Toward An Architecture Le Corbusier

INTRODUCTION BY JEAN-LOUIS COHEN

TRANSLATION BY JOHN GOODMAN

r
r
FRANCES LINCOLN LIMITED
PUBLISHER_S
Contents

Frances Lincoln Ltd ix Acknowledgments

4 Torriano Mews x1 From the Translator
Torriano Avenue
London NW5 2RZ
www.franceslincoln.com
1 Introduction
Jean-Louis Cohen
Toward an Architecture
Translation of the 1928 printing of Le Corbusier, Vers une
architecture (Paris: G. Cres, 1924)
Published by permission of the Societe des Auteurs dans les 83 Introduction to the Second Edition
Arts Graphiques et Plastiques (A.D.A.G.P.) and the Fondation 85 Argument
Le Corbusier, Paris 91 Aesthetic of the Engineer, Architecture
99 Three Reminders to Architects
© 2007 J. Paul Getty Trust
First Frances Lincoln edition 2008 99 Volume
107 Surface
All rights reserved. 115 Plan
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means,
131 Regulating Lines
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, 145 Eyes That Do Not See ...
without either prior permission in writing from the publisher or 145 Liners
a licence permitting restricted copying. In the United Kingdom
159 Airplanes
such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London ECl N 8TS.
177 Automobiles
193 Architecture
Published in the United States by the 193 The Lesson of Rome
Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles
213 The Illusion of the Plan
Getty Publications
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 500 231 Pure Creation of the Mind
Los Angeles, California 90049-1682 253 Mass-Production Housing
www.getty.edu 291 Architecture or Revolution
Stanislaus van Moos, Editorial Consultant
Diane Mark-Walker, Manuscript Editor 308 Editor's and Translator's Notes
331 Selected Bibliography
British Library Cataloguing in Publication data 335 Illustration Credits
A catalogue record for this book is available
336 Index
from the British Library
Printed and bound in China
Hardback: 978-0-7112-2808-5
Paperback: 978-0-7112-2809-2
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Acknowledgments
T he idea of publishing a new translation of Vers une architecture goes

back to the late 1980s and the initial steps in the shaping of the Texts &
Documents series. The perseverance of Julia Bloomfield-editor of the series
with Kurr W. Forster, Harry F. Mallgrave, and Thomas F. Reese but also, long
ago, the editor of two special issues of Oppositions that remain milestones of
Corbusian studies-and my own determination finally led to this volume
after many years of discussion and research.
The making of this edition bas been made possible by the generosity of the
Fondation Le Corbusier in Paris, rhe thorough, yet gracious, keeper of the
architect's memory and above all of his inexhaustible archive. My gratitude
goes to its director since 2004, Michel Richard; to its secretary-general, Claude
Prelorenzo; to its librarian, Arnaud Dercelles; and to all the staff who assisted
me in the research and production of the illustrations for this book.
The documentary research for the introduction was developed by Florence
Allorent. In looking for materials on the reception of Vers une architecture, I
benefited from the help of many friends and colleagues: Marida Talamona
shared her knowledge of Le Corbusier's vent�res in Italy, Ken Tadashi Oshima
alerted me to the Japanese response to his work, Panayotis Tournikiotis told
of the book's reverberations in Greece, and Benoit Jacquet provided me with
his research on Tange Kenzo's debt toward it. Caroline Gautier located mate
rials relative to its Dutch echoes, and Anthony Vidler led me to overlooked
English responses, while Joseph Rykwert clarified for me the tricky issue of
modenature.
The analysis of Frederick Etchells's role owes much to Dinah Adams, who
gave me access to her master's thesis. My research on Jeanneret's early read
ings was furthered by Catherine Corthesy at the school of art in La Chaux
de-Fonds. I also thank .Malka Schwartz for her insights on Brooklyn, Kai
Gutschow for his information on Adolf Behne, Nai:ma Jbrnod for her help in
collecting illustrations, and Paolo Scrivano and Tara Bissett, at the University
of Toronto, for gathering precious materials on the grain silos.
The completion of this project would have been impossible without the
input of all my esteemed Corbusianist colleagues, who criticized in a most
constructive way my drafts and made many useful remarks. Warmest thanks
to Tim Benton, Mary McLeod, Guillemette .Morel Journel, Carlo Olmo, and
Francesco Passanti, who called my attention to Geoffrey Simmins's thesis.
ix
Acknowledgments
But most of the credir for this long-awaited reissue of Le Corbusier's first
major book should go to the rigorous translator John Goodman, to the metic
From the Translator
ulous series editor Harry Mallgrave, to the imaginative yet �ttentive designer
Chris Rowat, and to the excellent staff of the Getty Research Insritute's Publi
cations Program, headed by Julia Bloomfield, who deserves my highest appre
ciation for having carried through this project with which the remarkable
Texts & Documents series might come to a premature end after having set
new standards in historical scholarship in architecture.
- Jean-Louis Cohen
T he first English translation of Vers une architecture was published in

1927 as Towards a New Architecture. It did its work well, making Le
Corbusier a crucial reference point in the battle for modernism in the anglo
phone world. Prepared by the British artist and architect Frederick Etchells
(1886-1973), it aggressively naturalized Le Corbusier's French into English.
Vers une architecture has since become a classic of the literature of architec
ture, however, which makes this naturalization a problem. Etchells captured
the book's peremptory tone but homogenized its diction, obscuring its willful
ness, its incanratory rhythms, and its readiness to sacrifice common usage,
even clarity of sense, for euphony. The book is far more difficult-more rhe
torically sophisticated and allusive-than is apparent from Etchells's work. He
also excised a few passages and committed the occasional outright blunder,
notably his consistent rendering of volume as "mass."
During the preparation of this new translation, Etchells proved an invalu
able aid, and I have gratefully retained some of his solu.tions to vexing prob
lems. But I have cried to produce a text that retains more of the imagery,
abstraction, and cussed idiosyncracy of the French than Etchells did, on the
premise that the book is as much prose poem as polemic and that its vital
analogies with modernist French literature-notably Mallarrne, greatly ad
mired by Le Corbusier-should not be played down.
To give some idea of my thought processes, I offer three examples:
Les traces regulateurs. The only alternative renderings I could come up

