Le Corbusier

INTRODUCTIONCharles edouard jeanneret now popularly known as le CorbusierBORN ON 6th OF OCTOBER’ 1887 AT LA CHAUX DE FONDS IN SWISSJURA MOUNTAINS 4 KMS FROM FRENCH BORDERHe started working under contractor perret, le corbusier’s so called masterHe as a child prepared himself for a manual occupation He left his school at the age of 13 yrs and joined an art ½school later He was an architect, designer, urbanist, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now called modern architecture.He was a pioneer in studies of modern high design and was dedicated to providing better living conditions for the residents of crowded cities

During these four years of world war in Paris he was in Switzerland, he worked on theoretical architectural studies using modern techniques.

Among these was his project for the Domino House (1914–1915). This model proposed an open floor plan consisting of concrete slabs supported by a minimal number of thin, reinforced concrete columns around the edges, with a stairway providing access to each level on one side of the floor plan.

This design became the foundation for most of his architecture for the next ten years. Soon he would begin his own architectural practice with his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret (1896–1967), a partnership that would last until the 1950s, with an interruption in the WWII years.

During his career, Le Corbusier developed a set of architectural principles that dictated his technique, called "the Five Points of a New Architecture" which were most evident in his Villa Savoye. These were:Pilotis – The replacement of supporting walls by a grid of reinforced concrete columns that bears the load of the structure is the basis of the new aesthetic. Roof gardens – The flat roof can be utilized for a domestic purpose while also providing essential protection to the concrete roof.The free designing of the ground plan – The absence of supporting walls means that the house is unrestrained in its internal usage.The free design of façade – By separating the exterior of the building from its structural function the façade becomes free.The horizontal window – The façade can be cut along its entire length to allow rooms to be lit equally.

Villa Sovoye

Villa SavoyeHis theoretical studies soon advanced into several different single-family house models.The Villa Savoye is probably Corbusier's best known building from the 1950s, it had enormous influenceOn international modernism. It was designed addressing his emblematic "Five Points", the basic tenets in his new architectural aesthetic:1. Support of ground-level pilotis, elevating the

building from the earth and allowed an extended continuity of the garden beneath.

2. Functional roof, serving as a garden and terrace, reclaiming for nature the land occupied by the building.

3. Free floor plan, relieved of load-bearing walls, allowing walls to be placed freely and only where aesthetically needed.

4. Long horizontal windows, providing illumination and ventilation.

5. Freely-designed facades, serving only as a skin of the wall and windows and unconstrained by load-bearing considerations

Centre Le Corbusier

Centre Le Corbusier

1. The Centre Le Corbusier or Heidi Weber Museum is an art museum in Switzerland.

Centre Le Corbusier

2. It is the last building designed by him.

3. He made intensive use of prefabricated steel elements combined with multi-coloured enamelled plates fitted to the central core, and above the complex he designed a 'free-floating' roof to keep the house protected from the rain and the sun.

United Nations Headquarters1. The headquarters of the United

Nations is a complex in New York City. The complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1952.

2. The United Nations has three additional, subsidiary, regional headquarters or headquarter districts.

3. Many cities vied for the honour of hosting the U.N. Headquarters site, prior to the selection of New York City. The selection of the East River site came after over a year of protracted study and consideration of many sites in the United States.

Le Corbusier after World War

II

THE DWELLING UNIT1959 LECORBUSIER’S PROJECTE FOR 3 DWELLING UNIT ATFIRMINY1967 THE DWELLING UNIT’S OPENING A VERTICAL GARDEN-CITY OF

400 APARTMENTS FOR UNDERPRIVILEGED PEOPLE AND A SCHOOL ON THE ROOF

1983 HALF OF THE APARTMENTS WERE VACANT AND THE SCHOOL WAS CLOSED. INHABITANTS MOBILIZED TO PRESERVE THE UNIT

1984 LISTED AS HISTORICAL MONUMENT before World War II, reinforced concrete became the material of

choice in Europe. Although the materials were expensive, labor for the form work was cheap. This meant that many innovative shapes and textures could be developed easily. The situation in the United States was the reverse.

We must create the mass-production spirit.

The spirit of constructing mass-production houses.

The spirit of living in mass-production houses.

The spirit of conceiving mass-production houses.

