1887-1965
Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris was born in La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland, 1887. Trained as an artist, he travelled extensively through Germany and the East. In Paris he studied under Auguste Perret and absorbed the cultural and artistic life of the city. During this period he developed a keen interest in the synthesis of the various arts. Jeanneret-Gris adopted the name Le Corbusier in the early 1920s.
Le Corbusier's early work was related to nature, but as his ideas matured, he developed the Maison-Domino, a basic building prototype for mass production with free-standing pillars and rigid floors. In 1917 he settled in Paris where he issued his book Vers une architecture [Towards a New Architecture], based on his earlier articles in L'Esprit Nouveau.
From 1922 Le Corbusier worked with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret. During this time, Le Corbusier's ideas began to take physical form, mainly as houses which he created as "a machine for living in" and which incorporated his trademark five points of architecture.
...Which are his Trademark 5 Points?
Best achieved at La Villa Savoye in Poissy (1929). Central to his work, Piloti, Fenetre Longeur, Free plan, Active Roof space and Free facade (digital 3D). He was very focused on proportion of mass and space and keen to meld lessons from Classical architecture with modern technology exploited in cars, ships and planes.
During World War II, Le Corbusier produced little beyond some theories on his utopian ideals and on his modular building scale. In 1947, he started his Unite d'habitation. Although relieved with sculptural roof-lines and highly colored walls, these massive post-war dwelling blocks received justifiable criticism.
Le Corbusier's post-war buildings rejected his earlier industrial forms and utilized vernacular materials, brute concrete and articulated structure. Near the end of his career he worked on several projects in India, such as Chandigarh, which utilized brutal materials and sculptural forms. In these buildings he readopted the recessed structural column, the expressive staircase, and the flat undecorated plane of his celebrated five points of architecture.
Le Corbusier did not fare well in international competition, but he produced town-planning schemes for many parts of the world, such as Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, among others. One of his disciples, Oscar Niemeyer, was actively involved planning of several buildings in Brasilia.
Other projects in the later part of "Corbu's" career are: La Chapelle de Ronpchamps and Le Couvent de La Tourette.
Lastly, I would like to share with you that in 1987 I was fortunate to be invited to a magical evening at La Villa Savoye to mark the 100 years of Le Corbusier. Imagine this Villa come to life with music of Eric Satie in the background, and guests enjoying a promenade through the ramp in long gowns and tuxedos sipping wine and champagne on the terrace jardin. A night engraved in my memory...
Le Corbusier is considered on of the masters of architecture of the 20th century along with Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies Van de Roe.
I hope that you enjoyed this humble summary.
