Architectural Analysis - Essay Example

Architectural analysis By: + Task 4 Le Corbusier, Born as Charles-Edouard Jeanneret at La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, left his birthplace in 1917, and permanently settled in Paris. He took up art and architecture under the influence of his teacher, Charles L’Eplattenier. Le Corbusier had constructed a significant number of structures in his birthplace, La Chaux-de-Fonds and in Paris. He received considerable attention when he published ‘Towards an Architecture” in 1923, a book that remains an iconic reference of modern architecture, the same year he got the commission for constructing the Maison La Roche House for his friend Raoul La Roche (Colquhoun, 2002). This essay will discuss Le Corbusier’s approach and feelings towards structures, the objects of the structures and how he expressed this in his architecture and art by evaluating the “The Five Points in Architecture” he used as a structural basis on the buildings he worked on including Maison La Roche in Paris. Le Corbusier’s “Five Points in Architecture” construction concept can be observed in several structures including the Maison La Roche, the Maison Citrohan, the “L’esprit nouveau” Pavilion, the Ville Contemporaine, the Maison Cook, the Villa Savoye etc. , and in artworks such as Villa Stein. These artworks can be associated with his architectural designs in regard to the development of Purism (Colquhoun, 2002). The ‘Five Points in Architecture’ basis was derived from two ideas that Le Corbusier and his friend Max Dubois came up with in the year 1915. One idea, Maison Dom-ino, represented the ‘Five Points in Architecture’ which are Pilotis (Columns), ribbon windows (long horizontal windows), free plan (Open plan), Roof garden and free façade. Le Corbusier observed these elements as object types as explained in his book ‘Toward an Architecture’ (Vers une architecture) and in his journal ‘The New Spirit’ (‘L’Esprit nouveau’) Maison La Roche was constructed as a project for two joined houses with each having a distinct floor plan. One house was to accommodate the bachelor Raoul La Roche who was a collector of modern painting and was extremely passionate about art while the second was constructed with a family structure in mind. The second house was built for Le Corbusier’s brother Albert Jeanneret, who had a wife and two daughters. “The Five Points Architecture” La Roche house can be considered as the first application Le Corbusier’s Five Points Architecture” in regard to the five elements although he did not formalize with the concept until 1927. The concept was implemented fully and formally when he constructed the Villa Savoye in 1928. As discussed the concept of the “Five points of Architecture” consist of five elements whose significance is elaborated in detail The pilotis (Columns) - The pilotis (columns) initially, were meant to allow architects to easily apply the concept of the Open plan through the entire construction of the house allowing for free circulation of the visitors under the building. Le Corbusier describes this as “Pilotis give the illusion that the house if floating in the air above the ground: since the garden is located below the house and is also located above the house on the roof. Long, horizontal windows-The long, horizontal windows are seamlessly integrated into the façade without interruptions. Le Corbusier interpretation of this is that the windows are essential elements of the house that bring in life and are a symbol of revolutionary elements that bring liberation. Roof gardens - The roof gardens are designed to redefine the old traditional roof construction techniques and supplement them a garden suspended on top of the house thus incorporating art and architecture with the beauty of nature. Le Corbusier argued that the roof top is the ideal location for relaxation since it is distant from the street therefore noise is limited and air is less polluted, there is abundant sunlight. He claimed that the roof top should be built to hold a roof garden that would create a perfect location for relaxation furnished with a shelter for refuge in times of bad weather where one could plant flowers, grass, shrubs etc. and also build cement slabs (Colquhoun, 2002). Open Plan - The open plan is meant to liberate the interior organization of the building and thus rendering each spatial distribution on the floor independent from the other. Open façade - The open façade acts as an envelope that is entirely independent of the rest of the structure thus allowing the windows to run freely and uninterrupted from one to the other end of the façade. The Maison La Roche Building The exterior of the house The pilotis elements: These can be observed in the Maison La Roche’s exterior as the slender columns supporting the house freely in the space above the ground. The pilotis elements are generally inviting to the visitor since they can freely move under the building to observe the areas below the studio and the garden. The pilotis have an added advantage in that they create a great a space below the house that can be used to create a garden (Forty, 2000). La Corbusier describes this implementation by saying that “the construction on the pilotis allows for the recuperation of the garden in almost the entire terrain that would otherwise have been occupied by the building. Le Corbusier also believed that by implementing the pilotis elements to the whole city it would initiate a modernized architectural look since the whole modernized city would be elevated up to a level that would allow for better circulation of cars since the ground would be kept clear. The idea can be seen in the Maison La Roche by the projecting studio wing which is elevated using pilotis. The area beneath the studio could be used as a car park or as a road to access the road since it is located along the axis of the access road. The long, horizontal windows: Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, while planning for the construction of the Maison La Roche, came up with the idea of long, horizontal windows so that they could eliminate the long-bearing walls by introducing many big lead-ins of light (windows) into the façade. This method was a modernization of the old methods that architects employed at the time of using vertical models. In the Maison La Roche, there is a band of long windows that run horizontally bridging the two homes and two long