PROJECT FOR DWELLING UNIT’S RENOVATION A NEW ORIGINAL PROGRAM RENTAL DWELLIGS (60%), CURRENT REMTERS CAN BUY THEIR

APARTMENTS AT ALOW PRICE, SOME APARTMENTS ARE SOLD TO PRIVATE INVESTORS, HOTEL ROOMS ARE RESERVED FOR TOURISTS, THE

SCHOOL ON THE ROOF IS USED FOR EXHIBITS.

• Le Corbusier had belief that world of happiness and equality could be arrived at through combination of social progress and reliance on technology• United Habitation was Corb’s first major post

war building - anticipates ‘brutalism’ that is associated with 1950s and 60s modernism. Became model for urban housing• Architecture which is arrived at through

scientific, rational approach - analysed needs and functional requirements to come up with a solution.• Communal living Would have range of carefully considered

socialized functions - kindergarten at ground level where parents could easily drop off and pick up children on way to work, shops, social areas

Shopping street in the middle story of the building

Pilgrimage Chapel at Ron champ

The commission for the Pilgrimage Chapel at Ron champ in eastern France intended to replace an earlier chapel destroyed by fire. This is one of Corbusier most surprising designs and caught the professional public off-guard. The first thing that Corbu did was to analyze the site by drawing it from several distant views, such as this one

Equally important to Corbu were the views from the site, such as this one with its sweeping panorama of the nearby regional landscape.Axonometric drawing of the chapel from above without its roof. The sculptural quality is unmistakable, but related to the phenomenology and symbolism of light.

Plan and elevationsCorbusier said that he wanted to produce an “ineffable” space, i.e. one that is too overwhelming to be described in words, one that is inexpressible. Part of the “ineffability” of the space would be a lack of clear dimensionality and scale--a theme found frequently in some modernist thinking, especially where function was not a problem of daily reutilized activities like cooking.

1. Structurally, the chapel is constructed of reinforced concrete, both cast in forms and applied as gunnite over a frame.

2. That is how all the curvilinear forms were built and how the wall with the apparently arbitrary arrangement of windows was constructed.

3. It looks like a solid masonry wall with deep cuts for the windows, but it is actually hollow. Corbu was criticized for this by purists who argued that it was not an honest use of materials.

Le Corbusier in India

“ Today I am accused of being a revolutionary. Yet I confess of having had only one master – the past;

And only one discipline- the study of the past.”

INTRODUCTION SINCE PUNJAB WAS DIVIDED INTO TWO PARTS,

THE CAPITAL WAS LEFT IN PAKISTAN THERE FORE PUNJAB IN INDIA REQUIRED NEW CAPITAL.

LE CORBUSIER WAS APPROACHED BY PUNJAB GOVERNMENT AND THE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA.

MAXWELL FRY, JANE DREW AND PIERRE JEANNERET WERE ALSO INVOLVED IN THE TEAM OF ARCHITECTS

WHEN LE CORBUSIER ASSUMED CONTROL OF THE CHANDIGARH PROJECT IN 1951, HOWEVER THE DESIGN OF THE CITY HAD ALREADY BEEN DEVISED BY THE NEW YORK FIRM OF MAYER, WHITTLESEY, AND GLASS WHO RECEIVED A CONTRACT FOR THE MASTER PLAN OF CHANDIGARH IN 1950.

•When le Corbusier went to India in 1951 to design the new city of Chandigarh, he was faced with difficult problems of cultural & political.• India had just won independence from the British and was still recovering• Chandigarh was centre in drama because it was to be the new capital of Punjab, a state which had been sliced in two.

MASTER PLAN

• THE DEATH OF NOWICKI NECESSITATED THE SELECTION OF A NEW ARCHITECT FOR CHANDIGARH.

• IT WAS THE MINISTER OF PLANNING WHO SUGGISTED LE-CORBUISER AND WHO ALSO RECOMMENDED THE INCLUSION OF PIERRE JEANNERET.

• IN 1951 IT WAS GIVEN TO LE CORBUSIER.• IN CHANDIGARH LE CORBUSIER SYTEM OF SELF SUPPORTING • NEIGHBORHOOD UNIT KNOWN AS A SECTOR HAS WORKED VERY WELL.

