Office: Le Corbusier | ArchDaily

Architecture Classics: Unite d' Habitation / Le Corbusier

Andrew Kroll — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 05:30:00 +0000

After World War II, the need for housing was at an unprecedented high. The Unite d’Habitation in Marseille, France was the first large scale project for the famed architect, Le Corbusier. In 1947, Europe was still feeling the effects of the Second World War, when Le Corbusier was commissioned to design a multi-family residential housing project for the people of Marseille that were dislocated after the bombings on France.

AD Classics: Venice Hospital / Le Corbusier

Luke Fiederer — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 22:00:00 +0000

This article was originally published on August 15, 2016. To read the stories behind other celebrated architecture projects, visit our AD Classics section.

Le Corbusier made an indelible mark on Modernist architecture when he declared “une maison est une machine-à-habiter” (“a house is a machine for living”). His belief that architecture should be as efficient as machinery resulted in such proposals such as the Plan Voisin, a proposal to transform the Second Empire boulevards of Paris into a series of cruciform skyscrapers rising from a grid of freeways and open parks.[1] Not all of Le Corbusier’s concepts, however, were geared toward such radical urban transformation. His 1965 proposal for a hospital in Venice, Italy, was notable in its attempt at seeking aesthetic harmony with its unique surroundings: an attempt not to eradicate history, but to translate it.

AD Classics: Master Plan for Chandigarh / Le Corbusier

Luke Fiederer — Sat, 06 Oct 2018 15:30:00 +0000

On August 15, 1947, on the eve of India’s independence from the United Kingdom, came a directive which would transform the subcontinent for the next six decades. In order to safeguard the country’s Muslim population from the Hindu majority, the departing colonial leaders set aside the northwestern and eastern portions of the territory for their use. Many of the approximately 100 million Muslims living scattered throughout India were given little more than 73 days to relocate to these territories, the modern-day nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh. As the borders for the new countries were drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliffe (an Englishman whose ignorance of Indian history and culture was perceived, by the colonial government, as an assurance of his impartiality), the state of Punjab was bisected between India and Pakistan, the latter of which retained ownership of the state capital of Lahore.[1] It was in the wake of this loss that Punjab would found a new state capital: one which would not only serve the logistical requirements of the state, but make an unequivocal statement to the entire world that a new India—modernized, prosperous, and independent—had arrived.

AD Classics: Weissenhof-Siedlung Houses 14 and 15 / Le Corbusier + Pierre Jeanneret

Denim Pascucci — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 22:00:00 +0000

This article was originally published on March 26, 2014. To read the stories behind other celebrated architecture projects, visit our AD Classics section.

The two-family structure known as Houses 14 and 15, designed by International Style, Le Corbusier's work in Stuttgart serves as a critical prototype in the development and realization of the Swiss architect’s architectural identity, which would revolutionize 20th century architecture.

AD Classics: Mill Owners' Association Building / Le Corbusier

Rennie Jones — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 01:00:00 +0000

Le Corbusier was commissioned by the president of the Mill Owners’ Association to design the organization’s headquarters in Ahmedabad, a city historically active in India’s textile trade. The building is a physical manifesto representing Le Corbusier’s proposal for a modern Indian architecture. Constructed in 1954, the Mill Owners’ Association Building is considered the first of four completed commissions in Ahmedabad.

AD Classics: Ville Radieuse / Le Corbusier

Gili Merin — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 01:00:00 +0000

Ville Radieuse (The Radiant City) is an unrealized urban masterplan by Le Corbusier, first presented in 1924 and published in a book of the same name in 1933. Designed to contain effective means of transportation, as well as an abundance of green space and sunlight, Le Corbusier’s city of the future would not only provide residents with a better lifestyle, but would contribute to creating a better society. Though radical, strict and nearly totalitarian in its order, symmetry and standardization, Le Corbusier’s proposed principles had an extensive influence on modern urban planning and led to the development of new high-density housing typologies.

AD Classics: Swiss Pavilion / Le Corbusier

Ramzi Naja — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 01:00:00 +0000

In 1930, Le Corbusier was tasked with designing a dormitory that would house Swiss students at the Cité Internationale Universitaire in Paris. At first the architect and Pierre Jeanneret, his partner at the time, refused to take on the project due to tensions with the Swiss after their handling of the architects' proposal for the League of Nations competition. Eventually, however, they agreed to see it through and worked on a very limited budget, which led the building to become a summation of Le Corbusier's modern principles, forcing him to focus on dwelling before all else.

AD Classics: Maison du Bresil / Le Corbusier

Jonathan C. Molloy — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Created as a microcosm of Brazilian life and culture, Maison du Bresil is a significant example of Le Corbusier’s high-density residential design. Inaugurated in 1959, it is one of twenty-three international residences at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, located in the heart of Paris. As the “House of Brazil”, the building acts as both a residence hall for Brazilian academics, students, teachers, and artists, and as a hub for Brazilian culture, by providing exhibition spaces and archival resources. Notably, the building has provided residence to famous Brazilians, such as the renowned journalist Barroso Zózimo do Amaral.

AD Classics: Centre Le Corbusier (Heidi Weber Museum) / Le Corbusier

Jonathan C. Molloy — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Iconic for its floating steel roof and brightly colored panels, the Pavillon Le Corbusier is the last building Le Corbusier designed before his death in 1965. Completed in 1967, the building stands as a testament to Corbusier’s renaissance genius as an architect, painter, and sculptor. It does so both intentionally, as it is an exhibition space for his life’s work, and naturally, as it is a building masterfully designed. Interestingly, the building diverges in some ways from the style responsible for his renown – concrete, stone, uniform repetition, etc. It celebrates the use of steel, with which he explored prefabrication and assembly, and a freedom through modularity, in which the plan is completely open but infinitely adaptable.

AD Classics: Chandigarh Secretariat / Le Corbusier

Brian Pagnotta — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

This AD Classic was done in collaboration with John Rizor.

AD Classics: Palace of the Assembly / Le Corbusier

Igor Fracalossi — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 01:00:00 +0000

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.

AD Classics: Villa Roche / Le Corbusier

Sarah Edwards — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Designed 1925-1925 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.

AD Classics: Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts / Le Corbusier

Andrew Kroll — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The first and only building in the United States designed by the 20th Century master architect Le Corbusier sits among some of the oldest buildings that date back to before the United States was organized.

AD Classics: Church at Firminy / Le Corbusier

Megan Sveiven — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000

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.

AD Classics: Unité d’Habition, Berlin / Le Corbusier

Andrew Kroll — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

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.

AD Classics: Ronchamp / Le Corbusier

Andrew Kroll — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 01:00:00 +0000

In the commune of Ronchamp, slightly south of east of Paris, sits one of Le Corbusier’s most unusual projects of his career, Notre Dame du Ronchamp, or more commonly referred to as Ronchamp. In 1950, Le Corbusier was commissioned to design a new Catholic church to replace the previous church that had been destroyed during World War II.

Architecture Classics: Villa Savoye / Le Corbusier

Andrew Kroll — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 01:00:00 +0000

Situated in Poissy, a small commune outside of Paris, Villa Savoye is one of the most significant contributions to modern architecture in the 20th century. Completed in 1929, Le Corbusier's masterpiece is a modern take on a French country house that celebrates and reacts to the new machine age.