Le Corbusier

By Illa Vij

LE Corbusier, a renowned architect of the world, was born in La Chause-de-fonds, Switzerland. His father was a Swiss watch decorator, and mother was a pianist. From them he inherited interest in the field of arts. He grew up to be a painter, engraver, sculptor, a tapestry designer, furniture designer, a poet and above all a brilliant architect.

He broke the conventional style of structures and introduced numerous new styles and building materials. His original name was Charles Edouard Jeanneret. Later, he called himself Le Corbusier.

In 1914, when Germany attacked towns in Picardy and Flanders, many buildings had been destroyed. Le Corbusier suggested that readymade frames of concrete slabs should be made and used to erect the houses. He felt that it would be better than rebuilding houses with stone and brick. The idea, which could have been practical, was outrightly rejected. France took 15 years to accept prefabricated houses. In 1915, he also suggested building cities on stilts, allowing plenty of space for pedestrians and traffic. He was against sloping roofs, and suggested terraced roof gardens over flat all-concrete surfaces. Le Corbusier was the first to design a lozenge-shaped building around a central core of lifts. He felt that a house should be a machine to live in, and should be function like a motor car. Each area should have its utility and should enhance efficiency.

In 1925, an international exhibition of decorative arts was held in Paris. Here Le Corbusier presented a model which caused a sensational uproar. The designs consisted of a 25-storeyed sky scraper with elevated motorways and high-rise office buildings. This he made keeping in mind the lack of walking space, air pollution, overcrowded streets and the growing population. The models were not accepted but the reaction and uproar made him famous. Unfortunately, what was happily accepted in other countries was rejected in his own. In Paris, he designed an expandable museum, designed to grow outwards into paths and lawns. This was rejected and 20 years later, the design was used in Ahmedabad in our country. He was also invited by the state of Punjab to design its new capital, Chandigarh. Harvard University took his help to build a new visual arts centre. In Venice, he designed a hospital. The civic centre of Bogota in South America and the residential district of Brazilia were built on stilts designed by Corbusier.

Architects from far and wide went to work with him. Often his work was looked at with a great deal of amazement but initially considered impractical. It took people a long time to accept his unconventional styles. He emphasised upon the reflection of natural and artificial lights. In Moscow, he designed a fan-shaped Palace of Soviets. It had a ‘floating’ concrete roof suspended from eight steel ribs and a parabolic arch. This structure was condemned as a ‘notoriously capitalistic’ architecture.

Le Corbusier wrote many books and made many paintings which brought him some money. One of the most admired designs was the one that he drew up for London’s Ideal Home Exhibition in 1938, which highlighted the importance of sun, space and greenery.

In 1946, Le Corbusier drew plans for a block of flats for 1,600 people. This design was adopted and built at Marselle. It consisted of 360 flats. He built for himself a log cabin at Roquebrune on the Mediter-ranean. He was staying at the cabin, when he went out for a swim on August 27, 1965. While swimming he had a heart attack and died. His body was taken to Paris and given a state funeral.

Le Corbusier left behind his valuable works in the form of 80 buildings, 40 tapestries, almost 50 sculptures, over 400 paintings and about 40 books for the reconstruction of 30 cities. Over 7,000 other project papers were found in his studio, after his death. Le Corbusier was indeed the greatest architect of this century.