• ALL THE HOUSES OPEN UP INSIDE.• GRID PLANNING IS DONE• CHANDIGARH PLANNING WAS DONE IN AN MANNER THAT EVERYTHING WAS EASILY CLEAR ABOUT THE ROUTES AND SECTORS• 7 V’S ROAD SYSTEM IS USED• THE ROADS ARE CLASSIFIED AS V1 ,V2 ,V3………V7• V1 CONNECTS CHANDIGARH TO OTHER CITIES. • V2 ARE THE MAJOR AVENUES OF THE CITY E.G MADHYA MARG ETC.• V3 ARE THE CORRIDORS STREETS FOR VEHICULAR TRAFFIC ONLY.• V4…..V7 ARE THE ROADS WITHIN THE SECTORS.

PLAN OF THE CITYCHANDI GARH HAS BEEN PLANNED ON THE SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES AND TO APPRISE THE COMING GENERATION OF THESE PRINCIPLESTHE MAIN FEATURE OF THIS EDICT ARE ITS-HUMAN SCALESELF SUFFICIENT SECTORSROADS SYSTEM AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL

SITE PLAN

SECRETARIAT

ASSEMBLY

HIGHCOURT

GOVERNOR'S PALACE

OPEN HAND

• HERE THE SECRETARIAT BUILDING IS TREATED AS A HORIZONTAL PLATFORM LIKE THE PLAIN OF CHANDIGARH ITSELF,CARRYING ON ITS ROOF THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY HALL RISING IN A PARABOLIC ARCH, A FORM ECHOING THE DISTANT HILLS

THE SECRETARIAT,1958

THE SECRETARIAT

• THE SECRETARIAT, THE LONGEST BUILDING IN CHANDIGARH, 254M LONG,AND 42M HIGHFORMS THE ADMINSTRATIVE CENTER,WITH MINISTERAL OFFICES GROUPED IN THE CENTER AND OFFICES FOR EMPLOYEES ARRANGED ON EITHER SIDE • THE BUILDING WAS COMPLETED IN 1958.• THE BUILDING IS COMPOSED OF SIX EIGHT STOREY

BLOCKS SEPARETED BY EXPANSION JOINTS.

FREE FACADE

RAMP ENCLOCURE

ROUGH CONCRETE FINISH

SQUARE WINDOWS

PROJECTED PORTICOS

SMALL ENTRANCE

BIG ENTRANCE

• THE ROUGH CONCRETE AGAIN INTERPOSES IN THE FENESTRATION OF THE TWO MAIN FACADES ; MORE THAN 2000 UNITS OF UNIQUE DESIGN

• APPRAOCH TO THE BUILDING IS THROUGH ROADWAYS BELOW GROUND LEVEL TO A LARGE PARKING AREA IN FRONT OF THE CENTRAL BLOCK, AND A FLOOR IS LEFT OPEN AT THIS LEVEL TO FORM AN ENTRANCE HALL

• BLOCK 1 AND 2 RISES DIRECTLY FROM THE GROUND• BLOCK 3,4 AND PART OF 5 FACE ON THE EXCAVATED AREA OF THE

PARKING LOT AND HAVE THE LOWER STOREY OPEN BETWEEN PILOTIS

• FOR THE REST PART OF BLOCK 5 AND WHOLE OF 6 THE LEVEL GOES TILL PLAZA HEIGHT, AND LOWER PORTION OF THESE BLOCKS ARE LEFT OPEN TO A HEIGHT OF TWO STORYES

• THE TOP OF THE BUILDING IS DEVELOPED AS A ROOF GARDEN CONTAINING THE SERVICE BLOCKS AND CAFETERIA FOR EMPLOYEES

THE HIGH COURT

COLOURED MASSIVE PILLARS

PARASOL ROOF FORMING ARCHES

DOUBLE ROOF GAP LEFT BETWEEN TWO ROOFS

FULL HT ENTRANCE

ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES

REAR VIEW

ROUGH CONCRETE FINISHEDRAMP

DOUBLE ROOF

APPROACHED THROUGH ROADS

• THE ENTRANCE LOBBY IS PAVED WITH WHITISH FLAG STONE SET IN THE ROWS OF VARYING WIDTHS

• NEW SCHEME FOR PAINTING THE COLUMNS AND PORTICO WALLS IN BRIGHT CONTRASTING COLOURS

• THE INSIDE WALL TO THE LEFT OF THE PIERS WAS TO BE BLACK

• THE ADJACENT PILLAR PAINTED GREEN• THE CENTER PIER WOULD BE YELLOW• THE RIGHT HAND PILLAR IS RED• AND THE REMAINING PORTICO WALL IS

