© Grant Snider, 2012

Curbed lead us to Colorado-based webcomic Grant Snider and his clever blog Incidental Comics. Snider uses the classic “glass houses” proverb in his own unique depiction of midcentury “Iconic Houses”, highlighting The Glass House by Philip Johnson, Farnsworth House by Mies Van der Rohe, Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier and Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Curious about the red beavers gnawing at the Farnsworth House? Snider clears up the confusion stating, “In an earlier draft of this comic, it appeared the Farnsworth house was being gnawed by ordinary beavers. My architect brother informed me that Mies van der Rohe was known for his innovations in steel and glass, not wood. So just to clarify: those are MUTANT beavers.”

A well known architectural classic by Le Corbusier, the Notre Dame du Ronchamp, or more commonly referred to as Ronchamp, is featured very elegantly in this video by italian architect Franco Di Capua. The curved roof that peels up towards the heavens, the curving walls, and the the sporadic window placement on the walls are just a few of the architectural elements that make this project such a marvel.

© Simon Kennedy - Courtesy of the International Art Consultants

Since 2006, the International Art Consultants (IAC) has celebrated architects’ passion for photography through the Architect’s Eye Awards. Simon Kennedy won the Architecture and Place category this year with his image of the ‘Heygate Estate’, while Revti Halai’s photo of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion received runner-up. The Architecture and People category was won by Neil Dusheiko’s photograph of ‘Unite d’Habitation’, and Chris Drummond’s ‘Ghosts of the Underground’ received runner-up.

View the four winning photographs after the break.

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Onnis Luque, an architectural photographer based in Mexico City, shared with us one of his productions on video, Le Corbusier’s classic Villa Savoye. Completed in 1929, Villa Savoye is a modern take on a French country house that celebrates and reacts to the new machine age. The house single handedly transformed Le Corbusier’s career as well as the principles of the International Style; becoming one of the most important architectural precedents in the history. Situated in Poissy, a small commune outside of Paris, this project marks one of the most significant contributions to modern architecture in the 20th century.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Today marks the Swiss-born French architect Le Corbusier’s birthday. Noted as one of the pioneers of modern architecture, Le Corbusier’s architecture career spanned some five decades.  Born in 1887, which would make him 124 today, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret adopted the pseudonym Le Corbusier in the 1920s. Known for both his architecture and furniture design you can visit the Galerie Anton Meier where some of Le Corbusier & Pierre Jeanneret furniture is currently on a special exhibit.   More of ArchDaily’s coverage on Le Corbusier, books, buildings, and articles can be found here.

Photo by diametrik - http://www.flickr.com/photos/diametrik/

This AD Classic was done in collaboration with John Rizor.

Taking over from Albert Mayer, Le Corbusier produced a plan for Chandigarh on the foothills of the Himalayas that conformed to the modern city planning principles of Congrès International d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM), in terms of division of urban function, an anthropomorphic plan form, and a hierarchy of road and pedestrian networks, Inherently, the Secretariat building is the largest edifice in the Capitol Complex and is the headquarters of both the Punjab and Haryana governments.

Le Corbusier’s plan for the capitol consisted of four buildings (or “edifices”) and six monuments arranged on a single site, loosely conceptualized as three interlocking squares. Only three of these four buildings were ever realized (the High Court, the Legislative Assembly, and the Secretariat) and were designed to represent the major functions of democracy — the fourth building, the Governor’s Palace, was never built.

More information after the break.

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Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret relaxing on the Shukna Lake on a pedal boat manufactured by Pierre Jeanneret, c. 1950. Photo by Sureh Sharma.

