LE CORBUSIER

An Architect, Designer, Painter, Urban Planner and Writer

INTRODUCTION
• Charles-Édouard Jeanneret known
as Le Corbusier was a Swiss-
French architect, designer, painter,
urban planner, writer, and one of the
pioneers of what is now regarded as
modern architecture.
• He was born in Switzerland and became
a French citizen in 1930.
• His career spanned five decades, and
he designed buildings in Europe, Japan,
India, and North and South America.
• Dedicated to providing better living conditions for the residents of crowded
cities, Le Corbusier was influential in urban planning, and was a founding
member of the Congrès International d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM).
• Le Corbusier prepared the master plan for the city of Chandigarh in India,
and contributed specific designs for several buildings there, especially the
government buildings.
• Le Corbusier remains a controversial figure. Some of his urban planning
ideas have been criticised for their indifference to pre-existing cultural
sites, societal expression and equity, and his ties with fascism,
antisemitism and the dictator Benito Mussolini have resulted in some
continuing contention.
 EARLY LIFE AND CAREER
• He attended a kindergarten that used Fröbelian methods.
• He was attracted to the visual arts and entered the municipal art school in La-Chaux-de-
Fonds
• Architect René Chapallaz - Architecture teacher in school - large influence on Charles' early
works. In his early years, he travelled around Europe.
• He Travelled to Paris and worked in the office of Auguste Perret in 1908
• 1910 – 1911 - Berlin, he worked in the office of Peter Behrens and met Ludwig Mies van der
Rohe and Walter Gropius.
• He visited the Charter house of the Valley of Ema and it influenced his architectural
philosophy profoundly for the rest of his life.
• Journeyed to the Balkans and visited Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece, filling nearly 80
sketchbooks with renderings of what he saw - 1911. During World War I, Charles taught at his
old school in La Chaux-de-Fonds. These four years in Switzerland, he worked on theoretical
architectural studies using modern techniques
• Charles met the Cubist painter Amédée Ozenfant, in whom he recognises a kindred spirit -
1918Charles-Edouard Jeanneret adopted Pseudonym - Le Corbusier - 1920
 ARCHITECTURAL STYLE OF LE
CORBUSIER
• The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier exhibits an unprecedented interchange
of human values, on a worldwide scale over half a century, in relation to the
birth and development of the Modern Movement.
• The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier revolutionized architecture by
demonstrating, in an exceptional and pioneering manner, the invention of a
new architectural language that made a break with the past.
• The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier marks the birth of three major trends
in modern architecture: Purism, Brutalism and sculptural architecture.
• The global influence reached by The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier on
four continents is a new phenomenon in the history of architecture and
demonstrates its unprecedented impact.
• The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier represents a masterpiece of human
creative genius, providing an outstanding response to certain fundamental
architectural and social challenges of the 20th century.
WORKS OF LE CORBUSIER
ARCHITECTURAL WORKS
 VILLA SAVOYE
• Villa Savoye is arguably Le
Corbusier’s most renowned
work and a prime example of
Modernist architecture.
• The sleek geometry of the white
living space, with its elongated
ribbon windows, is supported by
a series of narrow columns
around a curved glazed entrance
– and topped with a solarium.
• Completed in 1931, this building
was revolutionary: the use of
reinforced concrete required for
fewer load-bearing internal
walls, allowing for an open-plan
design.
 NOTRE DAME DU HAUT
•Iconic Notre Dame du Haut is
one of the earliest Modernist
churches.
•It is not a total departure from
traditional church architecture,
with its stained glass, tower,
and high ceilings, symbolically
drawing the eye – and the
mind – towards heaven.
•Each window is cut through
the wall in different sizes and
angles, scattering ethereal
colored light across the room.
 
 IMMEUBLE MOLITOR
• Immeuble Molitor is an apartment building designed by
Le Corbusier and Pierre Jarand built between 1931 and
1934.
• Located at the border between the city of Paris and
the commune of Boulogne-Billancourt in France, it has
been listed along with 16 other architectural works by
Le Corbusier as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Le Corbusier lived in the building from its completion
until his death in 1965.
• The design was constrained by the narrow (12 m) and
deep (24 m) configuration of the site and by strict zoning
codes, which specified the parapet height, conformance
to the existing street wall, and even the placement of
the balconies and bay windows.
• Externally the facades offer a contrast between solid
glass bricks and transparent windows, but internally the
apartments are flooded with light across the entire wall.
Unitè d’habitation (Housing Unit) Maison Guiette (Guiette House)
 National Museum of Western
Capitol Complex Art
LA TOURETTE CONVENT Sanskar Kendra Museum
THANK YOU