Le Corbusier
French-Swiss pioneer of modern architecture and urban planning.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, who later adopted the pseudonym Le Corbusier, was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, to French-speaking Swiss parents. His father was an artisan who enameled boxes and watches, and his mother was a piano teacher. The city, located in the Jura Mountains near the French border, was a center of the watchmaking industry and was culturally influenced by a Masonic lodge whose ideals of rectitude and exactitude Le Corbusier later described as deeply ingrained in his thinking. Lacking formal architectural training, he entered the municipal art school at fifteen, studying applied arts connected to watchmaking. A teacher, Charles L'Eplattenier, steered him toward architecture, which he initially resisted. His earliest house, the Villa Fallet, was designed in 1905 under the supervision of architect René Chapallaz and built for an engraver. It was a large chalet in the local alpine style with a steep roof and geometric patterns. Over the following years, he traveled extensively, visiting Italy, Budapest, Vienna, and Paris. In Paris, he worked for fourteen months in the office of Auguste Perret, a pioneer of reinforced concrete. He later worked in Germany for Peter Behrens alongside Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius. A five-month journey through the Balkans, Turkey, Greece, and Italy filled nearly eighty sketchbooks with renderings, including many of the Parthenon, which he would later praise in his writings. He also visited a charterhouse in Florence that inspired his vision of ideal worker housing. Le Corbusier acquired French nationality in 1930 and over a five-decade career designed buildings across Europe, Japan, India, and the Americas. He was a founding member of the Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM) and prepared the master plan for Chandigarh, India, designing several government buildings there. Seventeen of his projects across seven countries were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2016. He also designed iconic furniture, including the LC4 chaise longue and LC1 chair. His legacy remains contentious due to criticism of his urban planning for disregarding existing cultural sites and social equality, as well as allegations of ties to fascism, antisemitism, eugenics, and Benito Mussolini.
- known_for
- Pioneer of modern architecture; master plan for Chandigarh, India; Dom-Ino House; LC4 chaise longue and LC1 chair (designed in collaboration with Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret)
Lore & Background
Le Corbusier was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, to French-speaking Swiss parents. His father enameled boxes and watches, and his mother taught piano. He attended a kindergarten using Fröbelian methods and later entered the municipal art school at age fifteen. He lacked formal architectural training but was influenced by his teacher Charles L'Eplattenier and architect René Chapallaz. His first house, the Villa Fallet (1905), was a large chalet with a steep roof and colored geometric patterns. He traveled extensively, working as a draftsman for Auguste Perret in Paris and for Peter Behrens in Germany, where he met Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius. In 1911, he traveled to the Balkans, Turkey, Greece, and Italy, filling sketchbooks with renderings including the Parthenon.
Reader's Guide
Le Corbusier's significance lies in his role as a pioneer of modern architecture and his influential urban planning ideas. He considered that 'the roots of modern architecture are to be found in Viollet-le-Duc.' His Dom-Ino House (1914–15) proposed an open floor plan using reinforced concrete slabs and columns, allowing flexible interior arrangements. He prepared the master plan for Chandigarh, India, and designed several government buildings there. In 2016, seventeen of his projects across seven countries were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. However, his legacy is contested: some of his urban planning ideas have been criticized for indifference to pre-existing cultural sites and social equality, and his alleged ties with fascism, antisemitism, eugenics, and Benito Mussolini have caused continuing contention. He also designed well-known furniture, including the LC4 chaise longue and LC1 chair.
Did You Know?
- Le Corbusier acquired French nationality in 1930.
- He was a founding member of the Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM).
- His pseudonym was inspired by his ancestors' surname Lecorbésier.
- He designed the LC4 chaise longue and LC1 chair in collaboration with Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"It is a question of building which is at the root of the social unrest of today: architecture or revolution." — Le Corbusier "Modern life demands, and is waiting for, a new kind of plan, both for the house and the city." — Le Corbusier "The Despot is not a man. It is the Plan. The correct, realistic, exact plan." — Le Corbusier "The object of this edict is to enlighten the present and future citizens of Chandigarh about the basic concepts of planning of the city so that they become its guardians and save it from whims of individuals." — Le Corbusier
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