GENEVA–Galerie Anton Meier inaugurated the first exhibition in Switzerland devoted to the work  Pierre Jeanneret on September 20 at the Palais de l’Athénée. The exhibition, “The Chandigarh Project,” features a selection of furniture created for the Chandigarh capital complex on the border of Punjab and Haryana states in India. Intended to offer the public “clearer public insight into the humanistic work of Pierre Jeanneret, often overshadowed by his illustrious cousin, the show features pieces handcrafted on site for the new capital presented with “rare street furniture” as well as Le Corbusier’s symbols and prints. Highlights include teak tables, cane chairs, wooden armchairs, an a cast iron manhole cover with a recessed reproduction of the Chandigarh master plan as drawn by Le Corbusier in 1951. The exhibition comes after a scandal that erupted in 2010 when UBS decided to pull an ad featuring Corbusier. Debates continue involving the provenance of Chandigarh artifacts such as these, as dealers continue to buy items from Indian officials to resell abroad.

More information and photos after the break.

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© wikimedia commons / wouter hagens

In 1956, preparations had begun for the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels. This was to be the first World’s Fair held since the end of World War II, the concept behind the Expo was to celebrate the rejuvenation of civilization from the destruction of war through the use of technology. This World Fair is best known for the musical advances that was combined with architecture, creating a gestalt through an experiential encounter where body meets sound and space.

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© Nicholas Iyadurai

One of Le Corbusier‘s most prominent buildings from India, the Palace of the Assembly in Chandigarh boasts his major architectural philosophies and style. Le Corbusier‘s five points of architecture can be found within the design from its open plan to the view of the Himalayan landscape. The program features a circular assembly chamber, a forum for conversation and transactions, and stair-free circulation. More information and images of the Palace of the Assembly after the break.

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Le Corbusier on the Swiss 10 franc banknote, © Will's Online World Paper Money Gallery

Le Corbusier’s politics are a divisive issue for architects and rightly so: his work is still highly influential, in both adoration and enmity, and his expressed political views are at odds with contemporary western democratic values.

It’s easy for the discussion of those views to lapse into a sort of ethical debate by-proxy, devolving into a discussion about whether or not Le Corbusier should continue to be included in the canon of twentieth century architects considering his apparent anti-Semetism and sympathy for the Nazi party. Such narrow and moralistic inquiry negates other issues pertinent to Le Corbusier’s  place in history. It is possible to both be aware of Le Corbusier’s political affiliations and to discuss his work as an architect, urbanist, and designer for its own merits. By way of explanation, I would like to revisit a recent controversy concerning Le Corbusier.

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© Rory Hyde - http://www.flickr.com/photos/roryrory/

Designed 1923-1925 as a residence for Swiss banker Raoul La Roche, Villa Roche is the quintessence of Le Corbusier’s modern approach to housing. The Villa acted as an exhibition space for Mr. Roche’s collection of avant-garde artwork, and is a pure assemblage of spatial volumes that interlocks the dual programs of domicile and gallery.

More on Villa Roche after the break.

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This week, with the help of our readers, our Architecture City Guide is headed to Berlin. The twentieth century changed nearly all cities, but perhaps none more so than Berlin. From its destruction in World War II that left few historic buildings intact to its division until 1989 that brought together the architecture of two competing ideologies into one city, Berlin’s modern and contemporary architecture speaks to a past that seldom accompanies such recent additions. The city is filled with new and wonderful architecture that might not have found space in other cities in Europe. With that in mind, we were unable feature all our readers’ suggestions on the first go around. We will be adding to the list in the near future, so please add more of your favorites in the comment section below. Once again, thanks to all our readers for your help.

The Architecture City Guide: Berlin list and corresponding map after the break.

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This week, with the help of our readers, our Architecture City Guide is headed to Paris. For centuries Paris has been the laboratory where innovative architects and artists have come to test their ideas. This has created a city that has bit of everything. Where the architecture of some cities seems to undergo phases of punctuated equilibrium, Paris’s architectural fossil record gives an impression of gradualism; all the missing links are there. This makes it easy to trace the origins of the most contemporary ideas throughout history. Nothing seems to come out of nowhere. If you look around you kind find the design’s inspiration running through the city’s Roman, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Rocco, Neo-Classical, Empire, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Modern, Post-Modern, and Contemporary Architecture. Seen in another context, many of Paris’s buildings might seem out of place, but the bones of this city support the newest iterations on the oldest and most profound questions. The 24 contemporary designs that comprise our list probably should not be viewed outside of this context, even though that is the stated goal of some of the designs.

