Le Corbusier: Architecture, Modernism, and Urban Vision

Introduction: Life and Early Influences

Charles Édouard Jeanneret-Gris was born on October 6, 1887, in the small Swiss town of La Chaux-de-Fonds. He later became known under the pseudonym Le Corbusier. Le Corbusier was one of the creators of the International Style in architecture and also designed furniture. He was an innovator who, along with architects such as Walter Gropius and Theo van Doesburg, was responsible for the style and philosophy of modernist architecture that still influences us today. "He was an early and influential exponent of the Modern Movement and one of the most innovative of 20th-century architects." (Le Corbusier, 1887–1965)

Le Corbusier was attracted to the visual arts from an early age. The earliest houses he designed were reminiscent of the indigenous mountainous vernacular architectural styles popular in the Alps. Later he expanded his artistic horizons and traveled to Europe, where he was employed in the offices of Auguste Perret, a pioneer of reinforced concrete. Between October 1910 and March 1911, he worked for the renowned architect Peter Behrens near Berlin. All of these influences had a significant impact on the development of his style and architectural philosophy.

After the First World War, Le Corbusier returned to Paris and, together with Charles Dermée and the painter Amédée Ozenfant, founded the avant-garde magazine L'Esprit Nouveau. This was more than a publication dealing with architecture; it was concerned with the principle that "all the arts had their place, and also the sciences, sociology, psychology and biology." (Choay, p. 11) This attests to the vision of Le Corbusier and his collaborators — that architecture was part of the larger artistic modernist movement, which incorporated elements of sculpture and other fine arts.

Possibly Le Corbusier's greatest influence was in the area of urban planning. He was a founding member of the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne. He was also among the first to understand how the automobile would change the way people lived and congregated, and the way in which cities would be designed around traffic routes. He saw that this and other technological developments would have a profound effect on modern architecture. "Le Corbusier described the city of the future as consisting of large apartment buildings isolated in a park-like setting… Le Corbusier's theories were most completely adopted by the builders of public housing in the United States." (Le Corbusier: Wikipedia) The influence of technology, innovative modern styles, and industrial processes had a profound effect on his architectural vision.

Today, Le Corbusier is thought of by many as the "Picasso of architecture." He became famous for his creations and designs, including the Punjab capitol buildings in Chandigarh, India; the Unité d'habitation residential complex in Marseilles; the Notre Dame du Haut chapel in Ronchamp, France; and the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University. However, many critics argue that his work originated a dehumanized style of architecture. Throughout his career, Le Corbusier aligned himself with the creative spirit of his age, taking into account the technical developments of the century. His architectural vision constituted a complete aesthetic that he developed — a philosophy that was a reaction to the era in which he lived. Many ascribe his genius to his incorporation of the possibilities that the modern era offered.

His goal was to combine the unconscious aesthetic of the engineers with the revolutionary discoveries of Western art from the time of Cézanne to Picasso. The result would be a new, modern environment as responsive to human wishes as the airplanes, ocean liners, and automobiles that technology had made everyday companions. (Jones, p. 31)

Le Corbusier and Modernism

In order to fully understand the influence and significance of Le Corbusier's artistic imagination and designs, one must first understand the milieu of modernism that shaped his style of architecture. The term modernism refers to a specific period of western cultural, artistic, and sociological history, covering the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries — including the devastating effects of the First World War on European consciousness. Coupled with events like the two world wars were discoveries in science and other disciplines that overturned centuries of belief and convention.

One needs only think of Einstein's theory of relativity and Freud's theory of the unconscious in this regard. Freud's theory opened up a new world of previously unimagined human experience and led to a new perception of the self, as well as new art and art forms. Carl Jung continued this line of inquiry and developed the theory of archetypes, which suggests that all of humanity, across cultural and racial barriers, shares a common memory. Many other historical, philosophical, and scientific changes occurred during this period. The common factor is that all these events led to a deep and radical questioning of the status quo. The worldview that had been generally dominant in Western society for centuries was questioned and overturned. New disciplines, and particularly new art forms, emerged as a reaction to the old ways of seeing things. This was equally true of architecture, with Le Corbusier as one of the major innovators in the field.

The pre-First World War period was a peak period of innovation in all the arts and sciences. The modern movement in painting and sculpture was paralleled by music and literature. It was the age of powered flight, of the motor vehicle, of wireless telegraphy and telephony, and of fundamental discoveries in atomic physics. Architecture, too, shared this heroic phase of creativity. (Myers, B. and Copplestone, T. (ed.), p. 284)

It is against this backdrop that the ideas and innovations put forward by Le Corbusier should be understood. He was concerned that architecture should have a social and moral component. In this he was greatly influenced by the problems he observed developing in the industrial city, and he sought an architectural solution to the social problems that the modern city engendered. "He thought that industrial housing techniques led to crowding, dirtiness, and a lack of a moral landscape. He was a leader of the modernist movement to create better living conditions and a better society through housing concepts." (Le Corbusier: Wikipedia)

It is important to understand that the architectural philosophy created by Le Corbusier and others was strongly aligned with and influenced by conditions in society — and especially by the possibilities offered by new technologies that could shape better living conditions for humanity.

The philosophical origins of modern architecture lay in the idea of social reform… The notion had developed in the 19th century… that man is biologically, socially, and even spiritually a product of his environment. Leaders of the modern movement argued that, if this is so, then especially in a man-made industrialized age, by changing the environment we can change both the individual and society. They said that… the architect must lead the way out. (Myers, B. and Copplestone, T. (ed.), p. 284)

The modernist appeal for architecture lay in the new possibilities that modern science and technological innovation offered:

The Middle Ages aspired toward the City of God, and the Renaissance evoked a more worldly ideal — the great age of classic Rome. The twentieth century too has had its great vision, which is no less poetic because it invokes science and technology. It is that of a new society founded on the machine's gigantic powers of production and man's ability to mold his own environment in the light of his own vision. (Jones, p. 31)

Conclusion

For Le Corbusier, the architectural revolution was about adapting modern technology and artistic concepts for the purpose of improving society. The invention of the automobile and other technologies inspired his creativity. He also saw a disparity between advancement in the modern world and the stagnation of architecture. He felt that advances in thought and technology should be reflected in the construction of buildings and cities:

Yet this veritable mutation of means, and consequently of needs, was not followed by any change in the structure of our everyday setting, the city or dwelling place. Their lack of adaptation to their new function constitutes a scandalous situation for the thinking man: 20th-century man lives in false surroundings built on outdated truths. Le Corbusier will fight for the architectural revolution. (Choay, p. 14)

Something of this attitude can be seen in the following description of his vision of the city and its architectural necessities:

The placing of buildings along "corridor streets" is unhealthy (traffic noises, no sun, no vegetation); their dimensions are insufficient; even in New York the skyscrapers are timid, and the city is "a spectacular catastrophe"; the dispersion of garden-towns is doomed from an economic standpoint; the dwelling itself, the living cell, too large but uncomfortable, is chock-full of useless, finicky objects, a jumble inherited from a past age. On top of this, the building technique employed in towns has remained at an archaic and handicraft stage; it contrasts with that used for dams, airplane hangars. (Choay, p. 15)

Many people still criticize his work as having dehumanized architecture. Le Corbusier died with the impression that he had been unjustly criticized and that his attempts to bring architecture in line with societal and human needs had gone largely unappreciated. ("Exhibit Traces Development of Le Corbusier")