i) ES GN ye jand the’ Gontinual Revolution in Architecturees fora Meuble Secret dak for spent howse, 1915 (60 A Realty dscpined by geome suet eaneret taught in the Neve Jon The hea font eg cries a tout seton a cutous functional cepresson cased wah the ve esthetic The secre rowin te house that Le Comuser ‘esgne fer hs ether on Lake 48 Pret for he Paul Dtaheim fung. La Chaucde-Fonds, 1912 {81 Theeby nut Chis on ‘he Aenean carmel mode ed plates, below, encose two ‘of setng space while the neu val val above, Hod he wath foe 1, Shale remained 3 ‘rsa theme of Le Corbuse, hos he usualy mos with ‘con agmmmeties ‘eage that Jeanneret had learned from Perret. The w, archit ay space and tural forms continue to slide around corner obstacles recalls the eres deas of Frank Lloyd Wright, whose work Jeanneret was beginning to study. And then there is ornament, points, that recalls Fdonard’s longstanding commitment to invent- {nga Jura language. Many architects inthis century have built their first house for their parents, and ifone is going to send them to the poorhouse doing so, then a least Jeanneret makes a fine job of it Yet the synthesis was not altogether sccure, and many inner doubts remained. This ean he seen in the lighting fixtures, Araperies, French doors, wallpaper, and rugs for the house, If we consider the building asa total work of art, as Edouard would have one, then ithas problems of integration. The most convincing parts of the design are the inventive but revivalist furniture which Jeanneret was designing at the time and in the specifications for “Louis XIII” and "Directoire” furniture in his buildings (fig. 47] When Le Corbusier was later to proclaim, dogmatically, “The Siyles’ are a li,” he was speaking with authority. By 1915, he had already mastered several of them, including the Greek, Italian Renaissance, Louis IV, XV, and XVI, Biedermeier, and Beaux-Arts Classicism=not fo mention all the medieval styles he was then, rejecting: Jeanneret’s favorites at the time were what Frank Lloyd Wright called "stripped or deflowered classicism,” a purgative form ‘of design on its way'to minimalism. One of the more ornamented vwas his design fora watch factory, aeross between a Renaissance palazzo and an industrial building in reinforced concrete. with fac- tory windows [48]. Le Corbusier, as the archetypal Modernist in the tradition of the unappreciated genius, often gives the impression that he was disregarded by soviety and the power structure, whereas the truth is more interesting than that, as his next commission shows. It was fora self-made industrialist, Georges Favre-Jacot, the sixty-nine ‘year-old semiretired founder of the Zenith Watch Company, and located in Le Locle. a town next to La Chaux-de-Fonds,Itisa ‘grand lalian villa, but very much in the white Jura Glassiefsm that Gingria-Vaneyre had proposed as an appropriate response forthe ‘area, and it looks over the valley from where the entrepreneur could see his factory and his six hundred workers churning out 100,000 watches peryear. le Cote rm eben a Sate‘ | | 3 j wen Cae be ees re serene 7 | rns and thei loge Fed fF Ste eoe it leads en, what Coln space. The problems end fat, oe e369 est and we cannot have a new architecture every Monday morning,” then the Domino system has to be understood as the last great structural principle of Modernism. It dominated practice until Post-Modern nonlinear structures eame on the scene, inthe x9908, and they still Ihave a long way to go before they challenge the repetitive box. Jeannerct did not entirely invent the system. He modified ideas from Perret, his engineering friend Max Du Bois (whom he forgot to credit) reinforced: concrete systems already on the market (Guch as that of Hennebique), and the visual system of Chicago skysorapers. [As Colin Rowe has argued, the Chicago frame plus Dom-ino equals Modernism, Its the two-way neutrality of the former, the cagelike expression of the inside structure on the outside, skin, which becomes the dominant idea for Le Corbusier's major: competitor in Modernism=Mies. The two together made the right angle and the dumb box into the most terrifying cliché ever:and stripped Classicism into a total service [fig. 56, 7]. This did allow him many trips to Paris to buy furnishing forhis clients, the haute bourgeoisie of La Chaux-de-Fonds. As hesaid in letters to Ritter, this provincial clientele drove him to distraction, with its pettiness and lack of commissions worthy of his talent. ‘They were not building a Colosseum or an