windows that penetrate to the height of the art gallery in Raoul’s house (Jenger and Le Corbusier, 1996). This element had an advantage in that light could freely penetrate the depths of the art gallery and the entire house reaching every corner of the room to offer the desired luminosity in the gallery. They also served a purpose of dissolving the boundary between the exterior and the interior of the house (Forty, 2000). The Maison La Roche’s open plan was constructed as a modernization of the old architectural techniques where traditional constructions would mostly contain load-bearing walls that hence determined the interior organization of the rooms in the house in each floor. La Corbusier modernized his techniques by using reinforced concrete so as to liberate the floor plan of such limitation. La Corbusier’s approach was to give the architects the freedom to arrange the interior partitions as they required them thus meeting the needs of functions since floors were no longer built by compartmentalization as stacks on top of each other (Colquhoun, 2002). The open facade: Both houses were formally constructed with a serene composure of geometric elements ranging from cubes to perfectly polished and smooth walls. Le Corbusier originally developed the plans of the Maison La Roche with the Dom-ino system in mind. The Dom-ino system was an industrial architectural design based on modular elements that were composed of six posts, three walls, and a staircase with each module being independent in that it could be combined with other modules to construct a house edifice (Jenger and Le Corbusier, 1996). This is evident in the Maison La Roche’s structure since the general framework comprises of concrete posts and brick blocks so that the walls bear insignificant weight. Le Corbusier describes his façades as nothing more than lightweight sheaths of insulation (Jenger and Le Corbusier, 1996). The roof garden: Maison La Roche construction plan incorporated a roof garden which was Le Corbusier’s techniques of modernizing the roof top. Le Corbusier, as early as 1915, had sought to replace the old inclined type of roof and replace it with a modern type owing to the laminations and insignificance of the old roof type. He argued that the traditional inclined model allowed water to shed onto the exterior walls of the house which would later freeze in winter leading to corrosion of the walls due to increased humidity (Moos & Heer, 2009). He argued that his new techniques backed by reinforced concrete would allow for the construction of roof terraces that would incorporate an internal water drainage system. His argument was that this method would ensure a consistent level of humidity is maintained on the roof garden thus preventing the reinforced concrete from cracking (Jenger and Le Corbusier, 1996). The Maison La Roche was constructed with a spot for relaxation in mind it had a shelter for refuge in times of bad weather, furniture to use and plantation of grass, flowers and shrubs (Forty, 2000). The internal structure of the house The Maison La Roche internal structure was built with inspirations from both the purist movement and the ‘Five Points of Architecture’ concept. The house presents many inspirations from the Purist movement ranging from the fixtures to the house’s form. The interior of the house is constructed with extensive use of overlapping surfaces and transparent glazing areas which are similar to the features of the purist painting that encompass the use of overlapping planes. The house’s interior marries the purism subject matter to the ‘Five Points of Architecture’ by the use of fixtures including naked light bulbs, door latches, simple chairs, door latches and radiators which present an industrial extraction of the house’s plan (Colquhoun, 2002). Open Plan - The La Roche’s internal open plan was exquisitely planned by La Corbusier to cater for both Raoul La Roche’s and his brothers needs. By liberate the interior organization of the building he offered Raoul La Roche a space for his art collection that was open to the public and also offered him some privacy that he could enjoy as a bachelor and to his brother, the interior of the house had adequate space that was designed to cater for the needs of his family. Each room on each floor was specifically designed for specific purposes. The La Roche, The art gallery was constructed to match up with the atmosphere of the art which was radically achieved upon entrance into the gallery. The gallery stretches horizontally offering adequate space for railing of pictures and to allow a person to view all the present art on the wall simultaneously (Forty, 2000). Open facade - The open facade on the inside architecture was designed to allow maximum use of the long horizontal windows lighting the rooms since they run freely from each façade to the other. Long, horizontal windows-The La Roche’s long, horizontal windows are seamlessly integrated into each façade without interruptions thus light entering the interior of the house is in abundance. This was necessary in order to offer adequate light in the art gallery and each other room during the day for visitors to view the art in the gallery without straining. In conclusion, La Corbusier implemented his “Five Points of Architecture” in majority of his buildings even before he had officially formalized it in 1927. All of La Corbusier’s constructions were build in new modernized ways since he wanted to move from the old traditional techniques as they had less significance in the modern world. La Roche was one of the first buildings that La Corbusier constructed that fully implemented the “Five Points of Architecture” concept and purism together. Reference list Colquhoun, A,. 2002. Modern architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Edwards, S., 2011. AD Classics: Villa Roche / Le Corbusier. [online] ArchDaily. Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/151365/ad-classics-villa-roche-le-corbusier/ [Accessed 6 Jan. 2015]. FORTY, A. (2000). Words and buildings: a vocabulary of modern architecture. London, FRAMPTON, K. (2001). Le Corbusier. London, Thames & Hudson. Jenger, J. and Le Corbusier,. 1996. Le Corbusier. New York: Abrams. Le Corbusier,.1998). Essential Le Corbusier. Oxford: Architectural. Moos, S. V., & Heer, J. D. (2009). Le Corbusier, elements of a synthesis. Rotterdam, 010 Publishers. 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