Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret was born on the 6th of October 1887 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, a city nestled in the Jura Mountains near the French border. His father worked as an artisan who enameled boxes and watches, while his mother taught piano to local students. The town itself sat at the heart of the Watch Valley, where culture revolved around the Loge L'Amitié Masonic lodge. This lodge promoted moral ideas symbolized by the right angle and the compass. Le Corbusier later described these geometric concepts as "my guide, my choice" and as deep-rooted entries from a catechism. At age fifteen, he entered the municipal art school which taught applied arts connected with watchmaking. Three years later, he attended the higher course of decoration founded by painter Charles L'Eplattenier. L'Eplattenier took him into the mountains frequently, teaching him to paint from nature. He wrote that they were constantly on mountaintops and grew accustomed to vast horizons. It was this teacher who eventually made him choose architecture despite his initial horror of the profession. He accepted the verdict at sixteen and moved into the field.
In 1918, Le Corbusier met Cubist painter Amédée Ozenfant in Paris. They recognized each other as kindred spirits and began collaborating on a new artistic movement called Purism. Rejecting Cubism as irrational, the pair published their manifesto Après le Cubisme and established Purism as a distinct style. They started writing for a journal named L'Esprit Nouveau to promote their architectural ideas. In 1920, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret adopted the pseudonym Le Corbusier, an altered form of his maternal grandfather's name. This single name allowed him to reinvent himself publicly. Between 1918 and 1922, he did not build anything but concentrated entirely on Purist theory and painting. His theoretical studies advanced into several different single-family house models including the Maison Citrohan. The project referenced the French automaker Citroën to highlight modern industrial methods. He proposed a three-floor structure with a double-height living room and bedrooms on the second floor. The roof was occupied by a sun terrace while exterior walls remained white stuccoed spaces. Light fixtures comprised single bare bulbs and interior walls stayed white.
The Villa Savoye stood in Poissy within a landscape surrounded by trees and a large lawn between 1928 and 1931. It became one of the most famous works of Le Corbusier and an icon of modernist architecture. The elegant white box sat poised on rows of slender pylons known as pilotis. A horizontal band of windows filled the structure with light from every angle. Service areas like parking and laundry rooms were located under the house itself. Visitors entered through a vestibule where a gentle ramp led up to the main living space. Bedrooms and salons distributed around a suspended garden looked out at both the landscape and the garden. Another ramp rose to the roof while a stairway descended to the cellar beneath the pillars. The building succinctly summed up five points of architecture he had elucidated throughout the 1920s. First, he lifted the bulk off the ground using reinforced concrete stilts. These pilotis allowed for a free façade meaning non-supporting walls designed as the architect wished. An open floor plan meant floor space was free to be configured without concern for supporting walls. Long strips of ribbon windows on the second floor allowed unencumbered views of the surrounding garden. The fifth point was a roof garden to compensate for green area consumed by the building.
Le Corbusier presented his model of the Ville Contemporaine in 1922 at the Salon d'Automne in Paris. This city of three million inhabitants featured tall office towers surrounded by lower residential blocks in a park setting. He reported that analysis led to such dimensions that the mind could hardly imagine it. For his next proposal called Plan Voisin in 1925, he took a much more provocative approach. He proposed to demolish a large part of central Paris and replace it with sixty-story cruciform office towers. The plan included a multi-level transportation hub with depots for buses and trains plus highway intersections. Commercial airliners were supposed to land between the huge skyscrapers according to his fanciful notion. Groups of lower-rise zigzag apartment blocks set back from the street were interspersed among the office towers. No one hurried to implement the Plan Voisin but he continued working on variations recruiting followers. In 1935 he developed ideas for a new kind of city where principal functions separated into neighborhoods. Heavy industry, manufacturing, habitation and commerce would be carefully planned and designed separately. The Radiant City was similar to his earlier Contemporary City except residences assigned by family size rather than income.
The Unité d'Habitation marked a turning point in Le Corbusier's career when completed in Marseille in 1952. This giant reinforced-concrete framework held modular apartments fitted like bottles into a bottle rack. The building contained 337 duplex apartment modules to house a total of 1,600 people. Each module was three storeys high containing two apartments combined so each had two levels. They ran from one side of the building to another with small terraces at each end. A corridor slotted through the space between the two apartments in each module served as an interior street. Shops, eating places, nursery schools and recreational facilities lined this commercial corridor. A running track and small stage for theatre performances sat on the roof. Residents chose from twenty-three different configurations for their units. On every third floor between the modules there was a wide corridor serving as a sort of commercial street. The building itself was surrounded by trees and a small park. He wrote that the concept was inspired by his visit to the Florence Charterhouse at Galluzzo in Italy during early travels. He wanted to recreate an ideal place for meditation and contemplation while learning that standardization led to perfection.
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Common questions
When was Charles-Édouard Jeanneret born and where?
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret was born on the 6th of October 1887 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, a city nestled in the Jura Mountains near the French border. His father worked as an artisan who enameled boxes and watches while his mother taught piano to local students.
Why did Le Corbusier adopt the pseudonym Le Corbusier in 1920?
Le Corbusier adopted the pseudonym Le Corbusier in 1920 as an altered form of his maternal grandfather's name. This single name allowed him to reinvent himself publicly after collaborating with Amédée Ozenfant to establish Purism.
What are the five points of architecture defined by Le Corbusier in the Villa Savoye?
The five points of architecture include lifting the bulk off the ground using reinforced concrete stilts known as pilotis, creating a free façade, designing an open floor plan, installing long strips of ribbon windows, and adding a roof garden to compensate for green area consumed by the building. These principles were elucidated throughout the 1920s and applied to the Villa Savoye between 1928 and 1931.
How many people could the Unité d'Habitation house when completed in Marseille in 1952?
The Unité d'Habitation held modular apartments fitted like bottles into a bottle rack to house a total of 1,600 people. The building contained 337 duplex apartment modules that ran from one side of the structure to another with small terraces at each end.
What was the Plan Voisin proposal made by Le Corbusier in 1925?
Le Corbusier proposed to demolish a large part of central Paris and replace it with sixty-story cruciform office towers in his 1925 Plan Voisin proposal. The plan included a multi-level transportation hub with depots for buses and trains plus highway intersections where commercial airliners were supposed to land between the huge skyscrapers.