Acropolis. Thus whena developer, Edmond Meyer, planned a cinema and variety theater forthe town, Jeanneret leapt at the opportunity. His old partner in architecture, René Chapallaz, who had over seen his early villas, actually had the commission already, and designed plans and elevations, But that did not stop Jeanneret from entering the fray. On June 20, 1916, he took the plans that Ghapallaz had submitted the day before, redrew them everso slightly, ceping essential elements such as a reinforced -concrele balcony of seven meters. As Allen Brooks has argued, the dimen- sions and complexity of a very tight and well worked out design ould not all have been developed from scratch in one day. Jesnneret virtually stole the design from Chapallar, with the deve oper's connivance, When Le Corbusier died, in 1965, and news pers published the designs as his, Chapallaz filed a lawyers certified statement, "There ‘seems little doubt,” as Brooks ‘summa "es the evidence, “that, except for one or perhaps both facades: ‘heplans, scetions, and the structural system represent Chapall!= ‘intellectual property.” Jeanneret’s unprofessional behavior is regrettable, but Rot ee te johe toy, even among the best architects. The) aPPS Co thie atch other ithe developer or client urges hes » Snowing there are no clear ethical guidelines in 8 ‘marketplace. After all, the customer ig right, the owner isthe M pitalisti ~ oe } Lacerta evo one He eat 1917280 flere ptt ren inate font pinay lojra pee “ld ea lng cell et 6g. ieee ney cb) Doi oped lige se The work onthe “equipment” started n 1927 and calm canbe funconof inane ot dexged frie Selon Aas relinig pono Asinalhs work. Lec that ane ed frm both ide and the house from clater-raberlike aunese storage space El from serena Inthe” Mana of he Del leCorbaier fer starts from basi antienal betes tobecoastant ad univer Ths uma body sd bai, daly ig tulkng and relning. From these tremens ox“ebject-members,” he derives the “objec ype nlrb the ey hale sucha states efor ce reading a relaing, theo ring ng he British Ofer bai, orate dine esc densi andthe forma: fitng ee bg 941.8 surprisingly, these thre ebirs mvenioo of ler pottypes Since the intention tarda perectit. ths mas to be expected Ie crating a aw Ferrand an Le Corbusier have extended tothe ani eedocking ater Dean concealed or dfn ighing ofeach pooiype.lumerous cet uperpesed nse elevation and plan ike an eng resin drawing The rectangular ‘eam aefeguliig lines de Bee be wt, veg aver ah tens to which the Purists appealed ment where everything is based on the right angle: hhas to hea geometrical animal. Photography. cinema, and the press have rendered the need for representational art obsolete stories can now be told better in other media, while art can con- ‘centrate on its own ends of being pure, emotional language. Modern life, with its basis in science, measurement, and exa ‘tude, has created a new superior breed of man, whose reason reigns supreme, who is more complex and intelligent, achieves the highest state of development-self- knowledge, ‘We understand for want ofa better word, by Hieratism, the state of the mind which a civilization reaches when, leaving the empirical period, it becomes conscious of that which previ- cusly itonly felt... Hieratism is the age of knowledge, know! ‘edge of itself, moment of knowledge acquired after along stile \.973. Sehamatic nas of the vilas 2 aves aed Pas, dawn by Ken Yeang, The rine elment referred to on pages 165-65 ae utaposed in an ‘veto of ace, an empl of ‘enpacion composton. Diagonal Js show the clurn gn the str ture, projected eno the feur horizons 3528 al cose onetatonthe ‘del square the case of F055, ON the ren and back Garches shows enatng ete Bays wth ha Imoicus propor: 2 1,2, 1,2 Fossyhasasteady A.A Atythm broken inthe middle As Coin Rowe sshou, beth ils have Palladian recedents, But as these two drawings showy the basi dea geometry ‘countered by secondary incidents The Sao! these convasts as fist learned by laoreet vsting Pompeian hows end then in hs Furst anngs Thejtapostion ot gromety anc ‘reaping cements cetes his ‘eth compaction canotion. {instead of allowing them to be seen through (except in the unique ‘ease of glass). Hence when one wanders through a Le Corbusier building one finds a succession of elements partly hidden and parily revealed. This accounts for their exeitement and suspense. Le Corbusier once remarked that if building looked out on a beautiful landseape one should sometimes block the general view sos to make its sudden appearance