with-"regulative schema," "regulating schema"-are stiffer than Etchells's
"regulating lines," which in any event has now entered English studio usage.
So I retained it.
Ordonnance. This word is primarily a term of jurisprudence meaning
"ordinance," a statute carrying the force'of law. Le Corb-usier was alert to the
overtones determined by this usage (still current in French), which he made to
harmonize with other legal and military locutions that are integral to his
� rhetorical machinery. All chis is lost in Etchells's rendering of it as "arrange
ment" -a word that has no prescriptive force and one that strikes precisely
the wrong note insofar as it is often used to designate a mode of ethical laxity,
a way of finessing rules without paying the penalty. Given the importance
of moralizing, "return to order" language in postwar French discourse, it
X XI
From the Translator From the Translator
seemed important, even at the cost of some awkwardness, to retain at least an modulation). Etchells's rendering is "contour and profile," which is apt but
echo of the word's juridical associations . Noting the near homophony of obscures this etymology. It also undoes the singular economy of the French
ordonnance and "ordinance" (and the manifest relation of both to "order"), I word and mitigates the mystery with which Le Corbusier infused it. In the
opted to take the French term directly into English. For what it may be worth, end, I opted for "contour modulation," which has several advantages: it is
I found a precedent in the important early dictionary of technical terms by relatively concise, it is a bit mysterious, and, in its musical reference, it evokes
John Harris, who wrote, "Ordonance, in Architecture, is the giving to all the Le Corbusier's "harmonic-sounding-board" and the symphonic formal inte
Parts of an Edifice that just Quantity and Dimensions which they ought to gration that was so important to him.
have, according to the Model." 1 Given its many odd locutions and unexpected word choices, the transla
Modenature. This term figures in one chapter only {"Architecture: Pure tion published here may disconcert readers familiar with the Etchells version.
Creation of the Mind"), but it is key. It comes from rhe Italian modenatura I can only beg their indulgence and suggest that, if possible, they consult the
or modanatura (molding), which derives from the Latin modulus, a diminu French before condemning my work. They may be surprised by the strange
tive of modus (measure, but also model, form, disegno). Although there are ness of what they find there.
occasional earlier instances, it entered the mainstream of French architec In closing, I offer my sincere thanks to Jean-Louis Cohen, Harry Francis
tural discourse in Antoine-Chrysostome Quatremere de Quincy's Dictionnaire Mallgrave, Mary McLeod, and Robin Middleton for their help in refining the
d'architecture (vol. 2, part 2 of Charles-Joseph Panckoucke's Encyclopedie translation. Ultimately, however, all missteps and errors of judgment are mine.
methodique, fascicle 1820, full volume 1832), where it is defined as "the -John Goodman
assembly and distribution of the components, profiles, and moldings of an
order [ordonnance]." Quauemere recommended that ir be raken into the
Dictionnaire de l'Academie fram;aise, advice that was duly followed in its Notes
sixth edition (1832-35): "Architectural term. Proportion and curve of the 1. Lexicon Technicum; or, An Universal English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences,
moldings of a cornice. 'La modenature determines the character of the vari vol. l (London: Printed for Dan. Brown et al., 1704; facsimile, New York, Johnson
ous architectural orders. Corinthian modenature is elegant."' Le Corbusier Reprint, 1966), s.v. "ordonnance."
probably picked up the word from Auguste Choisy's Histoire de l'architecture 2. As noted by Jean-Louis Cohen in his introduction to the present volume (p. 22).
(1899), where it is said to be "essentially Greek" -in terms very like those 3. 'v(le are grateful to Cesare Birignani, who generously made his unpublished
used in Vers une architecture to assert its centrality to rhe Greek architec research on the history of the French term available to us during rhe preparation of this
tural achievement. Choisy defined it as "the abstract arr of accentuating volume.
masses," a formulation much more consistent with the aesthetic and rhetoric
of Le Corbusier than was the traditional, more classically oriented one of
Quatremere. 2 But Le Corbusier imparted to the term an almost mystical qual
ity that was new. For him, it referenced a governing "plastic system" that, in
classical architecture, finds visual articulation in moldings. It was also related
to the concept of ordonnance developed in Vers une architecture, as well as to
his subsequently elaborated notion of the "modulor" (which has the same
Latin roots).3
There is no analogous term in English. My first translation was "model
ing," but this proved unsatisfactory. In the second of his "Three Reminders to
Architects" ("Surface"), Le Corbusier uses modeler to designate the addition
of smaller shapes to primary geometric forms to produce more complex ones,
a practice taken to extremes by the Beaux-Arts architects of his day in ways he
thought antithetical to architectural harmony { "contradictory intentions -
boulevard Raspail"). This passage-along with the French verb's inapposite
contemporary associarion with Auguste Rodin-militated against the use of
"modeling." Nonetheless, it seemed important to find a solution that would
similarly reflect the Latin root of modenature, and thus activate a lexical net
work that is operative throughout the text (module I moduler I modulaire I
xii xi ii
Introduction
Jean-Louis Cohen
F ew books have had an effect comparable to that of Vers une architecture.

