Le Corbusier (lə kôrbüzyā`), pseud. of Charles Édouard Jeanneret (shärl ādwär` zhänərā`), 1887–1965, French architect, b. La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Often known simply as "Corbu," he was one of the most influential architects of the 20th cent. and his buildings and writings had a revolutionary effect on the international development of modern architecture, especially the International style International style, in architecture, the phase of the modern movement that emerged in Europe and the United States during the 1920s. The term was first used by Philip Johnson in connection with a 1932 architectural exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art, New
..... Click the link for more information. . In 1908, Le Corbusier worked with Auguste Perret, Perret, Auguste (ōgüst` pĕrā`), 1874–1954, French architect.
..... Click the link for more information. a pioneer in the architectural use of reinforced concrete. He also worked and studied under Peter Behrens Behrens, Peter (pā`tər bā`rəns)
..... Click the link for more information. in Berlin. In 1915 a series of architectural sketches made evident his new and radical approach to the technical and aesthetic problems of building.

In the following years Le Corbusier produced schemes for houses, apartments, and for a city built on pillars, often drawing his inspiration from industrial forms, such as steamship construction. In 1919 he settled in Paris and in 1921 his "Citrohan" model for dwelling houses expressed a need for new construction methods. Two years later, at Vaucresson near Paris, the first building (a villa) embodying his principles was erected. He also contributed articles to the review Esprit nouveau, which he had founded in 1920 with Amédée Ozenfant Ozenfant, Amédée (ämādā` ōzäNfäN`), 1886–1966, French art theorist and painter.
..... Click the link for more information. . Collected under the title Vers une architecture (1923, tr. from the 13th French ed., Towards a New Architecture, 1927), the journals attained international circulation. A prolific writer, he was also the author of more than 50 other books and pamphlets.

Among Le Corbusier's many well-known buildings are a workers' housing project at Pessac near Bordeaux, the Villa Savoye at Poissy, and the Swiss and Brazilian students' pavilions at Cité Universitaire, Paris. His competition-winning design (1927) for the palace of the League of Nations was later rejected on a technicality. In 1946 Le Corbusier was invited to join the international group of architects who designed the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City. After World War II, his plan for a "vertical city" was in part realized in the Unité d'Habitation in Marseilles (1946–52). His most ambitious work was the design of the main buildings of the new capital of the Punjab, Chandigarh Chandigarh (chŭn`dēgər), union territory (2001 provisional pop. 900,914), 44 sq mi (114 sq km) and city, NW India.
..... Click the link for more information. (begun 1951). Other major works are the massive sculptural forms of the chapel at Ronchamp (1950–55); the convent of La Tourette near Lyons (1955–60); and the Visual Arts Center, Harvard (1961–62). After 1940 Le Corbusier developed the modulor system of harmonious but not identical proportions; the system was devised to offer architectural individuality and yet serve the needs of modern mass production.

Bibliography

See studies by P. Blake (1964) and M. Besset (1969); W. Boesiger, ed., Le Corbusier (1972); M. Bessett, Le Corbusier (1976, repr. 1987).

Le Corbusier

orig. Charles-Édouard Jeanneret

(born Oct. 6, 1887, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switz.—died Aug. 27, 1965, Cap Martin, France) Swiss-born French architect and city planner. Born in a small town, he left home as a young man and developed many of his ideas during his travels through Europe (1907–11). After settling in Paris, Le Corbusier (his assumed name, from the surname of an ancestor) and the painter Amédée Ozenfant (1886–1966) formulated the ideas of Purism, an aesthetic based on the pure, simple geometric forms of everyday objects. His early work included theoretical plans for skyscraper cities and mass-produced housing; in one of his many essays on architecture from the period, he declared that “a house is a machine for living in.” Works from the 1920s such as the Villa Savoye at Poissy, France (1929–31), with its structure raised on slender concrete pillars, open floor plan, long strip windows, and roof terrace, established him as a major proponent of the International Style. He and other architects working in this style aspired to clean, Modernist lines, yet Le Corbusier was the first architect to make a studied use of rough-cast concrete, a technique that gave his work a distinctly sculptural, expressive quality. His later works include the Unité d'Habitation and the lyrical chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Haut at Ronchamp, France (1950–55). His government buildings at Chandigarh, India (begun 1950), with their enormous concrete sunshades, sculptural facades, and swooping rooflines, represent the first large-scale application of his city-planning principles. Le Corbusier's many works, plans, and writings inspired later avant-garde architectural experiments throughout the world.