Le Corbusier: History, Work, and Style - Research Paper Example

Le Corbusier Charles Edouard Jeanneret Gris, commonly known as Le Corbusier, was born in North West Switzerland in the year 1887. His area of specialty was architecture, but he also ventured in designing, literature, and contributed majorly to modernization. He changed his citizenship to French in 1930 for reasons best known to him. Additionally, his exemplary work brought contribution in the improvement of the living standards of those living in urban areas. He incorporated his trademark “Le Corbusier” from his ancient ancestor “Lecorbesier”. During his life, he received two prestigious awards for his immense development of human life housing standards (Gans 12). He greatly, influenced urbanization in France through his designs that were used to house important departments for the French government. Moreover, he helped curb the increase of slum dwellings through the designing of ultra modern houses of improved standards (Corbusier 9). He died in August 27, 1965 at the age of seventy-seven after taking a swim at the Mediterranean Sea due to a presumed heart attack. This paper will take a broad look into Le Corbusier history, his remarkable work, and his unique architectural style. It will, also cite his most important architectural works that are used as points of reference in today’s house designing field. Le Corbusier initial publications were in French leading to the publication of the first English translation in 1927 by British author Fredrick Etchells. According to, Etchells mass and volume were relatively the same, which was not the case in the original French version of the book. His linguistic style was also desirable, as his choice of words to describe his designs was difficult to paraphrase even to well educate scholars (Wogenscky 54). Arguably, his designs drew inspiration from nature and the environment at large to bring out its unique characteristics. They involved the use of indefinite shapes and sizes to strike an amazing balance of design. His journals were instrumental in the facilitation of acknowledgement of integral architectural reforms. Initially, he kept his work to himself but after gaining exposure through mingling with other established artists, he saw the need to venture into it commercially. In the end, his expansion took a slow turn due to the hefty financial burden imposed on him. His book collection was on drawings and journals that he had done through his traversing of Europe. Subsequently, he was a prophet in the architectural world as his designs are visible in today’s structures. In other words, he foretold the building of the more than one storey building. In addition, this great architect took notice in the work of engineers who built bridges that connected one area to another. In relation to his designs, the people of the lower class would have a better quality of life through living in better-built homes. Controversially, he disregarded The Gare d’Orsay and the Grand Palais buildings on grounds of them not being recognizable architecture (Corbusier 13). In his words, Paris was becoming wasteland architecture wise. Comparisons what he used to describe his pieces as at some point he compared houses to ocean liners as the only difference between the two would be that one is mobile while the other is not. This led to the invention a staircase design borrowed from the ocean liners concept of access. In many of his journals, he exhibited his keen eye in visualizing houses to other objects for example airplanes. He cited the airplanes ability to stay in the air and its mobility at the same time. This is where he decided to use the concept of suspension from the ground for his designs. In that, possibilities were right before people’s eyes but it was hard for them to read the lines. Over the years, his work was the backbone in the building of many town structures. Essentially, the establishment of various cultural heritage sites in his honor was inevitable due to his contribution to modernization. To date, there are nine hundred and sixty two heritage sites spread across a hundred and fifty two countries. His designs were unique as he sought the use of standing pillars and concrete floors to create a stable building. He treated the actual buildings as machines for navigating human life. His first project involved the use of a modular system, which employed the use of unit sizes that measured to the human physique. This meant that the ground floor would consist of strong pillars then the rest of the building would sit on it (Gans 62). Amazingly, the walls on the ground floor would not depend on the rest of the building for support. To top it all up, he added strip windows and a roof top garden to his piece where the building’s occupants could go and unwind. This back in that day was a great accomplishment as it housed many individuals on a limited piece of land with comfort and ease. To him, vertical development was less space consuming compared to building horizontally. Essentially, these structures helped to decongest many cities and allowing room for expansion and growth of urban centers. At some point in his life, he together with two of his siblings designed furniture within the same modular principle. Their furniture were comfortable and stable as they consisted of a flat concrete base, leather finishing, and veneers to gift it a soft touch (Wogenscky 76). Even as his work gained accreditation from various sources, he did not fall short of critic. Some said that his tall buildings wasted space, as their chance for full occupancy was minimal. They implied that building such was a waste of time and had earned resources. Evidently, Le Corbusier underwent financial trouble as he even went ahead to borrow from his family just to prove that his ideologies were worthwhile. However, this did not shutter his ambitions to show his critics that anything was achievable if one put their mind to it despite the challenges that may occur (Corbusier 23). More critic came his way as others felt that the financially under privileged societies would face discrimination from those societies that could afford to put up such buildings. Therefore, this would in turn widen the gap between the rich and the poor. This was highly so because his inventions took shape during the Pre World War II period hence gave nations a reason to