In this volume -both a transcription of his youthful experiences and
his first program - Le Corbusier presented himself simultaneously as histo
rian, critic, discoverer, and prophet. The book's peremptory tone and visual
provocations have elicited strong reactions and contradictory interpretations.
Reyner Banham, one of its perspicacious readers, saw in it "one of the most
influential, widely read, and least understood of all the architectural writings
of the twentieth century." 1 Its effect is implied by Vincent Scully in 1966 in his
preface ro Robert Venturi's Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture,
where he wrote that the latter book was "probably the most important writ
ing on the making of architecture since Le Corbusier's Vers une architecture
of 1923." 2 Ac the very least, this statement points to the canonical status the
book was accorded for several decades and the success it met 'With in schools
and offices worldwide.
The L'Esprit nouveau Test Bed

Vers une architecture is composed of articles that had appeared previously in
the periodical L'Esprit nouveau, along with some new elements. It is the char
acter of this review that makes Vers une architecture provocative from its very
first page. Created in 1920 by the architect Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (who
on this occasion adopted the pen name Le Corbusier), the painter Amedee
Ozenfant, and the publicist and poet Paul Dermee, L'Esprit nouveau takes its
tide from that of a lecture given by the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, one of the
figures with whom its founders identified.3
Dermee had passed from lyricism to Dadaism and also had the commer
cial know-how required ta create and distribute a publication. The closeness
of Jeanneret and Ozenfanr is apparent in how they signed their articles in the
periodical, using fictive idenriries suggested by Ozenfant. 4 Only essays on
architecture and the initial edition of 1923 of the present book bore the signa
ture "Le Corbusier-Saugnier," which indicates that the text was largely writ
ten by Jeanneret but may contain additions by Ozenfant, whose mother's
name was Saugnier.
These last contributions have the most refined visual structure of all those
published in the twenty-eight issues of the periodical, issued between 1920
and 1925. 5 The fashionable gathering of essays covered a vast field-from
literature to psychoanalysis, from painting to cinematography-and took a
Cohen Introduction
marked interest in international matters, most notably rhe recent artistic

