Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier

Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, or better known as Le Corbusier, is considered by many to be one of the fathers of modern architecture. Born in Switzerland in 1887, Le Corbusier believed that architecture had lost its way, and that the world would have to start again, from the bottom up. What that led to was the type of architecture that was to become known as the International Style, with such ideas as raise the building on stilts, mix in a flowing floor plan, make the walls independent of the structure and add horizontal strip windows and top it off with a roof garden. Le Corbusier was a creator, a visionary, a person who wanted to do new things. One thing that Le Corbusier always thought was that American skyscrapers were too small; he wanted to construct multiple, massive 66-story buildings throughout Manhattan.
Le Corbusier took his pseudonym from his great grandfather’s name, and it translates literally to ‘the crow like one’. Le Corbusier took on this name as a metaphor to say that anyone can recreate themselves at any point in their life.
Le Corbusier also wrote many books on architecture and interior design, all resembling something more like an instruction manual more than a book.
Later in his career, Le Corbusier discovered the miracles of reinforced concrete, which allowed him to design and build unique and imaginative buildings, such as
Another idea that Le Corbusier felt strongly about was that of the shape of a city. He was a city planner, and his idea of the model city would be one that abandoned the sprawling urban-spread of congested streets, public squares and messy subdivisions. He felt that there should be designated areas for work, living and play, and all buildings would be in massive scale. He thought that there would be huge apartments buildings, wide roads and large open spaces. He called the design The Radiant City. However, wherever this idea was tried, whether it be in Chandigarh or Brasilia, it failed due to the regimented, daunting and disorienting nature of the layout.
Le Corbusier designed and constructed over 40 buildings, and was also involved in the multinational team of architects that designed the United Nations building in New York City. Later in his life, he began to publish many design magazines and inspired many modern builders, before his death in 1965 when he suffered a heart attack while swimming, his body washing to shore. He was crowned as a model of modern style, and was also recognized on the Swiss franc.

Link to La Cite Radieuse in Marseille
http://www.villes-en-france.org/histoire/Corbu13.html
I believe that this building is a good representation of Le Corbusier’s work because it is his plans for the ‘perfect city’. It shows the uniqueness of his designs and how he thought a city should look like and function. It was created later in his career after he had established himself and allowed his actual ideas to become apparent.

Works Cited
http://www.time.com/time/time100/artists/profile/lecorbusier3.html

www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Le_Corbusier.html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier Mediterranean

Jake Pelling