participate in the war. This was very contrary to what he had intended to bring forth. Some misunderstood him by saying that his ideas only existed because there was freedom of speech and expression therefore of no significance to the reality of life. Lucky, for him, none of his pieces faced the wrath of those who did not appreciate his work (Gans 12). In addition to drawing, his painting prowess was natured by his long time friend Ozenfant Amedee where he concentrated on doing abstract pieces. This incorporated the use of fantasy images in a piece that would not give an immediate picture of what was going on a painting. Despite his poor eyesight, he produced masterpieces that made him a proud painter and architect. He developed poor eyesight at a tender age but lost full sight in one of his eye in 1918. This goes to show that being physically impaired does not warrant one to sit on their potential. His art pieces were worth thousands of dollars across the Europe with their prospects looking high in the Asian and North American continents (Corbusier 17). Evidently, in his home he had wall hangings of famous paintings by Picasso and Braque among a long list of painters. The paintings that he did were excellent and they had a great impact on the building of his name to one adorned with much repute. He became an icon and a legend of his time as he set the benchmark standards that others were to attain. On the other hand, the theories that he brought about depicted societal dysfunction, as there was no clear difference between where people worked and where they live. Congestion, suffocation, and unhealthy surroundings were what characterized the people’s working environment. He chose to draw a line by showing how a home environment should be set up through adequate spacing and planning. In this regard, architecture would be a fundamental pillar into restoring healthy living standards for the urban workforce. White as a color was also very symbolic in his work and not any other color (Moffett et. al 117). White in itself is a color that denotes sophistication and strength. He used it because it created the impression that the stilts used to support the building were not likely to crumble. The use of any other color would have spurred fear to the occupants of the modular structured building. Therein, he came up with the five point Architectural formulas to illustrate stability of his designs. The first principle involved the suspension of mass from the ground. The second principle involved the spacing of the load bearing pillars from the outer walls in equal distances and thirdly the building of the structure vertically and proportionally. Fourthly, his principle invoked the use of horizontally gliding windows to create the illusion of balance and lastly the finishing of the building to be a garden instead of a bear roof (Guedes 12). His important works included the Villa Fallet in Switzerland, his friend Ozenfant painting and his entire house, Villa La Roche in Paris, and Villa Cook in France. Other were reputable structures outside France designed by him included Villas in Weissenhof Estate Germany, Villa Schodan and Villas in Chandigarh in India. This shows that he designed the villa-structured houses whose reception was positive (Moffett et. al 142). In his profession, he mentored young and old individuals who wished to be as renowned as he was and realize vast recognition far and wide. An example of his protege’ would be Lucio Costa who was an architect from Brazil. Many constructors in the developing Europe and American continent also adopted his ideal theories. In addition to this, his journals were essential in the development of urban establishments after World War II. The reason behind this was the increased importance of upgrading from vulgar settlement to a more cost-effective and refined living standards. However, with the improvement of the living conditions of the middle-income earners, there was also a challenge due to the disruption of the residents’ routes to work (Gans 35). This meant that the modernized housing units existed in areas initially meant to be linkages between their work places and their homes. This posed a challenge as many had to look for alternate means of transport that included personal vehicles as a substitute for railway transport. It was financially tasking for the population but it was unavoidable as if not addressed would have created a labor crisis in the cities. Surprisingly, Le Corbusier discourses were more or less influential because they had a lot in common with Machiavelli’s way of writing (Guedes 52). His journals were more focused on ensuring that people got better settlement just like Machiavelli’s whose main idea was to encourage people to champion for their societal rights and attain better leadership. In conclusion, the Foundation Le Corbusier established in 1968 at the French Capital, Paris is home to this great architect’s work. Moreover, Maison La Roche houses his drawings and paintings that total to eight thousand, his sketches in collaboration with his brother Pierre Jeanneret as well as about thirty enamels. His collection of newspaper clippings and photographic evidence of his travels are visible in this museum. The foundation boasts of having the largest compilation of Le Corbusier work as no other place in the world plays homage to his pieces. This writer went down history books as a reformist, role model, designer, an urbanite, and a result-oriented individual. Remarkably, he is an inspiration to the current generation as one who defied all odds to ensure that he appeared in history’s hall of fame. Many cities are what they are today due to his limitless imagination and were it not for him the cities would have hosted many slum dwellings therefore limiting modernization. The architectural world will forever salute him for his great contribution to it. Works Cited Gans, Deborah. The Le Corbusier Guide. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006. Print. Corbusier Le. Toward an Architecture. London: F. Lincoln, 2008. Print. Moffett, Marian et. al. A World History of Architecture. London: King, 2003. Print. Wogenscky, Andre?. Le Corbusier's Hands. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2006. Print. Guedes, A. The Paintings and Sculptures of Le Corbusier. Web 20 Sep. 2012. Corbusier Le. The Saylor Foundation. Web 20 Sep. 2012. Read More