developments in Russia. All of the articles employed a deliberate strategy of
seduction-by-image. Jeanneret had doubtless seen the almanac Der Blaue
Vient de paraitre
Reiter, published in 1912 in lvlunich by the painters Franz Marc and Wassily
Kandinsky. Its intriguing juxtapositions of modern paintings and "primitive"
works called into question the cliches of official art hisrory. He had also read
rhe Kulturarbeiten (Culture works) of architect Paul Schultze-Naumburg,
which use contrasting images in a critical way. 6 The layout of these publica
tions anticipated the visual approach taken in L'Esprit nouveau. The contem
porary French reviews that Jeanneret knew-for example, the critic George
Besson's Cahiers d'aujourd'hui, which published "Ornament und Verbrechen"
(Ornament and crime) by Adolf Loos in 1913 - lacked this radical character,
as did L'Elan, which Ozenfam published during rhe war.
Ir was in the midst of World War I that the very form of rhe review was
turned upside down by a new generation of titles. De Stijl, published by Theo
van Doesburg from October 1917, limited irself ro art and architecture, but 391,
founded by Francis Picabia in Barcelona a few months earlier, interspersed
photographs of industrial objects-ship propellers and electric lightbulbs
among its columns and calligrams. L'Esprit nouveau paid homage to Picabia,
probably on the initiative of Dennee, but, since the magazine aimed to seduce
a "serious" audience, it instituted a more conservative graphic design.?
In the pages that follow, I will first perform an auropsy of the "machine
for persuading" that is the book-extension of the review, then analyze its
rhetorical and visual structure and discuss its first English and German trans
lations, and conclude with a study of its reception (fig. 1). 8
From]eanneret to Le Corbusier
The first article in L'Esprit nouveau devoted to architecture, "Trois rappels a
Mi\1. !es architectes; premier rappel: le volume" (Three reminders to architects;
first reminder: volume), is found in the initial issue, dared October 1920;
Ce livre est implacable "Architecture III; pure creation de !'esprit" would be published in tbe six
teenth issue in May 1922. Between these two dates, twelve essays appear in
II ne ressemble a aucun · autre succession, all of which would be reprinted, in 1923, in slightly altered form ,
in the first edition of Vers une architecture. The segmentation introduced in
the first article-a "reminder" announcing sequels but also alluding to Jean
Cocteau's rappel a l'ordre (return to order) and thereby suggesting sympathy
for conservative positions - revealed Le Corbusier's intent from the outset: to
finally publish a real book. 9 At the time, all he had to his credit were the articles
on his trip to the Balkans, Turkey, and Greece published in La feuille d'avis de
La Chaux-de-Fonds and the thin volume Etude sur le mouvement d'art decoratif
en Allemagne, published in 1912 after an investigation, extending from Berlin to
rig. 1. Publicity flyer for Vers une architecture proclaiming:
"This book is implacable. It is unlike any other," 1923 Munich, and from Dresden to the Ruhr region, into the genesis and achieve
Paris, Fondation Le Corbusier ments of the Second Reich in the field of architecture and the applied arts. 10
He had already abandoned a projected book on "the construction of
cities," however, which would have brought together his observations on
2 3
Cohen Introduction
European urbanism, notes on the history of cities taken at the Bibliotheque Housing"). An unpublished text, "Architecture ou revolution" ("Architecture
nationale de Paris, and his proposals for La Chaux-de-Fonds, where he was or Revolution"), was added. 18 The book is introduced by a summary of the
born.11 Entitled France ou Allemagne? and undertaken in 1915, it would he " argument," thereby framing the reader's understanding of the rest of the
set aside after the Armistice of 1918.u work. Over five pages, Le Corbusier presents resumes of the chapters that are
Since Le Corbusier's early education has already been examined in minute reiterated at the head of each. He made a point of justifying his inversion of the
detail, only those episodes pertinent to the genesis of Vers une architecture sequence of blocks as published in the review, asserting that the " three remind
will be mentioned here.13 The first reminder was published at a critical moment ers" -now placed at the start of the book, after an opening entitled "Aesthetic
in a career begun in 1906 with the construction of the Faller House on the of the Engineer" -were written for architects, while "Eyes That Do Not See,"
outskirts of his native city. Over a period of fourteen years, Jeanneret had tra having been written for clients, now preceded the section "Architecture." The
versed Europe from France to Turkey, from Germany to Italy. He had worked opposition of an "academic" block ("Three Reminders to Architects," "Regu
with Auguste Perret in Paris and Peter Behrens in Berlin, two figures com lating Lines," "The Lesson of Rome," "The Illusion of the Plan;' and "Pure
mitted to imagining the architecture of the industrial age. He had tried to Creation of the Mind") and a "mechanical" block ("Aesthetic of the Engineer,"
reinvigorate the art school in La Chaux-de-Fonds, where he received his early "Eyes That Do Not See," and "Architecture or Revolution") reflects the dual
training. He had reflected on contemporary architecture, as his correspon focus on aesthetic and machinist concerns, constituting the base of Jeanneret's
dence with Perret testifies. 14 Finally, his dreams carried him toward the con and Ozenfant's post-cubist doctrine defined by them as Purism, correctly under
quest of both Paris and America. scored by Banham. 19 The contrast between chapters dealing with the spirit of
Recording his impressions in notes and sketches in his travel journals, pho the time ("a spirit of construction") and the ones that explore timeless architec
tographing the urban landscapes, and tirelessly providing accounts of his feel tural issues is obvious from these very first pages of the book.
ings in his correspondence, Jeanneret constructed a personal interpretation of In accordance with a scheme that would continue to be refined into the
the contemporary world, its culture, and its cities. In his search for a self, he 1950s, quadripartite layouts combining title headings, text, images, and cap
devoured the Vie de Jesus by Joseph-Ernest Renan, Les grands inities (The tions -arranged so as to surprise and shock the reader-construct the book's
Great Initiates) by Edouard Schure, and especially Also sprach Zarathustra argument step by step. This allowed for the formulation of striking aphorisms
(Thus Spake Zarathustra) by Friedrich Nietzsche.15 At the end of these "zig and slogans and the elaboration of sequences that advance the argument or
zag travels," as Stanislaus von Moos has dubbed them, alluding to the comic play on opposition and comparison.
strip drawn by the Genevan Rodolphe Toepffer, jeanneret was ready to make Although he can cut the figure of a traveler or a reporter, Le Corbusier is
public the ideas that he had been pondering ever since his Grand Tour. 16 often quite simply an archivist bringing together images and documents, includ
His professional starus was quite incongruous when the first issue of ing those pertaining to his own activities. His book is also an extension of the
L'Esprit nouveau appeared. With the exhibition of his drawings and works by reflections he sketched out in the intense correspondence of his youth. The
Ozenfant at Galerie Thomas in 1918 and the concomitant publication of places visired during his "useful journey"-sites related to industry, culture,
the manifesto Apres le cubisme, he was beginning to be known on the artis and folklore-provided a great deal of visual evidence for points made in the
tic scene. But the painful financial failure of the Societe des applications du text. 20 Like Urbanisme and L'art decoratif d'aujourd'hui, published two years
beton arme (SABA) (Company for the implementation of reinforced concrete) later, Vers une architecture exploited the collection of photographs and news
created in 1917 in Alfortville, in the suburbs of Paris, burdened him with paper clippings that Le Corbusier would augment as long as he lived and that
