windows The free façade

VOLUMETRIC DESCRIPTION OF THE FIVE POINTS

The pilotis (posts) Use of columns to elevate the mass off of the ground

The roof garden The placement of plants on the roof to reintroduce nature to

the building therefore forming a connection with the outside The free plan

The use of columns to separate the space, vs. walls dividing the space

The horizontal strip windows The long horizontal sliding windows which provided a

horizontal feel to the building The free façade

The corollary of the free plan in the vertical plane, allowing it to just be a void, thin membrane or a window of any size

THE MODULAR SYSTEM

Le Corbusier explicitly used the golden ratio in his Modulor system for the scale of architectural proportion

Le Corbusier based the system on human measurements, Fibonacci numbers and the double unit

WORKS OF LE CORBUSIER

Le Corbusier’s early work was related to nature.

He developed the Maison-Domino, a basic building prototype for mass production with free-standing pillars and rigid floors.

WORKS OF LE CORBUSIER

During his long life, Le Corbusier designed buildings in Europe, India, and Russia. Le Corbusier also designed one building in the United States and one in South America.

The earlier buildings by Le Corbusier were smooth, white concrete and glass structures elevated above the ground. He called these works “pure prisms.”

In the late 1940s, Le Corbusier turned to a style known as "New Brutalism," which used rough, heavy forms of stone, concrete, stucco, and glass.

MOST FAMOUS BUILDINGS

1927-1928: Palace for the League of Nations, Geneva

1929: Villa Savoye, Poissy, France

1931-1932: Swiss Building, Cité Universitaire, Paris

1952: The Secretariat at the United Nations Headquarters, New York

OTHER IMPORTANT WORKS

1922: Ozenfant House and Studio, Paris1946-1952: Unité d'Habitation, Marseilles, France1953-1957: Museum at Ahmedabad, India1950-1963: High Court Buildings, Chandigarh, India1950-1955: Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp, France1954-1956: Maisons Jaoul, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris1957-1960: Convent of La Tourette, Lyon France1958: Philips Pavilion, Brussels1961-1964: Carpenter Center, Cambridge, MA1963-1967: Centre Le Corbusier, Zürich, Switzerland

(1928-1931)

VILLA SOVAYE

INTRODUCTION

Year Of Construction: 1928-1931

Location: POISSY, FRANCE

Building Type: VILLA/ HOUSE

Construction system: CONCRETE AND PLASTERED UNIT MASONRY

Building Style: MODERNIST/ INTERNATIONAL STYLE

CONCEPT

As a paradigm of “the machine as a home”, a concept that impassioned Le Corbusier for years

Machine for living

Spatial dynamism

Polychromatic interior

White exterior

Spatial playground

No historical ornament

Abstract sculptural design

STRUCTURAL FEATURES

Spiral Staircases

STRUCTURAL FEATURES

Ramps

STRUCTURAL FEATURES

Built-in Furniture

STRUCTURAL FEATURES

SPATIAL ATTRIBUTES

Plan of the building is square

Curves, ramp and grid of structure providing the basic counterpoint to the perimeter

Section illustrates the divisions of services and circulation zone below

Piano nobile above

Celestial zone of the solarium on top

DESIGN OF THE VILLA

Wonderful demonstration of Le Corbusier’s “five points of modern architecture”

Support of ground level pilotis

Functional roof- serving as a garden and terrace

Long horizontal windows for lightning and ventilation

Freely designed facades

Free-floor plan

Pilotis Functional Roof

DESIGN OF THE VILLA

Horizontal Windows Free Facade

DESIGN OF THE VILLA

DESIGN OF THE VILLA

Free Floor Plan

INTERNAL DETAILS OF THE VILLA

(1922)

OZENFANT HOUSE AND STUDIO

INTRODUCTION

Year of construction: 1922

Location: PARIS, FRANCE

Building Type: HOUSE AND ARTIST’S STUDIO

Construction System: STUCCO EXTERIOR FINISH

Building Style: EARLY MODERN

INTRODUCTION

It is an early example of 'minimal' architecture

This is the first work of Carbusier in Paris.

STRUCTURAL FEATURES

Column and flat slabA prototype of the Domino house It is a rectangular structure with only four load

bearing reinforced concrete members.The walls, then, could be opened up to sunlight

via wrap around glass windows.Not all five principles of new architecture are

usedHorizontal free façadeStandardization of the window on a human scale

PHILOSOPHY/ THEORY

The two facades are pure proportion, pure mathematics

Clear relationships between the façade and windows

Access to housing is generated in the façade that faces the side street

PHILOSOPHY/ THEORY

Covered and zigzagging staircase reaffirm their dominance

From inside the house painter’s study comes as a perfect cube of light with three glass-sided windows.

