LE CORBUSIER(1887-1965)
Giorgia Zagaglia
Mattia Piccinelli
Eleonora Schianchi
Lisa Syrbu
Liceo Artistico A. Venturi
5H Architettura e Ambiente
Life Charles-Edward Jeanneret, one of the most important architect of the XX
century, was born on October6, 1886 in la Chaux-de-Fonds, in Switzerland.
1900: Le Corbusier began to attend his hometown's high school.
1902: C.E. Jeanneret designed a pocket watch, winning the Exposition of
Decorative Arts in Turin.
1905: he projected his first house.
1906/1914: Le Corbusier studied in a lot of different countries in Europe,
expecially Wien and Berlin. in Wien, he knew the Secession movement,
while in Berlin he met important figures such as Gropius and Mies Van Der
Rohe.
1908: Charles collaborated with Auguste Perret (until 1922), one of the first
architect to use the reinforced concrete for the houses. Perret's innovation
influenced Charles's architecture making him one of the greatest master of it.
1919: Le Corbusier was 32 years old and founded the architecture magazine
"L'Espirit nuoveau", in which he began to use the name of Le Corbusier (his
grandfather's name). In that magazine Le Corbusier expounded theories near
the Modern movement: an architectural movement that wanted to privilege
the pratical function of buildings according to their beauty.
1920: Charles began his career as an architect.
1922: at the Salon d'Autumne, he illustrated the principal points of his ideal city in his project "City for
three million inhabitants".
1923: Le Corbusier published "Vers une Architecture" in which there are his ideas for future houses.
1927: C.E. Jeanneret won the international contest illustrating his project for the palace of the League of
Ginevra's Nations. The project wasn't realized.
1925/1929: his project for the Centrosoyus, in Moscow, was implemented.
1932: The Swiss Dormitory of Universitary City in Paris was built.
1936: Le Corbusier projected the head office of the Education Minister of Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro.
1944: Le Corbusier came back in his atelier in Paris and in 1946
he moved to New York, where his works and abilities were finally
acknowledged.
1951: the Indian First Minister Nehru commissioned the planning
of the capital of Punjab, Chandigarh (Città d'Argento) to him and
his cousin.
1965: Charles-Edward Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier,
died in Roquebrune, Costa Azzurra.
"Vers une Architecture"
In this work there are Le Corbusier's ideas for future houses
in 5 points. The house imagined by him was supported by
an inner skeleton of reinforced concrete.
1. "I Pilotis": use of pilots rather than walls, raising the house
from the ground and leaving the spaces free from humidity;
2. "Il Toit": a garden was put on the roof, obtaining a mass
regulator in which sand and roots let the water pass;
3. "Il Plan libre": adoption of free plants without any load-
bearing wall;
4. "Le Finetre en longeur": continuous windows from a pilot to
the other one, in this way the spaces are evenly illuminated;
5. "La Façade libre": free facade from every structural
conditioning losing his carrier quality.
Style
In the first period Le Corbusier used rational and
simple forms. The curved line was never used by
him and his style was really near the principles the
Functionalism, as we can see in Villa Savoy.
Later Le Corbusier's approach was the opposite
of the first phase, showing the use of the curved
line and plastic languages. A perfect example is
The Unitè d'habiitation Marseille and Notre-dame
du haut in Ronchamp.
Then, after World War II, le Corbusier developed a
new architectural approach nearer Brutalism. The
most representative example of this style is The Unité
d'Hbitation Marseille, in France, built between 1947
and 1952.
Ville Savoye is a private residence designed
by Le Corbusier, it is located in Poissy, France
This house was built
for the Savoye Family,
they wanted a place
where to spend their
week-ends
VILLE
SAVOYE1829 -1931
The Ground Floor walls are made of Reinforced Concrete.
The design starts from a rectangular structural scheme.
Pillows are positioned to a costant distance of 4.75 m.
The first floor looks like a Floating Box (Heures Claires),
placed on white concrete pillars.