debts he struggled to meet, despite the supporr of his family, which he had left conrinued to serve him well into rhe 1960s. These materials documented engi
penniless.17 His articles were part of a campaign to win recognition as an neering projects such as Gustave Eiffel's Garabit viaduct and ancient sites
inrellectual and architectural reformer. such as the Parthenon-with short circuits creating electric sparks between
objects in the two series.
Literary and Graphic Strategies
In Vers une architecture, the twelve articles published in L'Esprit nouveau are The Engineer Exalted
gathered into three blocks, to which three isolated articles were added. In the The mode of argument changes as the book unfolds, moving from techno
order of their publication, they are "Trois rappels a MM. les architectes" logical models to unchanging concerns of architectural theory. The opening sec
("Three Reminders to Architects"), "Des yeux qui ne voient pas" ("Eyes That tion, "Aesthetic of the Engineer," is also rhe title of a rubric in L'Esprit nouveau.
Do Not See"), aod "Architecture." The isolated arricles are "Les traces regula Le Corbusier radicalized the opposition between architects and engineers that
teurs" ("Regulating Lines"), "Esthetique de l'ingenieur, Architecture" ("Aesthetic appeared in rhe nineteenth cemury and thar Sigfried Giedion would later
of the Engineer, Architecture"), and "Maisons en serie" ("Mass-Production make a touchstone of his historical account. 21 In 1930, Le Corbusier would
4 5
Co h en In troductio n
note in Precisions: "I carried the engineer shoulder high. Vers une architec
ture .. . was largely dedicated to him. I was looking ahead a bit. I would soon
have a premonition of 'the constructor; the new man for a new age." 22
Apart from writings by Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, it was probably
in several German analyses, notably those published in 1902 by Hermann
Muthesius in Stilarchitektur und Baukunst (Style-Architecture and Building
Art) and in 1910 by Joseph August Lux in lngenieurdsthetik (Engineer aes
theric),23 and in some French texts such as the ones of Robert de la Sizeranne
that Le Corbusier found direct precedents for his panegyric. 24 Praising the
.D • ;;:> l
- ,? . , r
"healthy project" of the engineer, in 1913 he wrote his mentor, the Swiss e,-,c,c -.;:..,. l
essayist William Ritter, that, while "architects are puppets," he had "unre
served admiration for engineers, who throw their phenomenal bridges, who
work for what is useful, strong, and healthy." 25 Already in 1914, he had pub
lished in Switzerland the article "Renouveau clans !'architecture" (Renewal in
•l
architecture), where he announced the postwar reminders and declared: "Our
Romans, our Gothics, our Louis XIV, those are now the engineers." 26
The first illustration in the book, the Garabit viaduct, engineered by Eiffel,
is linked to Perret (fig. 2). As early as 1914, Jeanneret remembered that he had
"showed him in 1909 or 1910, in [his] album of photographs, a famous and
immense iron bridge that must be in the Cevennes," making a sketch of it
from memory.27 After reading Loos, he asserted:
When the architect has put into the house the honest expression of the constructor
of ocean liners, it seems that all the make-up and filth that soils us will fall away
like scales....
So I would dream of being a builder of bridges or a driller of tunnels, or some
one who fights against an immense river to block it and form a lake, or someone
who throws railroad tracks across our Alps or through the steppes. Then I would be
on the way toward liberation.28
He wrote bis friend and engineer-partner Max Du Bois at the time that he was
preparing an article for L'Oeuvre entitled "Le renouveau en architecture"
(The renewal in architecture): "Engineers will have the better part in it and
architects, that of the cretins ... which they often are." 29 After the failure of his
entrepreneurial adventure at S ABA, Le Corbusier would again celebrate the
model of concrete engineering with which he had identified in his youthful
dreams and that was fundamental to the modernization of postwar France.
Factories as Cathedrals
"Aesthetic of the Engineer" exposes the decrepitude and sterility of architects.
Le Corbusier confronts them with three consecutive reminders grounded in the
Fig. 2. Charles-Edouard Jeanneret
psychological reality that "blind" eyes are nonetheless "made for seeing." To Letter to Auguste Perret, 20 January 1914, with sketch of the Garabit viaduct later
evoke the first two reminders, "volume" and "surface," he presents images of reproduced as the first illustration in Vers une architecture
Paris, Archives nationales, lnstitut fran�ais d'architecture, Fonds Auguste Perret
industrial buildings, often American ones. As early as 1917, Le Corbusier said
he was studying abattoirs made of reinforced concrete. 30 The article published
6 7
Co h en Introdu c t i o n
-
m 1913 by \'(!alter Gropius abour American factories had not escaped his
notice.31 He had acquired the Jahrbucher of the Deutscher Werkbund in 1915 for ;;
Perret, judging the one containing Gropius's article "very significant." 32
His interest in industrial America was not unusual for his generation, even
if its knowledge of such remained secondhand. 33 Jeanneret's desire for ::c pcr-.1.rsi�iVtU�t rn,s une id6c a:a chii:.�ctura.le 11 :..:ai� sbp1e:.:Q4l"'U
.
America was intense. In a letter of 1910 to the Perret brothers, he said that he
had nor lost sight of the "perspective toward a sojourn in Chicago that
,0�
guides i;u� lcs neceositec d'un progrU1.,:.-.c c;uo-4e;; 'lle-sf;a5 L'flpjrn:��
I.
Monsieur Auguste opened up" for him.34 Four years later he wrote of his
wish to see "the immense concrete works of Panama, the crazy houses of the
new world, the depths of this wholly modern life" that so "fascinate" him.35
The buildings by means of which "American engineers crush with their
calculations an architecture in its death throes," as he puts it in Vers une archi
tecture, actually are located in quire a variety of places- the United Srates, the
location of Cass Gilbert's Army Supply Base and William Higginson's Gair
Building in Brooklyn, reproduced on page 111, but also Canada and Argen
tina- something that the absence of captions obscures. In one of the most Voici dos usi!lGS pr,,�,rl.i 'l'tl.SGU1:'<V\�C du ncr.�J'::OctU .t,"=!:pS
notorious falsifications in the history of modern architecture, Le Corbusier · - .
°j
� � ,e,· #a c-�Ahc...
retouched the photograph of the silos in Montreal, hiding the dome of the L,:,s in?uni.eurs d'i,.ujoord'hui wr• '"�-le,� dirootivl?s rue
Bonsecours market. The grain silos in Buenos Aires, previously published by
Gropius, were rerouched so as to eliminate their culminating triangular pedi
ments, making their crowning elements perfectly horizontal. 36 The graphic
manipulation would be claimed by Ozenfant:
There were indeed, here and ther e, atop of these powerful batteries of monumental
cylinders resembling donjons, some pediments in the Greek manner. The engineer, or
some architect hanging around the calculating tables, wanted to "embellish" the pure
work of the technician, as if one could embellish an egg! ... I removed these excres
cences with gouache and everything became pure, or rather was restored to purity.37 ,.,,..., . . _..,.----"------.
,_.tt-• , I•:_ t.- •• . .,
r-
Ozenfant said he obtained these images from Henri-Pierre Roche, the author
of Jules et Jim and Deux Anglaises et le continent. Curious about the scene
on the ocher side of the Atlantic, Roche had spent three years in New York in
the company of Marcel Duchamp. 38 A handwritten note by Le Corbusier con
firms the role of Roche in conveying the images.39
The second reminder is also supported by images of American industrial
buildings, with one exception: the Fagus factory in Alfeld-an-der-Leine by
Gropius and Adolf Meyer, which would be replaced in the 1928 edition by an
image of a Ford factory, a substitution that Le Corbusier already had in mind
in 1924. 40 The Renaissance appears by way of overture, in the guise of the
courtyard of San Damaso in the Vatican, succinctly captioned "Bramante and _· ___c.__j
Raphael," and also as conclusion, in an image mocking the overdecorated

