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Les Cinq Points d'une Architecture NouvelleAuthor(s): Werner Oechslin and Wilfried WangSource: Assemblage, No. 4 (Oct., 1987), pp. 82-93Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3171037.

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W e rn e r echslinL e s C i n q P o i n t s d u n erchitecture o u v e l l e

Translatedrom he German yWilfriedWangWernerOechslin s Director f theInstitutfr Geschichte ndTheoriederArchitekturt the Eidgen6ssicheTechnischeHochschule n Zurich.

1 (frontispiece).LeCorbusier,"The Five Points of a NewArchitecture,"1929

Within Le Corbusier'sabundantliterature,the essay"LesCinq points d'une architecturenouvelle"represents heonly self-containednormativework that satisfies he classicfunctions of architectural heory: t attendsto practicalquestionsof architecturaldesign, and it intendsto establisha theoretical basis and codification. Given Le Corbusier'sextensive writtenwork, this observationmay come as asurprise;however, it can be supportedby justa few refer-ences. Comparabletexts, such as those on the develop-ment of fundamentalelements (cellule)and figuresofthe maisonstandardisee,which is generatedfrom theseparts,' or those on the various forms of (plan-related)composition,2are essentiallyrestricted o their typologicalexpressionand lack the fundamental,substantiverelationto the project-makingprocess peculiarto the five points.Despite copious applications,other theoreticalattempts,asfor instance those around the Modulor, do not attain thedegreeof explicit relationto the designprocessand to theultimate architectural earch for form that characterizes hefive points. On the contrary, hey could be characterizedmore readilyand exclusivelyas purelytheoreticalefforts,even though Le Corbusierhimself was of the oppositeopinion. The same appliesto the fundamental,constantlyrecurringobservationson the subjectof the architectversusthe engineer, whose programmaticntention frequentlyob-scured its immediate use (which, in this respect,is clearlynoticeable in the five points).3The discussion of the tracisregulateurs,which clearly anticipatedthe reasoningbehindthe five points in many aspects, is an exception, and its

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.EM TCI-iNl(Ml MSONT L.SIETTTE MP.MIE D17) YI TSI ME, LE ES OUVIENT UN NOUVE.\U YCl-; I: l.I:AIll I.T I :,

*q S. L t LJutiadlu' iononarmn et au fer, pour biAtirune maison de pierre, onltr.usaitnid larges rigoles dtans ia terre et l'on allait chercher le hon solIpouretahlir la fonldation.On conslitunit ainsi les caves, locaux niudiocres, humides genuralennent.

I'uis on mnontait s Inurs de pierre. On 6tablissait un premier plan-cicr p)osC ur lts murs, puis un second, un troisibme; on ouvrait desfenietres.

\~,'e It- n:llm arnfl on supprine entilrement les muFrs.On porte lesIll ,lllrlc.r ulrIde linces polCaux (lisposts A idegrandes distances les uns

I' sol e'l lilbresos la lmaisonll,e tit est rteconqiuis,la facadte est en-li;rlnelt llire. On llt.st plus lparalys6.

,c r c.+ r,1 r n ni- r-

IV

La tabelle dit ceci: A surface de verre gale, Iune piki'' '-elair?:tIrune fentre eln longueur qui touche aux denx rumrsclmItiglus,omPlllioNdeux zones d'clairement: une zrone tr,ire Iaue; an z. ..6clair6e.-I)'autre part, une piece 6clair6e piardeuxfenutres 'ricrl'eml,:ilri,-nant des trumeaux, comporle quatre zon(es dl'rtlair.lll't l tIn . rI.Mclaiire, a zone 2, hin clair6e,.la zone 3, rail-c lair:.. I;t/.n 4., l-ur,.



