Historical Figures Codexery

Le Corbusier

French-Swiss pioneer of modern architecture and urban planning.

Le Corbusier was a French-Swiss architect, painter, and urban planner who pioneered modern architecture.[1] His urban planning ideas have been criticized for indifference to cultural sites and alleged ties with fascism and antisemitism.[2] Over a career spanning five decades, Le Corbusier created structures in Europe, Japan, India, and the Americas.[3]

Quick Facts

Birth name
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris
Born
6 October 1887
Birthplace
La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Died
27 August 1965
Place of death
Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes, France
Citizenship
Switzerland, France (from 1930)
Significant projects
Ville Radieuse
Spouse
Yvonne Galli

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Charles-Édouard Jeanneret was born on 6 October 1887 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.[4] He lacked formal architectural training, like his contemporaries Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe.[5] In 1905 he designed his first house, the Villa Fallet, under teacher René Chapallaz.[5] In 1911 he journeyed to the Balkans and Greece, filling nearly 80 sketchbooks with renderings including the Parthenon.[6]

He moved to Paris in 1917 and began an architectural practice with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret.[7] In 1920 he adopted the pseudonym Le Corbusier, an altered form of his maternal grandfather's name.[8] He published his influential book Towards an Architecture in 1923, which included the maxim "A house is a machine to live in"[9] At age fifteen, he enrolled in La-Chaux-de-Fonds' municipal art school, which instructed in applied arts linked to watchmaking.[5]

From September 1907, he journeyed to Italy, then spent the winter traveling through Budapest to Vienna, and later worked as a draftsman for Auguste Perret in Paris between 1908 and 1910.[5][10]

What the cited sources add

A 2008 Guardian article notes that Le Corbusier's architecture is "practically anonymous" compared to celebrity architects like Frank Gehry.[11] The same source states he "always fancied himself an artist" but felt unrecognized as a painter.[11] It also states he devoted himself to his work as a plasticien alongside his architectural activities.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Le Corbusier" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Steve Rose on Le Corbusier, one of the most iconic architects of the 20th century", The Guardian, 2008-07-16 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Le Corbusier" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: López-Durán, "Eugenics in the Garden Transatlantic Architecture and the Crafting of Modernity By Fabiola López-Durán", University of Texas Press, 2018-12-11; "BBC Four – A History of Art in Three Colours, White", BBC; "The profound anti-Semitism of Le Corbusier", Haaretz; Donadio, "Le Corbusier's Architecture and His Politics Are Revisited", The New York Times, 2015-07-12; Antliff, Mark, "Avant-Garde Fascism: The Mobilization of Myth, Art, and Culture in France, 1909–1939" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Le Corbusier" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Biographie de Le Corbusier - 1929-1938 : Le globe-trotter de l'architecture moderne", Fondation Le Corbusier; Birksted, "Le Corbusier and the Occult", MIT Press, 2009; Froissart, "Avant-garde et tradition dans les arts du décor en France. Lectures critiques autour de Guillaume Janneau.", Université de Provence - Aix-Marseille, 2011, p. 73 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Le Corbusier" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Simonin, "Le Corbusier: 5 Facts to Know", Barnebys Group, May 19, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Le Corbusier" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Journel 2015 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Le Corbusier" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Žaknić, "Klip and Corb on the road", Scheidegger & Spiess, 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Le Corbusier" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Larousse, "Encyclopédie Larousse en ligne – Charles Édouard Jeanneret dit Le Corbusier", larousse.fr (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Le Corbusier" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Corbusier, "Le Corbusier: choix de lettres", Springer Science & Business Media, 1 January 2002; Repères biographiques, Fondation Le Corbusier . Fondationlecorbusier.asso.fr. Retrieved on 27 February 2018. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Le Corbusier" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Corbusier, "Aesthetics", Taylor & Francis, 2017-09-01, p. 153–155; Le Corbusier 1923 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Le Corbusier" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Letter to Eplattenier in Dumont, Le Corbusier, Lettres a ses maitres, vol. 2, pp. 82–83. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. "Steve Rose on Le Corbusier, one of the most iconic architects of the 20th century", The Guardian, 2008-07-16. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  12. "Biographie de Le Corbusier - 1929-1938 : Le globe-trotter de l'architecture moderne", Fondation Le Corbusier. facts only, no text reused. fondationlecorbusier.fr

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Le Corbusier (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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