Le Corbusier (1887 - 1965)
Charles-Edouard Jeanneret- Gris was born in La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland, in 1887. He is one of the leading 20th-century architects, also designer, writer and painter and formed the idea of “modern architecture”. He was trained as an engraver and goldsmith but and later studied architecture under Auguste Perret in Paris. In The teh 1920s he adopted the name “Le Corbusier”. The aesthetics of Le Corbusier were laid on his travels and the work he did at leading architecture practices, including work for the distinguished German architect Peter Behrens. In 1919 he founded the journal “L'Esprit Nouveau”, in which he formulated his ideas of modern architecture. Similar to his paintings and drawings, his architecture is showing clear forms and structures, which is based on elemental geometric forms. In 1943 Le Corbusier developed the 'Modulor', a system of proportion based on the male figure and the Golden Mean, used to determine the proportions of units in architecture. The “Modulator” is also the basis of his works in furniture design. One of Le Corbusier´s interests were the mass-produced urban housing and town planning. His post-war buildings rejected his earlier industrial forms and utilized vernacular materials, like steel and reinforced concrete. In the end of his career he concentrated on several projects in India. Le Corbusier´s main ideas were published in “Après le cubisme”, which he wrote with Ozenfant.
He died in 1965 in France.
Important works
- Carpenter Center,Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Centre Le Corbusier, Zurich, Switzerland
- Convent of La Tourette, Eveux-sur-Arbresle, France
- House at Weissenhof, Stuttgart, Germany
- Maisons Jaoul, Paris, France
- Museum at Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad, India
- Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp, France
- Ozenfant House and Studio, Paris, France
- Palace of Assembly, Chandigarh, India
- Philips Pavilion, Brussels, Belgium
- Shodan House, Ahmedabad, India
- Unite d'Habitation, Marseilles, France
- United Nations Headquarters, with Niemeier and Harrison, New York, USA
- Villa Savoye, Poissy, France
- Villa Stein, Garches, France
- Weekend house by Corbusier, Paris, France