Fig. 3. Le Corbusier
concrete dome of the Spreckels Building by James and Merritt Reid in San "Esthetique de l'ingenieur" (Aesthetic of the engineer), typescript of article
Francisco, an unidentified sign of architectural depravation. The point is published in L'Esprit nouveau, with handwritten addition by Le Corbusier: "Let us
heed the advice of American engineers. But let us fear American architects.
driven home by a handwritten note on the typed manuscript: "Let us fear Proof: .. :·; and sketch of the Spreckels Building, [1921]
American architects. Proof: ..." (fig. 3 ).41 Le Corbusier was probably unaware Paris, Fondation Le Corbusier
8 9
Cohen Introduction
that the Brooklyn base was designed by Gilbert, the architect of the Wool Regulating the Facade
worth Building, in short, one of these "American architects" he was trashing. The principle of order enabled by the plan is in a sense reshuffled onto the ver
tical plane in Le Corbusier's discussion of "regulating lines." He was quite
The Plan, or Rationalist Order familiar, in all likelihood, by way of Theodor Fischer in Munich, with Die
The argument of the reminder devoted to the plan is of a different order. It Proportionen in der Architektur and Die architektonische Komposition by
plays on the term's two meanings: on the one hand, in the field of representa August von Thiersch.48 In 1932, he would thank Fischer for welcoming him in
tion, it signifies the horizontal projection of a building or an urban ensemble; 1910, when he was in Germany looking for "healthy and constructive archi
on the other hand, in the field of organization, it implies a concerted strategy tectural elements." 49 This suggests that, at the time, he was pondering the
of modernization. At the start of a decade that would see the launching of a question of proportions in recent work by Munich architects and their prede
plan to industrialize Russia, Le Corbusier sensed the potential of a notion that cessors and of proportion grids used by Behrens for the Oldenburg Pavilion
had gained currency during the war and that would inspire the title of the of 1905. These grids were published in a monograph by Fritz Hoeber that
periodical Plans, which he founded in 1931. Jeanneret bought for Perret in 1915. 50 On this point, Ozenfant's contribution
Le Corbusier considered the plan as a "generator." Such an attitude was on grids in painting seems to have been significant.
nor unprecedented-it was found in the instruction at the Ecole des Beaux Le Corbusier sets forth the "sensory mathematics" of the regulating line
Arts, as codified by Julien-Azais Guadet and, earlier, in the teaching of with more illustrations taken from Choisy (e. g., the facade of the Arsenal of
Jacques-Frarn;:ois Blonde! in the eighteenth century. 42 Le Corbusier relied on Philon at Peiraeus), although these are nor credited, as well as some from
engineer Auguste Choisy, architect Tony Garnier, and Perret in presenting his Marcel Dieulafoy, whose analysis relying on circles and right angles had been
argument. The axonometric projections taken from the history of architecture used by Jeanneret for an interpretation of Notre-Dame de Paris sketched on
published in 1899 by Choisy-one of the main sources of Vers une architec a postcard in 1921 (fig. 4). 51 To interpret Blondel's Porte Saint-Denis, the
ture-represent the illustrated buildings simultaneously in plan, section, and Capitol in Rome, and the Petit Trianon, Le Corbusier made use of diagonal
elevation, thereby making it possible to connect the "generator" with the vol lines. Their appearance dates back to an article he cosigned with Ozenfant in
umes.43 But the graphic analysis of the layout and processional route of the the first issue of L'Esprit nouveau, "Sur la plastique" (On plasric qualities),
Acropolis in Athens, borrowed from Choisy, underscores the "skills of a great where the linear analysis of the Capitol was juxtaposed with another one by
stage director," despite the "apparent disorder."44 the authors applied to a landscape by Paul Cezanne.52
The illustrations taken from Garnier's book of 1917, Une cite industrielle, Le Corbusier made an important change in this chapter when he revised
are likened to grand compositions such as the Saint Louis des Invalides and the 1923 edition. He removed two of the four illustrations of Villa Schwob
Versailles. Le Corbusier had been corresponding with Garnier since 1914 and (his last building in La Chaux-de-Fonds), including the one with a linear
met with him in 1915 to discuss his abattoir designs and solicit his aid as an analysis of the elevation, and introduced photographs, with triangular pat
intermediary with rhe mayor of Lyon, Edouard Herriot. He recalled his ambiva terns, of the Ozenfant atelier and the La Roche-Jeanneret House, which had
lence toward the "excessively Greek tendency" of the houses in Cite but main just been completed. In the meantime, Hendrik Petrus Berlage had objected
tained that Garnier was "the first to have realized an entente between arr and to the absence of any mention of his writings in the first edition, as well as to
our magnificent era." 45 Le Corbusier's claim that he had "not yet had the pleasure of encountering
Le Corbusier's reminder about the plan positioned his own ideas as a cri contemporary architects who had concerned themselves with this question":
tique of Perret's concept of "tower-cities," which he dismissed as "dangerous
futurism." He also constructed his argument around the principle of the I hasten to inform you that, since as early as 1890, this question was studied in
"piloris-city," borrowing Perret's theory of an artificial ground level, initially Holland (initiator: the architect de Groot) and with such success that many archi
a proposal of Eugene Henard, who also invented the indents (redents) men tects then began to design their plans and facades in accordance with regulatory
tioned later in the book as early as 1903.46 As Le Corbusier acknowledged in lines.
a note added to the text published in January 1921 in L'Esprit nouveau, the And, as an example, I inform you that the new bourse in Amsterdam, 1897-
idea of the "tower-city" bad just been presented to a general readership in an 1904, was built in accordance with a 3-4-5 triangle.53
article in L'Intransigeant.47If the plan is a "generator," as the beginning of the
chapter claims, then char of a single edifice-the tower-would generate the Le Corbusier responded politely, confirming that be had "known the bourse
entire city. in Amsterdam for quite some time" and had "always admired" it. 54 In all
probability, Berlage's reflections in his Grundlagen und Entwicklung der
Architektur ("The Foundations and Development of Architecture") had not
10 11
Cohen Introduction
escaped his attention. His assertion that "the regulatory line is a guarantee
against arbitrariness" can also be related ro a remark by Gottfried Semper
relayed by Berlage: "Nothing is arbitrary."55 This did not, however, prevent
Le Corbusier from maintaining in 1926 that he had "raken a stand" against
Berlage's regulating lines, which he reduced to "diagonal lines," a "frame
work": "By this account," he claimed, "all cross-stitch embroidery would be
made with regulating lines."5 6 Nevertheless, Le Corbusier's interest in propor
tions never flagged, and from 1928 regulatory lines would be one of his apples
" of discord wirh radical figures in European architecture such as El Lissitzky
PARIS_ Le Canal el)N,9tre Dame
.,.
� I'.
and Karel Teige. These reflections would eventually lead, after World War II,
!·/
• ,I
The Canal jnd Notre Dame