all the more surprising—a revelation. The monks of La Tourette will conduet the visitor through the building on a preferred path showing ll the clements overlapping and changing relationship in a symphony of move~ ‘ment, This is most effective when the elements are pure in form ‘and few in number. Garches was originally designed for the Steins and Madame Gabrielle de Monzie, who was estranged from her husband. The idealism of the villa consists not only in the way itintegrates two families into a unity and perfects a Purist system, but also in the ‘way it addresses natureand technology. For instance, the villa was often called “Les Terrasses” by the architect, and the initial schemes showed an elaborate promenade of walkways punching ‘through walls, looking over trees to catch the best views and dra- rmatize movement, A racetrack atthe top was proposed (a bit 00 ‘deal for Madame Stein, who vowed she would not even elimb the ‘outdoor spiral stain). The drawings show the sun and greenery Le comin: Te Hr fhe Hoi Pr 1917-28,“Threarerto secrets sods er psig drag sto erin tl rs pi ‘rian nc sae. he hare ipa Sli hg Non Golden Rehab eho seo pre sbg elie at Golden sai Saar othe tut Cus set hechon icc nt heeing rma Thr he mire ‘ny andtctbymemolneehamleot foe yher ‘oor ore Mansel er poco res ok erhagindvay bebop accent ee net Teves Calc owing phew pb hed ts Ge contin pes val ese ‘hey atedorn afta hes acne pte sk Some ened woes lng em hn bers Asche om endegned Parana te ne fges a rent yin dels Oe how wonea lesser abet 19] The fate Jesepineema preted onset ‘lig bein incomming. mia eneing his uso. Os he fice Un mite sheets cestingh ink or ati onoe so bse wey tenes and hoi ty Kwon bo Tier ponte ere ath oe ° Taney etl elo er clic al ca inating ob lated ney ring a heer eve aor ae aan lhe pic at ali leat ated eng ene Si teomescnpveigadionocet ‘Stalin Bj aes desrpon fale Be dsgna teleptie 1 Esirance2 Show gis made up wth alton, sound one cpocpue eg lamtam\ithat musi. only one negroon sage nero wearing banana re //3. modern man and cw Yorks, oly sep haling each aber sndalony 4 The liner ener, Jonephine ese Aree ava monkey. Ske puts oma moder dre the is wn 6 Sb goes foreartont a podiom aa sngy7 She spot pdm a sng 8 Lan solemn sg he gos rie /in the bucground the meandering Se of Santon andat thee bigocean liner z aD antec Recs Tocpeeosennmctee "Tiegh sl come together inthis balltof the ‘ain, opine wa ema ike the women ofAlgkera 3 sporaodmoseabannerof the ow sity, Action, dtetacon, ‘Ye Syiaia philesphy of 1, becomes Le Corbusier phi‘The grammar of the straight line and U-eurve, a heavy, bulbous curve, allows the repetition of cellular units. Perhaps this is why his nudes look a bit like buildings. In any ease, these forms are incorporated into city plans, particularly for Algiers, where the set~ back blocks of 1g22 are turned into undulating U-shapes on the hill, twenty-three stories ofhousing for the wealthy, and a lower snaking curve fourteen stories high for the working class [fi.121]- This plan, known as Obuis (“shell”) A was the frst one of six, and by far the most idealistic. In spite ofa rather siark class division, it ROIn the Ford factory. everything is collaboration, unity of unity of purpose, a perfect convergence of the totality of gon d ideas, With us, in building, there is nothing but con tradietions, ho es, dispersions, divergence of views, affirmation of opposed purposes, pawing the ground What is odd here is that Le Corbusier ean asily confuse a unified communal effort ike harmonious factory work with polit cal participation, or the necessary plurality of views in the public realm was this confusion of the smooth- running factory with ‘the good state that was one reason he would soon collaborate with the French Fascists. However, in architectural terms his ideas also lead the other way. The large state construction allows individual participation at the small scale. In his viaduct building, for instance, every individual ean build villain whatever way he or she wants [fig. 138]. Here public ownership of the artificial sites leads to a great deal of personal freedom at the very small scale. The idea again became eurrent in the 1970s with theorists such as Nicolas Habraken and architects such as SITE, In an unofficial form it was also carried out hy the authoritiesin Asia and India ‘where vast housing struct res were built and then allowed to be in nonstandard (illegal) ways inhabit Te makes economic as well as social sense to separate the public ‘support system