From the top floor, the views are the best and lighting is caused by three sides

SPATAIL ATTRIBUTES

Accommodation is at three levels:

First is located in the garage and part of the house

Second, reserved for study

Third, with the best view of lighting

(1955)

NOTRE DAME DU HAUT, RONCHAMP

INTRODUCTION

Year of construction: 1955

Location: RONCHAMP, FRANCE

Building type: CHURCH

Construction system: REINFORCED CONCRETE

Building style: EXPRESSIONST MODERN

CONCEPT

Spatial purity

Removal of typical modern aesthetic from the design.

Space to be meditative and reflective in purpose.

Extra ordinary use of light.

The proportions of the church are based on the modular system

STRUCTURAL FEATURES

Simple, oblong nave, two-side entrances, an axial main altar and three chapels beneath towers

STRUCTURAL FEATURES

Immensely powerful and complex structure

Comparatively small structure enclosed by thick walls

STRUCTURAL FEATURES

Upturned roof supported on columns, embedded within the walls

The billowing roof of concrete was planned to slope towards the back

Distorted boat-like roof apparently floating over the walls

STRUCTURAL FEATURES

A fountain of abstract forms is placed on the ground

SPATIAL ATTRIBUTES

Windows of many sizes peircing the thick walls

SPATIAL ATTRIBUTES

In the interior, spaces are left between the wall and the roof

SPATIAL ATTRIBUTES

Asymmetrical light from the wall openings serve to further reinforce.

MATERIALS USED

Rough masonry walls faced with white washed gunite(sprayed concrete).

Roof of contrasting bet and brut.

Mostly used concrete and stone.

Small pieces of stain glass are set deep in the walls.

(1961 - 1964)

CARPENTER CENTER FOR THE VISUAL ARTS

HOVARD UNIVERSITY

INTRODUCTION

Year of construction: 1961 - 1964

Location: CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

Building type: UNIVERSITY ART CENTER

Construction system: REINFORCED CAST-IN PLACE CONCRETE MASONRY

Building style: MODERN

INTRODUCTION

It is the only building on the North American continent and one of the last to be completed during the lifetime of Le Corbusier.

CONCEPT

A building of such modern design in a traditional location

A building devoted to the visual arts must be an experience of freedom and unbound creativity.

The Carpenter Center represents Corbusier's attempt to create a "synthesis of the arts,"

The union of architecture with painting, sculpture, through his innovative design.

SPATIAL ATTRIBUTES

At the heart is a cubic volume from which curved studios pull away from one another on the diagonal.

The whole is cut through by an S-shaped ramp which rises from one street and descends towards the other.

SPATIAL ATTRIBUTES

The five levels of the building function as open and flexible working spaces for painting, drawing, and sculpture

SPATIAL ATTRIBUTES

The ramp through the heart of the building encourages public circulation and provides views into the studios, making the creative process visible through the building design.

SPATIAL ATTRIBUTES

The ondulatoires The brise soleils

SPATIAL ATTRIBUTES

Its wonderful collection of concrete forms bring together many of the design principles and devices from Le Corbusier's earlier works and the original Five Points from the 1920s 'accentuated in a new way

(1946 – 1952)

UNITE D’HABITATION

INTRODUCTION

Year of construction: 1946 - 1952

Location: MARSEILLES, FRANCE

Building type: MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING

Construction system: CONCRETE

Building style: MODERN

INTRODUCTION

One of the most famous buildings of Le Corbusier, also known as the “Radiant City”

It is a twelve-storey apartment block for 1600 people

CONCEPT

To provide quality life to lower class

To provide better living conditions for the residents of the crowded cities

To provide a communal living for all the inhabitants to shop, play, live, and come together in a “vertical garden city.”

Dominated desire to overcome the physical isolation of the individuals and families by grouping the community into the one large family structure

STRUCTURAL FEATURES

Structurally it is simple: a rectilinear ferroconcrete gridinto which are slotted precastindividual apartment units.

STRUCTURAL FEATURES

Pilotis and the Modulor system of dynamic proportion as represented on the exterior of the building.

SPATIAL ATTRIBUTES

The idea of the “vertical garden city” was based on bringing the villa within a larger volume that allowed for the inhabitants to have their own private spaces, but outside of that private sector they would shop, eat, exercise, and gather together.

The Unite d’ Habitation is essentially a “city within a city” that is spatially, as well as, functionally optimized for the residents.

SPATIAL ATTRIBUTES

There are shops, medical facilities, and even a small hotel distributed throughout the interior of the building.

SPATIAL ATTRIBUTES

The roof becomes a garden terrace that has a running track, a club, a kindergarten, a gym, and a shallow pool.

MATERIALS

Reinforced concrete framing with model of relationship of individual units to the larger organization.

THE END

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