to his elaboration of his "Modulor" proportional system.
In his defense of regulating lines, Le Corbusier condemned Paris's turn-of
!/
1:
the-century boulevard Raspail-the creation of "modern man," who "uses
I/ nothing at all" -in terms of geometric construction, and be also disparages
/
/
.,,,, . it in his reminder ahout surface. 57 The reminder about volume moreover
included a list of contemporary buildings from which Le Corbusier explicitly
excluded the Gare d'Orsay and the Grand Palais on the grounds that they
"are not architecture."58 He no longer deigned ro mention the buildings by
Anatole de Baudot, Georges Chedanne, Charles Plumet, and Henri Sauvage
that he had listed in 1915. 59 Paris was becoming an architectural wasteland;
the liners of the Compagnie generale transarlantique evinced a "more techni
cal beauty" than that of the Gare d'Orsay,
Rekindling "Deadened Eyes"

Le Corbusier's ferocity toward the work of French architects and decorators
is unleashed in the hook's central triad, where the modern world is revealed
co "eyes that do not see." This phrase derives from a prose poem by Stephane
Mallarme, "Le phenomene futur," the first sentence of which Jeanneret
quoted in a letter of 1915 to Perrec. 60 In this text, reprinted in a volume
Jeanneret had bought in 1914, Mallarme relates the discovery of a "woman
from another rime" in the house of an "exhibitor of things past" and ends
thusly:
When everyone will have contemplated the noble creature, a vestige of some
already cursed era, some of chem indifferent, since they will not have had the
strength t0 understand, whereas others, devastated, their eyelids wet with resigned
tears, will gaze at one another; while the poets of that rime, feeling their deadened
eyes rekindle, will wend their way toward their lamps, brains briefly drunk with a
confused glory, haunted by Rhythm and oblivious of existing in an era that had out
lived beauty.61
Fig. 4. Notre-Dame and the Seine, postcard with regulating lines drawn by Le Corbusier, 1921
Paris, Fondation Le Corbusier
Another source might be found in the Paris press of the times- Jeanneret may
have read Georges Rozet's article "Les yeux qui ne voient plus" (Eyes that no
longer see), published in 1919,62 But the question of vision, discussed in the
field of experimental psychology since the end of the nineteenth century, is
12 13
Cohen Introduction
implicit in a number of earlier texts about industrial culture, and L'Esprit

nouveau did not fail to discuss the point of view of experimental psychology.
In 1924, Ozenfant and Jeanneret would publish a text on "the formation of
the modern optic."63 Av1oiis'fARMAN 107. rue de 5ilJy,BmANCOURT
Le Corbusier's assertions cannot be considered apart from their German
precedents, even if his adventures beyond the Rhine go unmentioned in Vers
LE�, GOLIATH
9
une architecture. In his Ingenieurdsthetik, Lux introduced the slogan of �
a "new eye" observing industrial buildings and machines. 64 The German " TYPE · ·F.· · 60 " 0
Werkbund evidenced this outlook in its publications, notably in tbe almanac

of 1914 devoted to modes of transport. Jeanneret surely had seen its images
of ships, locomotives, auromobiles, and airplanes, since he had purchased a
copy for Perret. 65 The French sources are more theoretical. Paul Souriau had
published not only La beaute rationnelle (1914) - a book known to Jeanneret
(it was in the library of the La Chaux-de-Fonds school) that formulated the
programmatic alliance benveen art and technology of the school of Nancy
but also L'esthetique du mouvement (1889), a work in which he discussed
ground and air locomotion. 66 Souriau's son Etienne, and the philosopher
Charles Lalo, both of whom contributed tO L'Esprit nouveau, were also sig
nificant sources. 67
Le Corbusier's fascination with ocean liners, the first class of objects taken
up in his ocular triad, long predated his writing of Vers une architecture. The
travel notebooks from his journey to the East contain drawings of the ship
that took him from Patras to Brindisi. As we saw, texts by Loos also led him
to praise "the honest expression of the constructor of ocean liners," and his Le " GOLIATH" - So�s ses oiles Le " MOUSTJQUE ,.
school owned a book in which critic Camille Mauclair compared houses and
liners. 68 Furthermore, in 1922 he indicated to Ritter: "You will see here my
ideas about architecture recalling that at school, when I was nventy years old, .r• ' .
. --•• - -·�·--·--·- -·-- ···••---• -· ·- --•••
. .
they nicknamed me 'ocean liner.' That hasn't changed." 69 This celebration of

the virtues of ships was not merely praise for an isolated technical object. The
ocean liner is what inspired Le Corbusier to create the provocative aphorism:
"La maison est une machine a demeurer" (The house is a machine for resid
ing). This formulation of 1923 is even more vigorous than the 1924 version,
in which demeure1; with its static and bourgeois connotations, is replaced by
habite1; "ro live in" or "to inhabit."
Le Corbusier's relation to the airplane was shared by an entire generation
of poets, artists, and architects.7° Impressed by Louis Bleriot's crossing of the
English Channel in 1909, when "the chimera was captured by men and driven
DCpart du•• GOLIATH'' pour Bruxelles (Jlar.J 1919)
over the city," he again rook the stance of an engineer when he declared that
he looked at things "from the point of view of architecture, in the state of
mind of the inventor of airplanes." 71 The planes presented in this chapter, --��-------------'---'
··-------�"···
beginning with the Farman Goliath, were of military origin (fig. 5). Airplanes
Fig. 5. The "Goliath"
had been purposefully designed to serve in a "useful war," whereas the ques From an Avians Farman brochure, ca. 1920, owned by Le Corbusier
rions pertaining to housing had not been posed with any clarity during the Paris, Fondation Le Corbusier
same time. The problem, having been "badly posed" by "eyes that ha[d] not
seen," resulted in projects whose frivolous lines were at odds with the tension
14 15
:•,:- .. ·,.:·-.. .· . : . ...................... . . ...._. . . . -