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Ikeole Polyleeflique o

COURSS'ARCHITECTUREG. UMBDENSTOCK

I-.volume

GAUTFllER-VILLARSE-, IMPRIMEURSLUIBRAIRESPARIS 1930

tCOLE P*LYTECHNIQUEO U S

2. Title page and frontispieceof GustaveUmbdenstock,Coursd'architecture,1930

theoretical stance formed the point of departure or thetheoryof proportionsand harmonyof the Modulor.This is not so surprisingf one takesinto account that thefive pointsdrawtogetherthe experienceand thoughtsfromas far back as the Dom-ino and the buildingsof the early1920s, especiallythe Maisons La Roche, by which LeCorbusierexemplifiedthe tracesrdgulateurs.That in thissense the normativework of the five pointshas been crys-tallized from the rich rangeof experiencehas to be stressedas much as the circumstancesof the fortuitouscodificationon the occasion of the 1927 Weissenhof exhibitioninStuttgart,or in its accompanyingpublication.What might be observedhere is characteristic f Le Cor-busier'sentire theoreticalwork.Beginningwith the collec-tion of essaysof Versune architecture,t remains assomethingpieced togetherfromfragments,despitethe factthat in the recurrenceof the themes as well as the formu-lations a continuityis unmistakable,one that allows us tospeakof Le Corbusier's"theory."This external and formalaspect, which was also significant n the five points, can beexplainedby the preference or the medium of the newspa-per, the pamphlet,and the manifesto, for which all move-ments and groupingsof modernismhad a predilection.Thus, the "points" f the De Stijl movementhave oftenbeen considereda model for the five points. More impor-tant is that Le Corbusiermade conscious use of the mod-ern method of communicatingtheoreticalcontents. In thisrespect,too, he set himself apart rom the official traditionof the Beaux-Arts,which even in 1930 revealedas a modelGustave Umbdenstock'sCoursd'architecture rofessel'Ecolepolytechnique, he title of the systematic reatisesince FrangoisBlondel and Jacques-FrancoisBlondel.Hence the occasion for the codificationof the five pointswas fortuitous. Le Corbusierexpressedhimself on the sub-ject of the Maison Citrohanin the first volume of theOeuvrecompldte:"Stuttgart, 'est I'occasionenfin "4At lastthis house - or better,this house type- could be real-ized. Le Corbusierdid not talk of individualobjectsordesigns;he hinted at the continued developmentof oneidea stretchedover many instances.And it is exactlyin thismannerthat he presented he five pointshe had writtenforStuttgart: Ce sont ici les conclusions theoriquesd'observa-84



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tion successivesfaites dans le chantierdepuis plusieursan-n6es."The five points are therefore ntroduced as atheoreticalconclusion; it is only for this reason that theyfulfill the classic (Vitruvian) unction of theoreticalstate-ments. In the manuscript,"successives"eplacesthecrossed-outword"fr6quentes."n this manner, the processof a logical sequence of observations s emphasized,as op-posedto the mere accumulation of frequentlyrecurringre-marks,justas this is representedn the continuation of theidea for the Maison Citrohan up to Stuttgart.The lack of interestfor an obligatoryor ultimate formula-tion of the five points certainly corresponds o this logicaldevelopmentover time. The originaltext,5which has hith-erto remainedunpublished and whose diverging ormula-tions merit our interest,was sent to AlfredRoth inStuttgart,who translatedand publishedit in Zwei Wohn-hauservon Le Corbusierund PierreJeanneret.6Even in theoriginal manuscriptthe text bore the dual signaturesof LeCorbusierand PierreJeanneret.7 n 1929 a completelydif-ferent text appeared n the first volume of the Oeuvrecom-plete.8It lacked the ambiguousintroductory emarks,andthe manifestolikecharacterwas reinforcedby abandoningthe long-windedsentence constructionin favorof a tele-gramlikesequence of conceptsand reflections.The onlything that remainedmore or less constanthere and in lateradaptations s the five points themselves:pilotis; toits-iar-dins;plan libre;fenetreen longueur;and faCade ibre. Onecould therefore deduce that Le Corbusier once again inthe best traditionof architectural,theory gave adequateweight to the definition of the idea itself. This emphasizesthe "theoretical" haracterand use and enablesa meaning-ful applicationoutside the originalcontext, as SigfriedGie-dion demonstratedwhen he explainedthe basic principlesof Le Corbusier'sarchitecturewith just these pointson theoccasion of the 1958 exhibition of Le Corbusier'swork.9On the one hand, Giedion would attributeLe Corbusier'slater works(the Unite d'Habitationat Marseille, that ofNantes, the Governor'sPalace at Chandigarh,and evenRonchamp)to these notions;but on the other, he also ex-pandedthe field of vision backwardn historyand intro-duced FrankLloyd Wrightas the "father" f the free plan,as if to credit the translationof the (Loosian)Raumplanto

