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?