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The Father of Functional Architecture
This architect and Franco-Swiss painter, father of the functional architecture, was able to greatly affect the lives of people through his architecture. Le Corbusier (meaning “The Raven”) wanted to change the world through architecture and he stood by one of his principles until the end of this days: functional, practical and modern over ornate and useless. You can see his best work in Paris.
Photo: Anapuig
Le Corbusier used to say “une machine-à-habiter”, meaning that he saw the house as a machine for living, not as a place to hang out. And he did this from a point of view that was even metaphysical. He wanted something more for his creations and finally achieved it. And it made him one of the most influential architects of the last century.
Charles Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, as he was called, moved toParisat a very young age. In 1905, he completed his first work. It was a single-family home, a rarity at the time, called the Villa Fallet. Le Corbusier said that is when he began to refine functionality.
Traveling for a worldview
He was a tireless traveler and over many years acquired sufficient experience and a more global vision of the world, not only in architecture. In 1911, he decided to go on sabbatical and travel around the world. From Vienna he traveled to Romania, and then he went through Turkey, Italy and Greece, although at the time he would have preferred to return to his routine and focus on creating functional homes and buildings. Eventually, Le Corbusier “jumped over the pond” and began to give a series of lectures in Brazil,Argentina,Uruguay, etc. In Argentina this bold architect left a work: the Curutchet House, a single-family house in the city of La Plata. In Brazil, he designed the French Embassy in Brazil and the Gustavo Capanema building in Rio de Janeiro (the Marvelous City).
But undoubtedly, his most emblematic buildings were constructed inParis: The Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp, VillaSavoy, the Swiss Pavilion, the Pavilion of Brazil, Atelier Ozenfant, Villa Stein and Molitor Residences. And inLyon, you can visit the Convent de la Tourette. If you are a fan of this style and great functionality, you can do the “Route of Le Corbusier” inParis, which is the best way to follow in the footsteps of one of the most influential architects of the twentieth century who created the precursors of our modern buildings. His focus is what many aim for today, yet he did it more than a century ago.
Le Corbusier also considered nature of great importance. For him, a good building should have a garden, which, of course, should also be functional. And this led him to create garden terraces, usually at the top of the buildings. And he always maintained the conditions for thermal insulation. The buildings, he used to say, should invite one inside in order to be understood. If not, in his opinion, it was not worthwhile. Lighting was also one of its strengths, since without light there are no forms and without forms, there is no beauty. He advocated highly rationalistic architecture, without frills or superfluous elements, places where humans could be free. He believed in the spaces with freedom of movement. He hated feeling trapped. So he created an entire theory based on functional houses that even today has not gone out of fashion. And if not, tell that to the architects of this century.
DianaRPretel
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