Each view is half-cut by the windows, which give a modern
style to the construction.
STRUCTURE
The contrast between the sharp
angles of the plan and the
dynamism of the inner spaces
give the house a stuble energy.
ARCHITECTURE
Le Corbusier thought that Ville
Savoye wouldn't disturb the
natural environment, thanks to
the integration and the dialogue
with it. The connection between
the nature and house is the
plasticity of the shape and the
path that links indoor and outdoor
spaces.
The style of this structure
belongs to the
International Style, we can
understand this for 5
different elements Plan Libre - Free Plant
Pilotis - Pillar
Facade Libre - Independent walls from the structure
The unité d’habitation Marseille
• The unité d'habitation Marseille was built between
1947 and 1952 and it can be considered one of the most
influential Brutalist buildings of all time.
•Located in Marseille, France, it was thought as a part of
the unrealised Ville radieuse (Radiant City). Le
Corbusier wanted to reunite man within a well-ordered
environment so he designed a linear city based upon the
abstract shape of the human body with head, spine,
arms and legs.
•The Unité is constructed in béton brut (rough-cast concrete)
because the steel frame resulted too expensive in light of post-
War shortages.
•It is a tower block , the solution for rehousing the masses that
had been displaced during the second World War, and that high
rise building could be used to create spacious city homes.
•The building also incorporates shops with a
bookshop, medical and educational facilities, a
hotel and a gastronomic restaurant.
•Each flat lies on two levels,stretching from one
side of the building to the other, with a balcony.
The corridors run through the centre of the long
axis of every third floor of the building.
•There are 337 flats in which
almost 1500 people could live. The
flats are arranged on twelve
storeys, all suspended on large
pilotis, which are supported by
columns, pillars, that lift the
building above ground or water.
•The indoor lighting is one of the fundamental aspects for the
architect and it is obtained using large "strip windows" along the
perimeter walls. This is possible thanks to the pillars, which are
not aligned with the floor.
•The flat roof from which it is possible to see the
Mediterranean sea and Marseille, is designed as a
communal terrace.Here there are a running track, a pool for children and
some sculptural ventilation stacks.
Moreover some
theatrical performances have taken place here.
•Rectangular modules painted with different colours
punctuates the elevation of the facades and they are in
contrast with the concrete.
Notre-dame du Haut in Ronchamp
• Notre-dame du Haut is a chapel in Ronchamp, near Belfry, in France. It is situated at the top
of a mountain and designed by the architect Le Corbusier.
• The project started in 1950, it was finished in 1955 and consecrated in 2005.
• It is one of the most famous examples of the modern religious architecture. The shape of the
building came form a personal consideration about the feeling between the church and
the nature around it. Considering the building as a totally free architecture, it is based just on
the religious acts.
• It is made of a single aisle with
an irregular shape. The walls are
almost curled up on themselves
and through this movement they
create the spaces for the side
chapels and the bell towers.
• There are dozens of various
opening shapes. Louvers,
windows, and shadings that
create evocative lighting effects
enhanced by the contrast
between the white of the plaster
and the dirty gray of the concrete.
• The roof of the church is
made of a concrete casting
as if it was a big upside
sailing. To increase the
sense of lightness the
cover doesn't rest directly
on the walls, but on short
pillars drowned in the
masonry. Inside the church
you perceive a blade of
light that penetrates
between the walls and the
sailing.
• Within the the floor
surface is lightly inclined,
according to the slope of
the land, this inclination
has a psychological
purpose; to invite the
faithful to the altar.
Questions
1.Talk about the 5 principles of Le Corbusier's architecture.
2. What are the main characteristics of the Unité
d'habitation Marseile? (Talk about the materials used, the
pilotis, the flats and the roof)
3. What was Le Corbusier's purpose when he thought about
the costruction of Notre Dame du Haut and how does the
floor help this plan?
4. Why is Ville Savoye is considered in harmony with
nature?