Le Corbusier:"[LeCorbusier]excavates he house from thetop as well as from the bottom."Giedion changed the content of the five points as well.The "freefacade" ed him to a discourse on the faqadeasthe "faceof a building,"which he comparedto the faces ofIndiangods. Le Corbusier,on the contrary,had held tothe discussion of the constructionalprincipleand the for-mal possibilitiesresultingfrom it. Giedion also suppressedthe fenetreen longueurand instead advancedthe "indepen-dence of frame and wall"as the second point, in any casea rearranged rder. For Le Corbusier,this was the inherentprincipleof the free plan and the free faqade: t did notrequireseparateenumeration but was partof the rationaleof those five points, which designatedgeneralizedbut al-ways concretizableformsand figures.With these changes,Giedion shifted the accents in favorof his more "histori-cal"view of architecture'sdevelopmentfrom its technicalconditions. As basicallycorrectas the assessmentmight bethat "Corbusierhad transformeda technical processintoan artistic means of expression," he formulationappearsreductivein view of the various, more nuanced interpreta-tions of Le Corbusier.Comparabletheoretical models that appearedat the timeof the two versionsof the five points promptsimilarcon-siderations.In 1929 Andre Lurqatpublishedhis "616mentsnouveaux" n the book Architecture,and not without re-peatedlyreferring o Le Corbusier.'oHere the methods ofproductionstandat the forefrontunderthe banner of seri-alization and standardization, omethingthat was to be-come immediatelyembodied in the conception of his ownfive points: they appear o be reducedto the characteristicmotifs and other phenomena of modernism. Terrace,pilo-tis, fenetre,couleur,electricite'was the sequence. Absentfrom Lurqat'spoints is Le Corbusier'sarguedconnection;his theory lacksthe internal coherence that testifiedto thenew architecturalpossibilitiesthat were a logical conse-quence of altered constructionalprerequisites.The accenthad shiftedfrom the theoreticallyas well as practicallyrel-evant standardworkto a recipe.It was different n the case of Le Corbusier'spersonalop-ponent, GustaveUmbdenstock." In the introductionto hisCoursd'architecture, ntitled "G6neralit6sur la composi-85



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3. "LesCinqpoints d'une archi-tecture nouvelle," original text,24 July 1927

LES CINQ POINTS D'UNA ARCHITECTURE OUVELLE.-

Ce sont ici leas conclusions th6oriques d'observationsf-p6qu-ie faites dans les chantiers depuis plusieurs ann6es.

L'expiee aten th6orique conduit A la simplicit6 de laformule.

Ce ne seont point des fantaisies esthAtiques ou desmodes; ae sont des faits arohitecturaux et pr6cis qui,?s consti-tuent on eux-m~mes la r6forme radicale de la maison, depuis lamaison d'habitation jusqu'au palais.

low LES PILOTIS : La poursuite de sl solution scien-tifique conduit A classer les divers 616ments d'un probl.me. Ainsi,peut-on locoliser tout oe qui esat partie portante d'une maison.Au lieu d'admettre les anciennes fondations soutenant l'bdifioesans contr81e pr6cis, les anclens murs sont remplao6s per despilotis, et la fondation de chaque piloti est calcul6e exaotementd'apres la charge qui lui est transmise. Ces pilotia sont dispos6srAguli rement sans tenir compte des dispositions O-..prn des 'divers6tages. Ces pilotis sortent du sol et s'61lvent sur 3, 4, 5 ou 6 m.portant haut le rez-de-chaussbe de la maison.

