LE CORBUSIER CHARLES-EDOUARD JEANNERET, WAS

BORN ON OCTOBER 6, 1887 IN THE TOWN OF

LA CHAUX-DE-FONDS, SWITZERLAND.
ALTHOUGH BORN SWISS, HE LIVED MOST OF HIS
LIFE IN FRANCE.
IN 1900 CHARLES-EDOUARD JEANNERET STARTED
HIS STUDIES AT THE ÉCOLE D'ART IN HIS BIRTH TOWN.

HE TRAINED AS AN ENGRAVER AND GOLDSMITH BUT,

FROM 1904, HE BEGAN HIS STUDIES IN ARCHITECTURE.
HIS WORK AS AN STATUS. UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF THE
ARCHITECT MADE HIM VERY FAMOUS AMONGST HIS
COLLEAGUES AND BEGAN HIS ASCEND TOWARDS 6/10/1887 – 27/08/1965
LEGENDARY GREATEST ARCHITECTURAL MINDS OF THE
20TH CENTURY, HIS UNIQUE APPROACH USING
REINFORCED CONCRETE, SEPARATED HIM FROM
ORDINARY ARCHITECTS OF HIS TIME.
IN 1917 HE MOVED TO PARIS AND ASSUMED THE ALIAS LE
CORBUSIER.
IT WAS AT THIS POINT IN TIME THAT THE WORLD
TURNED ITS ATTENTION TOWARDS HIS WORK.
IN 1943 LE CORBUSIER APPLIED A SIMILAR
INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO DEVELOPING
"MODULOR", A SYSTEM OF QUANTITY, USED TO
DETERMINE THE PROPORTIONS OF UNITS IN
ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY.

THIS WAS ALSO THE FOUNDATION OF LE

CORBUSIER'S WORK IN FURNITURE DESIGN.
THERE ARE COUNTLES WORKS OF FURNITURE,
DESIGNED BY LE CORBUSIER THAT ARE
CONSIDERED MODERN DSAY CLASSICS.
“MODULOR” IS STILL USED TODAY
ONE OF HIS MOST NOTED POST-WAR HOUSING 6/10/1887 – 27/08/1965
COMPLEXES IS UNITED HABITATION IN MARSEILLES
AND HIS PILGRIMAGE CHAPEL, NOTRE-DAME-DU-
HAUT, IN RON-CHAMPS.
THESE TWO STRUCTURES WERE BY ALL MEANS SOME
OF HIS MOST RADICAL WORK.

LE CORBUSIER DIED ON AUGUST 27, 1965.

