Le Corbusier

Architect, urban planner, visual artist, designer, writer. Though as famous in life as Albert Einstein, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris (1887 – 1965), better known as Le Corbusier, was a figure very different from what we call a starchitect today.

Born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, a Swiss town in the Jura region close to the French border, in all his life and work Le Corbusier always combined Swiss rigor with more than a bit of Mediterranean spirit, which he inherited from his Romandy’s cultural background, admiration for classic and Renaissance art and architecture, as well as from his familiarity with Paris and southern France, the places where he lived during most of his professional life.
This combination of different cultural influences – as well as why to define Le Corbusier simply as “a master of rationalism” is far from thoroughly describing his personality – comes out, for example, in his post-war works and many of his paintings.
The work of L-C mixes what we call today “modernity”, including in it also the technological revolution that characterized the first half of the 20th century, with a profound admiration for art history which is evident, for example, in the influence of Vitruvius and Leonardo da Vinci on the Modulor.

Even the nickname Le Corbusier (with its variant Corbu, and L-C), tells us something about his real character. The byname derives from the French word corbeau (raven) and was an allusion to the physical appearance of its owner, gangly and hook-nosed, chosen by himself in the 20s as a signature name for his writings and paintings. A touch of irony that perhaps not many might expect from a stereotypical, always serious, Swiss architect. And I bet not many starchitects of today would accept to be photographed while painting completely naked or kicking time with pretty unstylish local bartenders and fishermen on a hot summer day in southern France.

If you are planning to visit one or more of them, there are buildings designed by Le Corbusier open to the public in France, Switzerland, Germany, the United States, Argentina, India, and Japan.

Cover photo: Gisèle Freund, “Le Corbusier, Paris” (1961) © Centre Pompidou, Guy Carrad © Estate Gisèle Freund/IMEC Images; from the exhibition “Le Corbusier. The Measure of Man”, Centre Pompidou, Paris, April 29- August 3, 2015; courtesy of Centre Pompidou.


our articles about Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier – Church of Saint-Pierre de Firminy

Le Corbusier – Church of Saint-Pierre de Firminy

Saint-Pierre de Firminy is a catholic church in the town of Firminy, central France, designed by le Corbusier in the early 1960s and completed in 2006
mymuseum
Le Corbusier – Villa Savoye | part 1, history

Le Corbusier – Villa Savoye | part 1, history

History of Villa Savoy: client's commission to Le Corbusier, initial concept, the five points of new architecture, use of concrete and role of technology
case-studies
Le Corbusier – Villa Savoye | part 2, architecture

Le Corbusier – Villa Savoye | part 2, architecture

The architecture of Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye in Poissy, lines and arcs, dimensions, functional program, relationship with the landscape, the house today
case-studies
The Notre Dame du Haut Chapel in Ronchamp by Le Corbusier

The Notre Dame du Haut Chapel in Ronchamp by Le Corbusier

Notre Dame du Haut is a religious site in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France, including the famous Ronchamp Chapel by Le Corbusier and a convent by Renzo Piano
case-studies

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