archi history 3.3

le corbusier, ciam, charters

where was le corbusier from, which style did he belong to, what does his name mean

he was swiss-born, became french in 1930

arguably the most important modern architect

his name can mean raven or crow

what, by who

maison domino →

this building/house that was made only of concrete: slabs, pillars/columns, and staircases. thus allowing total freedom of the facade

by corbusier

what, style, when, by who, for what

l'esprit nouveau pavilion

the 1925 paris exhibition it was built for gave the name to art deco

1925

by corbusier

for an international exhibit in paris

what, where, when

corbusier haus

in the weissenhof estate, stuttgart, germany

1927

what, where, when, by who

villa la roche

in paris

1923

le corbusier

built for raoul la roche (the other half of the building was for his brother)

what

le corbusier’s the modulor

gives helpful measurements when designing and constructing

what, you have to know when, by who, where

the chapel of notre dame du haut // ronchamp chapel

1950 - 1955

by le corbusier

in france

what, by who, where, when

the unite d'habitation

lots of maison dominos stacked together

by le corbusier

in marseille, france

1947 - 1952

what, where, by who, when

the convent of sainte marie de la tourette

in france

le corbusier

1953 - 1960

for priests and monks

what, you have to know when, by who, for what

philips pavilion

1958

by le corbusier and iannis xenakis

built for the world fair in brussels

the five points of architecture according to le corbusier

p.1 → free ground floor, the building looks elevated from the ground; on columns called pilotis

p.2 → roof garden or terrace

p.3 → free floor plan, allowed by the columns, which completely carry the building

p.4 → the long horizontal windows, called ribbon windows

p.5 → the free design of the facade

why did le corbusier built in india

when india gained its independence from britain, punjab needed a new capital. they built chandigarh and commissioned le corbusier for some buildings there

le corbusier's work in chandigarh

the open hand monument

by le corbusier

in the same style as the modulor

in india

what, where, by who, when

the centre of le corbusier

in zurich

le corbusier’s last work

1962 - 1967

ciam

an organisation that wanted to spread the modern movement everywhere geographically and everywhere as in all parts of construction (urban planning, landscape, industrial design, etc.)

the athens charter

1933, by ciam

very prominent zoning, meaning that one part of the city is residential, one part is shopping, one school, etc → stupid → fail

very detached residential buildings, trying to make it private and remote. this kills the natural safety factor, because there are no people going to the buildings that do not live there, there are no grandmas that look towards the street → unsafe → stupid → fail

lots of dead space between zones, the idea is to have parks and to accentuate the zoning → dead spaces, can’t move without a car → failure

best applied in brasilia, the new capital in brazil

many projects built on this idea were later criticised, some even demolished

the venice charter

1964, not by ciam (it had ended in 1959), but by an international congress of restoration experts, adopted by icomos

a principle in restoration that says that if you’re rebuilding something, you have to clearly show which are the new parts. you were not allowed to reconstruct buildings, as they initially were

e.g. the neues museum

this whole thing is now seen as outdated

current view on reconstruction

accepted by unesco when the purpose is showing the original form of the building