 Architect: Le Corbusier

Year(s) of construction: 1929

Location: Poissy, Paris, France

THE VILLA SAVOYE, IS A BRILLIANT EXAMPLE OF LE
CORBUSIER'S 5 POINTS OF NEW ARCHITECTURE. THE
HOUSE IS FIRMLY DRIVEN INTO THE GROUND WITH
WHAT SEEMS TO BE LONG NARROW PILES TO WHICH
ALL WEIGHTS ARE POSITIONED ON. THIS MAKES
SENSE BECAUSE THE SITE WHERE THE HOUSE IS
SITUATED IS A DARK AND OFTEN DAMP SITE. THE
REINFORCED CONCRETE PILES, GIVE US THE SENSE
THAT THE HOUSE IS FLOATING, THE HOUSE COULD
NOT BE BUILT ON THE LAND BECAUSE OF THE TYPE
OF SOIL AND NATURE OF THE GROUND. LE
CORBUSIER HAS USED HIS RESTRICTIONS IN THE
DESIGN OF THE HOUSE. THE HOUSE IS BUILT ON A
RELATIVELY FLAT SURFACE. GEOMORPHOLOGY
TELLS US THAT THIS MEANS THAT SURFACE RUNOFF
IS A MINIMUM. IN TURN, THE HOUSE CANNOT BE BUILT
DIRECTLY ON THE GROUND WITH STRIP OR RAFT
FOUNDATIONS BECAUSE WATERPROOFING THESE ON
A SITE LIKE THIS WOULD BE A NIGHTMARE AND
THERE WOULD ALSO BE A RISK OF MASS SETTLING
AND MOVEMENT. THE SOIL IS DESCRIBED AS MOIST
AND DARK, AND SINCE IT IS ALWAYS RAINING HERE
(200/365) THE DESIGN IS SUITABLE.
HAVING SAID ALL OF THIS IT IS JUST, TO SAY THAT
THE SITE IS VERY WET AND THE SAND/ CLAY SOFT
AND AS A RESULT PILE FOUNDATIONS, WHICH IS
WHAT WAS USED, ARE NECESSARY.
Sciography of villa savoye
TO COMPREHEND VILLA SAVOYE AND LE CORBUSIER’S
CREATIVE APPROACH, ONE HAS TO LOOK BACK SEVERAL YEAR
BEFORE ITS COMPLETION DATE. IN THE 1920S A NEW
ARCHITECTURAL LANGUAGE WAS DEVELOPING THAT GOT TO
BE KNOWN AS ‘INTERNATIONAL STYLE’. DEVELOPMENTS AT
THE TIME WERE EMERGING AROUND THE WORLD ADOPTING
THE NEW STYLE AND ITS PURPOSES. THE STYLE
CONCENTRATED ON THE PREVAILING TENDENCY OF CREATING
THE BUILDING AS A BLOCK AND DECORATING THE OUTSIDE
ENCLOSURE WITH ORNAMENTS. THE NEW STYLE TOOK AWAY
THE ORIGINAL VIEWS OF THE BUILDING AND SAID THAT THE
OUTSIDE SHOULD WORK WITH THE INSIDE SIMULTANEOUSLY.
THIS NEW STYLE ASPIRED TO REPRESENT WHAT WAS THOUGHT
TO BE THE MACHINE AGE. IT USED THE NEW CONSTRUCTION
TECHNIQUES BASED ON CONCRETE, STEEL, AND INDUSTRIAL
GLAZING TO BUILD ITS HOVERING PLANES AND INTERACTION
OF THE SOLID CONCRETE AND STEEL WITH THE LIGHTER
GLASS. THE STYLE WANTED TO PROJECT A UTOPIAN IMAGE OF
THE FUTURE WHERE THE MACHINE BROUGHT A HIGHER LEVEL
OF LIVING.
HAVING CONSIDERED THE ABOVE MENTIONED STYLE AND
CONCEPTS, IT BECOMES MUCH SIMPLER TO DESCRIBE VILLA
SAVOYE. CONTRASTING TO THE STRUCTURES HE DESIGNED
BEFORE THIS ONE WHERE HE WAS RESTRICTED BY THE
STRUCTURES URN SURROUNDINGS VILLA SAVOYE IS LOCATED
IN A SMALL TOWN OUTSIDE PARIS. THIS LIBERATED LE
CORBUSIER TO INGENIOUSLY BUILD ON HIS CONCEPTS TO
PROVIDE THE MOST POWERFUL EXPRESSIONS OF HIS IDEAS. HE
ALSO ADDED THE ELEMENT OF TIME AS A FOURTH
DIMENSION IN THE PROJECT.
HE SUGGESTED THAT THE APPROACH TOWARDS THE HOUSE BE
BEST EXPERIENCED BY A PASSENGER IN A CAR. PAST THE
ENTRANCE GATE, THE VISITORS SIGHT IS

LE CORBUSIER CONCEIVED THE APPROACH TOWARDS THE

HOUSE TO BE BEST EXPERIENCED BY A CAR PASSENGER. PAST
THE ENTRANCE GATE, THE VISITOR’S VISION IS OBSTRUCTED
BY TREES. THE HOUSE REVEALS ITSELF ALL AT ONCE AS A
GRAND WHITE BOX, HOVERING ON COLUMNS.

Priliminary drawings of Le Corbusier

Villa Savoye, Poissy-sur-Seine, 1929-30