As the most visited city in the world and arguably the capital of culture, it is impossible to capture the essence of Paris in 24 modern/contemporary designs. Our readers supplied us with great suggestions, and we really appreciate the help and use of their photographs. The list is far from complete and we realize that many iconic buildings are not yet on the list. We will be adding to it in the near feature, so please add more in the comments section below.

The Architecture City Guide: Paris list and corresponding map after the break.

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Whether you love, hate, or are indifferent to Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbuiser, you can’t understand 20th century architecture without him. In light of this statement it is surprising that few books have dealt extensively with the writings of an architect who chose to list his profession as “Homme de Lettres” (Man of Letters) on his French identity card. Upon reading M. Christine Boyer’s Le Corbusier, Homme de Lettres one immediately realizes how much more fitting this title is for the architectural giant. His prolific literary output included more than fifty books, hundreds of articles, and thousands of letters. It is hard to imagine how his fewer than 60 buildings would have manifested themselves without his written explorations. Writing taught him as much about himself, architecture and urban design as drawing and building. No other book takes this more seriously than Boyer’s recent tome.

There are many aspects to like about this book. I personally enjoyed learning not only what he wrote but what he read. Additionally, Boyer’s effort to assemble Jeanneret’s letter and journal writing in chronological order should not go unnoticed. Although physically heavy this book makes following Jeanneret’s struggles and transformations fairly easy. This would have been impossible without Boyer’s effort. The notes she includes on the debates over the dates of certain letters illustrate how difficult but important this process must have been. So for a fraction of the effort you can get a glimpse into the transformations of a mind that changed how the world views architecture. Despite being far from an expert on Le Corbusier I certainly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in modern architecture, the 20th century, travel, or urban design. It has it all.

Credits, further information and more photos after the break.

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Mies van der Rohe / © Andrea Gallo

We saw this incredible set of posters from iconic architects created by artist Andrea Gallo and felt the need to share them with you. They will be available for sale soon, so we look forward to buy one and decorate our office! Which one would you get? Check the posters of Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn, Alvar Aalto and Walter Gropius after the break. read more »

For this week the Architecture City Guide series headed to the city of Boston including neighboring Cambridge just across the Charles River Basin. This area has an overwhelmingly large amount of modern architecture in a small radius, and our list reflects just that. What buildings do you want to see added to our Boston list, share them with us in the comment section below.

The Architecture City Guide: Boston list and corresponding map after the break!

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©Richard Weil

Known for its striking form and beautiful interior experiences, the Church at Firminy by Le Corbusier was another evolution of the core thoughts and practices of the architect throughout his many years of designing. This church also carries special significance, as it was the last major work of Le Corbusier and was left unfinished upon his death in 1965. It was finished forty-one years after his death in 2006, keeping his essence alive.

More on the Church at Firminy by Le Corbusier after the break.

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©Samuel Ludwig

The Convent of La Tourette is Le Corbusier’s final building completed in Europe, and is also thought by many to be his most unique program. It was built to be a self-contained world for a community of silent monks, and to accommodate the unique and specific lifestyle of the monks, the monastery is made of one hundred individual cells, a communal library, a refectory, a rooftop cloister, a church, and classrooms.

The one request to the architect by Father Marie-Alain Couturier was that he “create a silent dwelling for one hundred bodies and one hundred hearts.”

More on Le Corbusier‘s Convent of La Tourette after the break.

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© Thomas Lewandovski

After World War II, post-war Europe was suffering from a lack of housing with many displaced people from the extensive bombing raids.  In response to the housing crisis in Europe, Le Corbusier began delving into designing large scale, communal residences for the victims of World War II. One of the most notable projects in this series was the Unite d’ Habitation in Marseilles, France. This project had inspired a continued implementation of the design type across Europe. The fourth building in the series is the Corbusierhaus in Berlin, Germany. Completed in 1959, it was designed as a symbol for the modernization of Germany after the war and the Cold War. read more »