Ainsi la maison eat bien b2tie, les locaux sont horsd'atteinte de l'humidit6 du sol; le terrain A bftir est entierementr6cup6r6; passe re sous la maison.

Et ce mme terrain peut Stre doubl6 sur la toiture,26- LES TOITS JARDINS.- Le terrain est doubl6 par 1'6ta.

blissement des jardinsaoituresa

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Pour la bonne protestion du ciment srm6, ii eat n6ces-saire d'6tablir des Jardins sur lee toits-terrasses. Lrennemi duciment arm6 est la dilatation brusque provenant des changemarnts detemp6rature. Pour 6viter sla dilatations il est bon de maintenirde l'eau en permanence sur le b6ton arm6 de le toiture et pourque oette eau ne s'6vapore pas, ii faut constituer les Jardins-terrasses (couche de sable et de gravier recouverte de dalles deciment; lee joints de ces dalles sont remplis de gazon; les grandsbacs &arbres et A fleurs font communiquer la terre v6gbtale qu'ilscontiennent aveo le lit de sable de la terrassee )

Ainsi les eaux de pluie s'6coulent tres lentement parles desoentes plajces l'int6rieur de la maison et elles maintien-nent en permanence, une humidit6 latente sur le toit de la maison.

Les toits-jardine fournissent une v6ghtation p luxu-riante g^'eA" 1-

z jru1na ndinaeiro; les arbustes et les petitearbres (3 ou 4 m6tres de haut) y pouseent facilement.

Le toit jardin est l'endrolt privil6gi6 de la maison.G6n6raliser le cas, o'est rbcuprer la totale superfie d'une ville

3O- LB PLANLIBRE&.o Lee pilotis so poursuivent jusqu'Ala toitures portant leurs planchers. HIl ne gpnent aucunement ladisposition des oloisone verticales qui sont diff6rentes A obaque

tage. Ii n'~y a plus de mure portante, ii ya des membranes16geres et tous les 6tages sont diffbrents les uns des autres.

LIBER4EABSOLUE U PLANJ De tl, une 6conomie consid6-rable qui contrebalanoe facilement les prix plus 61ev6s de la cons-truction de ciment arm6,

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Ces Ocig points ont uie r6aotion esth6tique fondamentale.Ii r eteplus rien de'i architeoture ancienne et iI ne reste plusrien des enseignements &1 lettre des 6ooles.

LE CORBUSIERPIERRE EANNERET.

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4. FourStages of Verificationofthe Five Points

4a. MaisonCitrohan: . without 4b. Maison Cook: i. "on entrepilotis, ii. pilotis, model of 1922 sous la maison," ii. toit-jardin

tion architecturale,"he, too, was concernedwith sixgroupsof "616ments omposants."'2Umbdenstock orwentany manifesto-like,pointed formulations.Afterall, it wasan introduction, if keptsimilarlybrief, to a two-volumework with approximately hirteenhundredpages. The des-ignation of the six groupssuggestsa conventionalreadingof Le Corbusier'snotions:la masse solideet la place rela-tivesa*'homme: 'echelle; eselementsgeometriques tm.caniquecomposants;

e schemag.om.trique

etm.canique;es dimensionset leurs rapports;a matie're,a coloration,l'&clairage;e cadre et les accompagnements. n their for-mulation, Umbdenstock's"generalites"re closer to theterms of traditional Vitruvian)architectural heory.How-ever, some of this can be found at places in Le Corbusier.The "e1ementsgeometriqueset mecaniquescomposants,"which Umbdenstockmade precisewith the addition of"droitesangles, courbes, effetsde direction et de mouve-ment, rhythme,"certainlytook up a centralposition inPuristtheory, as, for instance, it was formulated n Ozen-

