Le Corbusier

Bio Sketch

Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, 1887-1965) was a Swiss-French architect, urbanist, and theorist, pioneer of modern architecture. Le Corbusier advocated for functionalism, standardization, and the machine aesthetic. His "Five Points of Architecture" and urban proposals (Radiant City) were highly influential but also controversial.

Key Works

• Towards a New Architecture (1923)
• Villa Savoye (1928-31)
• Unité d'Habitation (1947-52)
• Chandigarh master plan (1951-65)
• La Tourette monastery (1956-60) — discussed in Learning from Las Vegas as prototype for later replications

Key Concepts

• modernism
• functionalism
• urbanism

Relevance to Geoffrey's Research

Le Corbusier represents high modernism's utopian ambitions, critiqued by Benjamin (who affirmed modernism's progressive potential) and Foucault (who considered criticisms of him exaggerated). His work connects to themes of housing, dwelling, and the limits of critical architecture.

Source Support

• The Classical Language of Architecture — ch. 6 treats Le Corbusier as modern architecture's most classical mind: Purism, Vers une architecture (1923), tracés régulateurs, the Modulor, and the reversal of Behrens/Perret's classically disciplined framework; proportional systems as the author's "mental furniture."
• venturi-1977-learning-from-las-vegas — critiques Le Corbusier's industrial iconography and the evolution from La Tourette to Neiman-Marcus.
• elliott-benjamin-for-architects
• fontana-giusti-foucault-for-architects
• abell-freud-for-architects
• summerson-1942-bread-butter-architecture