Design Philosophies of Le Corbusier

NAME: DIMPLE MOGLA A1102A06

INTRODUCTION

Le Corbusier (October 6, 1887 – August 27, 1965), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930. His career spanned five decades, with his buildings constructed throughout Europe, India, and America.

Le Corbusier’s Five Point Of Architecture

During his career, Le Corbusier developed a set of architectural principles that dictated his technique, called "the Five Points of a New Architecture" which were most evident in his Villa Savoye. These were:

•Pilotis – The replacement of supporting walls by a grid of reinforced concrete columns that bears the load of the structure is the basis of the new aesthetic.

•The free designing of the ground plan – The absence of supporting walls means that the house is unrestrained in its internal usage.

•The free design of façade – By separating the exterior of the building from its structural function the façade becomes free.

•The horizontal window – The façade can be cut along its entire length to allow rooms to be lit equally.

•Roof gardens – The flat roof can be utilized for a domestic purpose while also providing essential protection to the concrete roof.

MODULAR

•Le Corbusier explicitly used the golden ratio in his Modular system for the scale of architectural proportion. •The Modular is an anthropometric scale of proportions devised by him.•It is based on the height of an english man with his arm raised.•He used the proportion of the human body to improve the appearance and function of Architecture.

FOUR STUDIES OF HIS FIVE POINTS :

•Maison La – Roche Jeanneret•Villa Stein•Villa at Carthage• Villa Savoye

PILOTIS• In modern architecture, pilotis are ground-level supporting

columns. A prime example is Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye in Poissy, France. Another is Patrick Gwynne's The Homewood in Surrey, England.

Villa savoye The homewood

FUNCTIONAL ROOF

• The roof of the building served as a garden and terrace and thus shows a sense of functionality to the whole building and its one of the main feature of the philosophy.

View from west side Southwest corner of terrace

FREE FLOOR PLAN

LONG HORIZONTAL WINDOWS

FREELY DESIGNED FACADES• Freely-designed facades, serving only as a skin of the

wall and windows and unconstrained by load-bearing considerations.

SOUTH FAÇADE NORTH FACADE

VILLA SAVOYE• The plan was set out using the principle ratios of the Golden

section: in this case a square divided into sixteen equal parts, extended on two sides to incorporate the projecting façades and then further divided to give the position of the ramp and the entrance. In his book Vers une Architecture Corbusier exclaimed "the motor car is an object with a simple function (to travel) and complicated aims (comfort, resistance, appearance)...".

• The house, designed as a second residence and sited as it was outside Paris was designed with the car in mind. The sense of mobility that the car gave translated into a feeling of movement that is integral to the understanding of the building.

VILLA SAVOYE• The approach to the house was by car, past the caretaker's

lodge and eventually under the building itself. Even the curved arc of the industrial glazing to the ground floor entrance was determined by the turning circle of a car. Dropped off by the chauffeur, the car proceeded around the curve to park in the garage. Meanwhile the occupants entered the house on axis into the main hall through a portico of flanking columns.

VILLA SAVOYE(LOWER PLAN)

VILLA SAVOYE(UPPER PLAN)

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier's_Five_Points_of_Architecture