fant'sArt of 1928,13 n the classic sense of a Euclideanbasisfor determiningform. On the otherhand, for Umb-denstockthe "tramed'ossature" ppeared o be assignedtothe more generalcategoryof the "schemageometriqueetmecanique."(One is temptedto say assigned n exactlytheway the constructional nnovationsin the architectureofUmbdenstockand his like frequentlyremainhidden in thehistoriciststylisticenvelope )Here Le Corbusier's ive points clearlydemonstrate heirtrue value. He did not tryto codify the motifsof modernarchitecture Lurqat),nor was he concerned with charac-terizingthe elements on the basisof an architecturedevel-oped from the technical conditions(Giedon), nor did herestricthimself to the eternal universalitiesof architecture(Umbdenstock)withoutpreciseexplanationof their new re-ality. Instead,he succeeded in incorporatinghe new real-ity of constructionalpossibilitieswithin a superimposedrealityof architecturalprinciples,withoutforfeiting he ad-90



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4c. Weissenhof at Stuttgart:i. toit-jardin,ii. pilotis,enetreen longueur, etc.4d. VillaSavoye: i. "arriveedesvoitures sous les pilotis,"ii. "promenadearchitecturale"(synthesis)

vantagesof classicalargumentation.In this regard, he par-allels in the manner of argumentation o the (belated)representative f classic (French)architectural heoryshould come as no surprise."Rappelonsbien qu'il ne s'agitpas ici de 'formule,"'wroteUmbdenstock.'4Le Corbusier ntroducedthe five points ina comparableway:"Ce ne sont point des fantaisiesesth6-tiques ou des modes;ce sont des faitsarchitecturaux."'5Both assuredthemselvesof the degreeof abstraction ntheir points:"L'expos6 heoriqueconduit iala simplicit6dela formule,"wrote Le Corbusier;and Umbdenstockexpli-cated, "Cesl66mentscomposantsse retrouventen nombreassez restreintpour constituerun ensemble de faits simpleset frequents."However,a diametricallyopposed interpreta-tion is equally valid. Umbdenstock's tatementagainstthe"formule" ould also be readas a critiqueof Le Corbusier's"simplicit6de la formule."And of course Le Corbusier'sformulationof 1927 was clearlypointedagainsttradition:

"I1ne demeure ici plus rien des moyens de l'architectureancienne et il ne resteplus rien des enseignements'a alettredesecoles." On the other hand, even here the cor-rectionsto the manuscriptcertainlyindicate a changingat-titude in Le Corbusier: nstead of "il ne resteplus rien del'architectureancienne," one now reads "il ne demeure iciplus rien des moyensde l'architectureancienne." This re-finement is peculiarto the five pointsand distinguishesthis manifesto from its lateradaptationsand interpretations.Evidently, the theoreticalbasis and aim of the five pointsshould be takenmore seriouslythan many critics(begin-ning with Giedion) had wanted to believe;for them theillustrationof the visible results of a modernarchitecturehad sufficed. Of all comparisons,the one with Umbden-stockshows how much had remainedof the traditional,generalaim of theoreticalreflectionson architecture. Inhis introduction,Umbdenstockexpresseda double inten-tion behind his Coursd'architecture."Exposer t prouver91



