"Emerging out of art nouveau and art deco, Le Corbusier created a new architecture for a new century."
Between his works of the Fallet house, built 1906–07, and his other projects, Le Corbusier’s productions spanned six decades and never ceased to amaze. Le Corbu constructed 75 buildings, in 12 countries, and took on 42 major city planning projects. He left behind 8,000 drawings (could have been 16,000 if he had used CAD), more than 400 paintings and pictures, 44 sculptures and 27 tapestry cartoons. He wrote 34 books, totalling some 7,000 pages, and wrote hundred of articles (wonder how much he’d write today if he were blogging?) He also gave lectures (today would be webinars) and wrote some 6,500 private letters (today would be emails, IM’s, texts and tweets). READ MORE HERE
Project: started in 1947 and completed in 1953
"Sited by the East River, the scheme is dominated by the towering slab block of the Secretariat Building, which, with its narrow end walls rising like sheer white cliffs and it longer sides clad in glass curtain walling, has had considerable influence on subsequent high buildings throughout the world."
— Sir Banister Fletcher. A History of Architecture from GreatBuildings.com
"Notre Dame du Haut, at Ronchamp is exceptional, and a ruthless blow to the rest of his life’s work, and himself." (READ MORE HERE)
Around the same time, the Bauhaus Movement was forming. Le Corbusier had
close contact to the Weimar Bauhaus Movement, especially to Walter Gropius. Le Corbu took part in the exhibition of 1923.
1.Freestanding support pillars
2.Open floor plan independent from the supports
3.Vertical facade that is free from the supports
4.Long horizontal sliding windows
5.Roof gardens
In 1943 Le Corbusier applied a similar interdisciplinary approach to developing 'Modular', (a system of proportion based on the male figure and the Golden Mean). He used this theory to determine the proportions of units in architecture and technology and it is the basis of Le Corbusier's work in furniture design. (READ MORE HERE)
An innovative urban planner, Corbusier anticipated the role of the automobile and envisioned cities with big apartment buildings in park-like settings... It's no wonder today, in some many loft spaces, his classic furniture designs are the most natural fit.
Quoted as saying, "the house is a machine for living", his theory is most evident in his furniture designs where he applied inspirations of cars and airplanes (sounds familiar: another well known designer employs the same inspirations into his designs: Ralph Lauren).
His architecture was declared and revealed through written word, which explained his intentions. Because he was capable of theorizing, Le Corbusier is acknowledged as an innovator. However, no one was less "Corbusian" than the man himself. He never confined himself to a single style, even if it was his: he always continued to challenge himself.
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