Chapter 2 - 3

03 Architecture

Architectural Styles of Le Corbusier

A leader in modern architecture was Charles—Edouard Jeanneret-Gris.

Better known as Le Corbusier, he embraced the idea that land, people, and buildings should work together.

Endowed with great natural talent,

he was one of the most influential architects of the twentieth century.

Examples of his work can be found in countries around the world.

Though he is classified -as a modernist architect, Le Corbusier used different architectural styles throughout his career to create his works of art.

Le Corbusier himself was one of the leading proponents of the international style of architecture.

This style refers to the buildings and architecture during the 1920s and 30s, the decades that saw the formative years of modernism before World War II.

The chief feature “of the international style was a radical simplification of form that rejected ornamentation, preferred glass, steel, and concrete for building materials, and favored transparency to allow in more natural light.

It accepted the use of industrialized mass-production techniques and saw construction as the honest expression of structure.

Four slogans summed up the ideals espoused by architects that used the international style: “ornament is a crime,” “truth to materials,” “form follows function, “ and Le Corbusier’s own claim that houses are “machines for living in.”

This last quote indicates his fascination with machinery such as automobiles and steamships.

He believed that houses, like machines, should be functional.

Most of Le Corbusier’s designs are based on the international style.

One example is the Villa Savoye built in 1929 by Le Corbusier in Poissy, France.

With its steel and concrete structure, stucco walls, and simple box design, it adheres to the concepts of the international style.

The Villa Savoye is considered a prime example

of modern architecture and one of Le Corbusier’s trademark works.

A decade after World War II, Le Corbusier turned from international style to an expressionistic one when he built the Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut at Ronchamp in France in 1955.

The expressionistic style is characterized by the distortion of form for emotional effect, the curving of geometry, the subduing of realism, the borrowing of natural forms, and the use of mass-produced building materials in the international style.

Notre Dame du Haut was reconstructed on the site of a pilgrimage chapel that was destroyed during the war.

Le Corbusier designed it specifically to make use of the hilltop view of the horizon.

Visible from all four sides, the natural surroundings aid in the expressionistic style of the chapel.

The building itself is made of concrete and stone, some of which were remnants of the destroyed chapel.

The walls are short and thick, while the upturned concrete roof is supported by columns and resembles a sail.

The sail shape alludes

to the chapel being a “ship” of religion.

The building is considered one of the most important examples of religious architecture in the twentieth century due to its unique design.

Le Corbusier himself termed his next style Brutalism when he referred to his choice of building material as beton bruior “raw concrete.” Brutalism has its roots in modernist architecture, preferring to use rough-hewn concrete, stone, stucco, and glass.

It is characterized by repeated angular geometric shapes, glaring irregularities, and rough textures in the unadorned concrete.

It often demonstrates the building’s function using the exterior of the building.

For example, Le Corbusier’s Monastery Sainte Marie de la Tourette has a rough finish to the concrete and a stark design intended to reflect the simple and sometimes harsh life of a monk.

The large concrete structure sits in a meadow surrounded by forest and dominates the landscape.

The monastery contains strategically placed sources of natural light to evoke a feeling of silence and reflection.

There are no stained glass windows, images, or statues for adornment.

Although it is still in use today by a small number of monks, La Tourette is a popular site for architecture students to visit.

They can stay overnight in one of the hundred narrow cells and study a master architect’s achievement first-hand.

Le Corbusier was voted one of Time magazine’s most influential people of the twentieth century because of his impact on building design.

His creations range from private homes to churches and government buildings.

Le Corbusier’s designs are important examples of modernist architecture that still awe people with their ingenuity today, no matter which style he used to build them.