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des lois de compositionartistiquecommunesa la peinture,la sculpture, I'architecture"as the firstaim, one that wasalsofollowed by Le Corbusier n his "synthese.""Appliquer..ces lois a l'architectonique,en degagerune conceptionphilosophique"without doubt also accordedwith Le Cor-busier's intention to relatetheoreticalbases to the "faitsar-chitecturaux." But with the additionof a "voie d'unearchitecturenationale franqaise"Le Corbusierwould havehardlybeen in agreement.)The remarkson the applicationof the "elements composants"also presentanalogiesto LeCorbusier. Umbdenstockformulated,"Cesrecherches,toutes d'intuition, procederontpar analogiesselon le modedes sciences dites comparees."In the end, they servedtoelaborate the "valeurs" f the "elementscomposants."Sim-ilarly, Le Corbusier ntroducedthe text on the pilotisasfollows: "Lapoursuitede la solution scientifiqueconduitAclasser les divers616mentsd'un problkme."The compari-son becomes even clearerwhen more remnantsand proofsare broughtforth. In the springissue of L'Architecturei-vante in 1927, Le Corbusier's ext "L'Esprit ouveau enarchitecture"was accompaniedby a quotationfrom ElieFaure:"L'imaginationest la plus scientifiquedes facultes,parce que seule elle saisit l'analogieuniverselle."'6 n theautumn issue, Le Corbusier ntroducedthe readersofL'Architecture ivante to a variationon the five pointsun-der the title "Ofien est l'architecture?"'7 lthoughthelong-windedand ratherunsystematic ntroductiondweltextensivelyon the achievementsof 1927, when Le Corbu-sier returnedto his elaborationof the "typede la maisond'aujourd'hui"afterall the five pointswere exemplifiedinit), he derivedthe one-sided interpretation f the machinea habiter,to which only "les Slaveset les Germains"wereinclined.18 On the subjectof the house'sfunction, he wasof the opinion, "Maisje pense aussi."Despite all hazard-ous demarcations,there were thoughtsof the "espritrationnel"as well as the "constantes6ternellesde l'ame hu-maine." And he answeredthe introductoryquestion"Oiien est l'architecture?" perhapseven somewhatsurpris-ingly - with, "Elle est au delaide la machine." As unsys-tematic or "philosophic"as Le Corbusier's ormulationsmay have occasionallybeen, he did constantlypreemptmisunderstandingswith the indicationto universals,to the"recherchede l'invariant."

However,what is most important s that Le Corbusierwasable to relate this rangeof ideasto the "axenouveau,"tothe changedrealitiesof architecture, n a convincingway.It is the mannerof discussion hatprovesthe worth of thetheoreticalstructure, n a much clearerand more convinc-ing way than in all "flanking"emarksand incantations.Inthe discussion of the tracesrgulateurs, the mediatingcharacterof the argumentis discernible.They are intro-duced by means of the dual function of an "operationdeverification" quite withoutthe traditionalapproachof"correction" nd "assurance ontre l'arbitraire"'9 and a"satisfaction 'ordrespirituel."The latterproduces"euryth-mie."20And justas this process s described n a correctVitruvianmanner, so the terminologyrefers o the appro-priateFrench traditionsince Blondel:"perceptionbienfai-sante de l'ordre,""momentd6cisifde l'inspiration."2'Accordingly,one alwaysfinds three moments of reasoningin the explanationof the five points. The artisticprincipleis alwaysconsidered the realachievement, for examplewherethe pilotis are designatedas the "manifestationesth6tiquearchitecturale ignificative."22

There is constantreferenceto the functional advantages onferredby theseaspects.Thus the pilotis act as a protectionagainstdamp-ness, liberate the buildingsite, and allow the garden tselfto extend beneath the house.23 This thought is continuedwith the toit-jardin:"C'estr6cuperera totale superficied'une ville.'"24In the end, all these advantagesare alignedwith the new constructionalpossibilities.The artisticmo-ment as well as the extendedusefulness are the resultofthose "recherchesassidues"and those "acquitsde labora-toire,"which are prerequisitesbut not an end in them-selves:25 Le ciment arme nous donna les pilotis";"Leciment arm6est le nouveau moyen permettant a r6alisa-tion de la toiturehomogene"(as a prerequisiteor thetoits-jardins); Lebeton arme dans la maison apporte eplan libre";"Leciment arm6fait revolutiondans l'histoirede la fenetre."26Here, the new technologyis systematicallyrepresentedas the releasemechanism for a new architec-ture. The manner of discussion can be relatedalmost with-out effortto the basic Vitruviannotions of venustas,utilitas, and firmitas. New architectonic(aesthetic)expres-sions are made possibleby the revolutionized irmitasbymeans of the "cimentarm6,"which, additionally,are cast

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