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01340_Field_38.cap.txt
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@
Le Corbusier was
a visionary whose
ideas had as much
influence as his
buildings. Raised
in a traditional
community in
Switzerland, he
saw its crafts
destroyed by
industrialization.
As an architect,
he sought to
reconcile indus-
trial methods
with human and
aesthetic needs
#
The Villa Savoye
is typical of Le
Corbusier. The
open setting; the
ribbon windows,
allowing light in
from all sides;
the raised facade,
blurring the line
between exterior
and interior spaces;
and the open plan
inside the villa,
where the living
space is free-
flowing, not
divided into dark,
poky spaces
#
Le Corbusier's
early work was
theoretical, and
adressed problems
of urban planning.
He designed 'Dom-
ino', a standard
concrete frame-
work for mass-
produced housing;
he drew futuristic
high-rise cities;
and he developed
a system of
proportions, The
Modulor, based
on the form of
the human body
#
After the second
world war Le
Corbusier turned
away from pure
functionalism.
But the Unite
d'Habitation in
Marseille, France,
remained highly
functional: more
than a building,
it was a "town
under one roof"
for 1600 people
containing shops,
a laundry and a
running track
on the roof
#
The chapel at
Ronchamp, in
France, was made
of concrete, like
the majority of
Le Corbusier's
buildings. But it
was a radical
departure in that
it admitted little
light. It also
continued the
move away from
his economical,
strictly functional
structures: here
concrete was
used to create
sculptural forms
#
Le Corbusier's
legacy has been
an unhappy one.
In the hands of
his disciples his
ideas proved
disastrously
influential. He
proposed 60-
storey tower
blocks in 1922,
but the high-rises
of the Sixties
were loathed by
the people who
lived in them
@