PRIMARY BLUE • THE GRAET ENTRANCE HALL OF THE HIGH

COURT IS ALSO BEEN FOUND IN LACKING PROTECTION DURING THE MONSOON SEASON

• THE NARROW CURVING RAMP AT THE END OF THE ENTRANCE HALL,WHICH FORMS THE MAIN VERTICAL CIRCULATION IS EXPOSED

• THE HORIZONTAL CIRCULATION, CONSISTING OF POEN CORRIDORS ON THR REAR FACADE ,IS ALSO INEFFECTIVELY SHELTERED

THE ASSEMBLY HALL

THE ASSEMBLY HALL• THE ASSEMBLY WAS CONCEIVED AS A

RECTILINEAR STRUCTURE.• IT IS SQUARE IN PLAN WITH A

MONUMENTAL PORTICO FACING THE MAIN PLAZA .

• ON THE LATERAL FACADES BOTH THE PORTICO AND THE OFFICE BLOCK WOULD BE DEFINED BY SOLID END WALLS.

• THE LARGE CHAMBER IS IN HYPERBOLIC FORM OF THE COOLING TOWER WITH AN AVERAGE THICKNESS OF 15 CMS

• IN ALL BUILDINGS OF THE CAPITOL COMPLEX , THE ASSEMBLY IS THE MOST INTRICATE IN PLAN

• SEPARATE CIRCULATION ACCOMMODATION OF ALL GROUPS IS PROVIDED

• EMPLOYING A SYSTEM OF INDIVIDUAL ENTRANCES, STAIRWAYS, LIFTS AND RAMP A COMPLETE SEGREGATION OF MEMBERS IS PROVIDED

• THER ARE TWO SEPARATE GALLERIES FOR MEN AND WOMEN IN COUNCIL CHAMBER

INTERIOR VIEW OF A CHAMBER

MUSHROOM COLUMN SUPPORTING ROOF

“ It was originally a part of a large complex of Cultural Centre of Ahmadabad which had separate pavilions and areas for different subjects like anthropology, natural history, archaeology, monumental sculptures, workshops and depots, folklores in open air. It also included a pavilion for theatre called miracle box. But out of whole planned cultural centre, only museum was built. Its foundation stone was laid on 9 April 1954”

The building is designed to protect against the hot climate. On the roof there are several large basins originally intended as planters. One enters from underneath the building where there is an open court with a large pool and a ramp that leads to the exhibition spaces. The interior spaces are finished in plaster

a museum at Ahmadabad, India Sanskar Kendra

Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh

The Government Museum and Art Gallery has the following sections other than the gallery itself:The National History MuseumThe National Gallery of PortraitsThe Chandigarh Architecture Museumeach with further sections.The museum/art gallery exhibits 10,000 mostly Indian artwork such as sculptures and paintings. The attached Reference library houses approximately 10,000 media. There are two museum shops and a small cafeteria.

Proportional Systems in the Architecture of Le Corbusier

1. Many of his buildings and paintings are underlain by hidden grids and geometric patterns.

2. The fact that Le Corbusier was interested in proportional systems was not unusual during the time at which he was developing.

3. For him, this meant a rejection of the false aesthetic of decoration and a return to the fundamental principles of architecture, including proportion and composition. Using an illustration of the Capitol in Rome, he demonstrates how the rational application of ‘regulating lines’ gives the building its essential harmony and order.

1. For a long time the Golden Section does not occur in architectural theory.

2. In the third and fourth decade of the 20th century, from which Neufert and Le Corbusier get to know it.

3. Neufert held out great hopes for a renewal of architecture through the Golden Mean, but he soon became sober.

4. After early experiments Le Corbusier uses the Golden Section to develop his catalogue of measures, which has — due to roundings and combinations — not much in common either with the Golden Mean.

5. In fact, Neufert and Le Corbusier seem to use the Golden Section as a way to embellish their own subjective artistic creation by theory and ratio. however, the Golden Section is simply absent in written architectural theory.

PAINTINGS OF LE CORBUSIER

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