from the private dwelling and let the individual have control over the latter. Here participation can result ina. ‘much richer and more responsive environment. What is surpris: ing, given Le Corbusier's interest in parisptin. worker! ‘unions, the publie realm, and such liberal institutionCON iy142. The Radiant Farmhouse, 1935 Herculean peasants, visual relatives of the bathers Le Corbusier was painting in the 1930s, listen to a radio can- tiered from an beam. Silos and animal sheds ae in the background The good simple life of the farm, pro- pagandlzed as much by the Americans 4 the Nazis during the Depression, finds a rare poetic expression. ANOS Peranve, meant for a peasant organization in the Sarthe district, LG's design for this Radiant Farm projects an image that is avery touching mixture of peasant life and industrialization [fig, 14a]. The farm is mechanized and prefabricated, but the simple, everyday objects of the farmhand are given an exaggerated impor- tance, Perhaps most important of all is the idea of the Cooperative Center, which distributes communal machinery to the farmers and sells their products as well as provides a new element of village life, the communal club. In this proposal one gets the rare glimpse of Le Corbusier's Regional Syndicalism and participation actually resulting in an embodiment of the public realm. Le Corbusier Back to Nature 1928-45LECTURE Charles Jencks POS deh QPe banal! Grass coed he importance Modena ad son ors PostModernism. and the traditional building trades to condemn Modern “Architecture because it was supplanting the older forms of ulding and putting many erafismen out of work. This economic attack was naturally fmanced by many of the building trades, and, actualy s. It further confirmed Le Corbusier's suspicion ofall moneyed interests whether they were capitalist or socialist Because of this aggressive stance against special interests, the Communist party of France tried to enlist Le Corbusier inthe Popular Front against Fascism. The Civil War in Spain, National Socialism in Germany, and the friendship of Communists such 35 Fernand Léger and Paul Vaillant- Couturier almost persuaded him to join the Popular Front. But, in the event, all he did was go 10 their mectingand design a monument for Vaillant-Couturier, who died in 1937 [fig. 143]. Characteristically he turned a politcal pht= form into a building program, From my point of view, there exists only one way for the Popular Front to demonstrate that something new has beg on the scene of social justice; that would he to constrict ght now in Paris the elements for habitation which reflect athe same time the latest state of modern technique andyour ws to put such things in the service of men. ‘The monument reflects very aptly the qualities of fightins agains social injustice which Le Corbusier found in Vallnt Couturier. In makes use of eonventional motifs present in i"ana hat he nal of ofthat than sted (hg. 1471. These hybrids, Ch to the antihuman monsters that Picasso prod topher Green points out, are similar +d under Franco Nodoubt war, tality, and stupidity were spurs to his move into abstraction and its very opposite the hermetic iconography of The logie was compelling. If humanity had failed nature itself ‘could heeome grotesque, andit i rendered as, series of dismem: Dered body parte—giant cars, combined sewwal organs, and sclp. {ural blobs that are almost autonomous. The personal erisisean explaina swerve in the painting during the carly 940s, and tht, Jnturn, can be read asa sublimation of his own de ion being worked out atthe time to collaborate with Viehy. The significance ofthis shift into biomosphic, zany, and nonb san symbolism is «extremely important forseveral easons. Negatively it shows the ‘vay bis private creations and private world compensate for what hae is shout todo publicly positively, it shows an imaginative open ge of sculpture and ive side, andthe seeret symm tha will be worked out in anew lang aphie work. [will return tothe po holism, when it surfaces to transform his architecture and, with Ronchamp, open anew avenue of architect‘words confirm this quick ereative synthesis, although the frst sketches open to only two of the four horizons with eure [fg 66a), We find the acoustic forms he mentions in [Espace inde: ‘the parabolic reflectors; the southeast one in particular withi® aioli, 1s answered by a eurved landform meant 1oembate the pilgrims when they come for alarge open-air service Another carly sketch sows acuroms eco oftheundeaa