Introduction
Cohen
and sleekness of the French bombers, even if the latter were by no means the
most technologically advanced.
Finally, locked onto autos, the eyes of the era were invited to accept a liter
ally iconoclastic rapprochement between Greek temples and automobiles (fig.
6). Franc;:oise Ducros has noted Le Corbusier's clear debt to Ozenfant in this
regard. The two friends liked to take motorcar excursions together, but it was
the painter who would drive a rather idiosyncratic English Morgan car and
publish articles devoted to automobiles in L'Esprit nouveau. He himself even
designed, with his hrother, a Hispano-Suiza coachwork that was published in
the review.72 Ozenfant would note in 1924: "You liked ocean liners, myself,
automobiles .... My greater familiarity with mechanical things and your taste
I
for construction soon led to a mutual understanding." 73
The concordance of temple and automobile, probably conceived when
Jeanneret attended the Werkbund conference in Cologne in 1914, led to
a third term. 74 Yet again, it was housing that was called into question by
machines. Like the Parthenon, the Delage Grand-Sport established a standart.
(Le Corbusier used an idiosyncratic spelling here, replacing the final d with a t,
H <, :.:•:
.,_
as in the German term denoting a flag) This standart was the object of a
. .. r . process of refinement or selection, as much for the temple as for the automo
• ., c· ·-:�.� bile. Le Corbusier considered it a necessary evolution if "Greek" perfection
r 11l!.1!.��-:.:�:··-�--
i were to be recovered and a modern Pheidias were to appear. It was less a mat
ter of reproducing the automobile than of going "toward" new Parthenons by
assimilating the lesson of the automobile. Mallarme's motif of "outliving
beauty" reappears, minus its nostalgia for this unexpected return to currency
of Greek architecture.
Bur looking with new eyes at antiquity and machines, the images of which
often came from advertising brochures for automobiles and airplanes, was
not meant only as a rejection of academic architecture.7 5 The progressive
French political and social scene emerged gradually with the rise of Louis
Loucheur's program for ·low-cost housing.76 The revelation of relationships
between these seemingly distant universes introduces Le Corbusier's reflec
tions on applying the laws of economy to housing-something that mass pro
duction, discussed later in the book, could make possible.
Return to the Antique

To reassure readers put off by these parallels, Le Corbusier returns in the
book's third triad to the idea that architecture transcends the utilitarian. After
his 1921 trip to Rome, in the company of Ozenfant and h1s friend Germaine
Bonga.rd, sister of the couturier Paul Poirer, he opposed Roman "bad taste" to
that of the Greeks in an architectural anthology proceeding from ancient to
modern Rome (fig. 7). The jumble of Rome is likened to both Hadrian's Villa
Fig. 6. Le Corbusier and the projects undertaken in the "conquered" regions, which Le Corbusier
Sketches for illustrations in Vers une architecture, including the Parthenon and a Delage
brake, [ca. 1920] compares in passing to regions "devastated" by war and in course of recon
Paris, Fondation Le Corbusier struction (fig. 8). The metaphor of the automobile is here reversed: the
"superb chassis" of the buildings are hidden by "dreadful coachwork." He
17
16
Coh en Introduct i o n
z.. z: ___x
____.---
·�
/
I) 0:: t-, L ,
,·��?
. ,
ru C<v/;;c:t.c� . ( /
l '. , �
z·
-t;
c//
' .
. ,-
,, . -\ D (,I.A :��-1_r.:
(\
Fig. 7. Amedee Ozenfant Fig. 8. Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier at Saint Peter's, Rome, 1921 Sketches for illustrations in "Rome antique" (Ancient Rome), [1921]
Paris, Fondation Le Corbusier Paris, Fondation Le Corbusier
18 19
Cohen Introduction
even proposes getting rid of the marble, about which the Romans "knew
nothing;' 77 so as to retain only the brick and cement and thereby enable the
development of the primary volumes that, in a drawing, he juxtaposed with a
view of the city. 78
The "lesson of Rome" was never taken more literally than when he declared
his design for a bridge at Geneva to be "in the manner of Caracalla." 79 The
alternatives to Roman ambiguities will be the "spiritual mechanics" of Byzantine
architecture and the "drama" of the Basilica of Saint Peter by Michelangelo,
two discoveries he made during the 1921 tour and illustrated with doctored
images. Bur he deplores the transformation of the latter building by "barbaric
hands" -pronouncing the changes mere "empty verbosity, misplaced words"
-and he holds the baroque period and historical eclecticism in like contempt,
not sparing along the way institutions located in Rome like the Academie
fran�aise. This trip also occasioned a tiff with Ozenfant:
You know that ten years ago Michelangelo, for me, showed Raphael the door. It
would have given me great joy to verify with you i:his implacable law of the world,
in an intimacy chat I would have done anything to reestablish. For the time being
let's see Rome on our own. There will have been no lesson of Rome for us. so
Beaux-Arts plans are subsequently identified as the enemy by Le Corbusier,

who on this point uses martial language. The military plan leads to "battle,"
to the "clash of volumes in space." To establish the (proper) sequence of the
operation, from inside to outside, he mobilizes his sketches of Greece and
Istanbul against the "axis of the Ecole" or the peacock's tail symbolized by
the plan of Karlsruhe, a "lamentable failure" reproduced at the head of the
chapter. For this opening spot, his first thought had been to use a plan of the
Place de l'Etoile in Paris or a view of the Villa Schwob's upper floor. 81
Once again, Choisy, whose analysis indicates that the buildings are placed
off the "driving axis" of the Acropolis, is mobilized. And the horizons toward
which the plans lead are not just built landscapes: distant views of Attica, of
Campania, and of Latium appear beyond the Propylaea, the Poikile wall at
Hadrian's Villa, and the temple in Pompeii. But when these panoramas are
visually cut into fragments at Saint Peter's or at Versailles, it is attributed to
vanity. One must return to Athens to rediscover the "pure creation of the
mind" that is architecture. Here, the analogy used is that of the "beautiful
face," employed by the nineteenth-century French art critic Charles Blanc in
his Grammaire des arts du dessin, or that of the axial body. 82 It is the consis
tency between the axis of a machine or building and the axis "that lies within
man" and gives birth to harmony.
Le Corbusier did not make do with his sketches of Athens. He also bought
Fig. 9. West side of the Parthenon
and read the Priere sur l'Acropole (Prayer on the Acropolis) by Renan, for Detail from L'Acropole d'Athenes, le Parthenon, intro. Gustave Fougeres (Paris: Albert
whom this site where "perfection exists" was the "ideal crystallized in Pentelic Morance, 1910), pl. 10
Le Corbusier extracted two illustrations from this plate, on pp. 184 and 185 of the present
marble."83 He corresponded with Ritter in 1920, citing "the Parthenon, that edition.
drama" as a "model" for the paintings with which he struggled (fig. 9). 84
20 21
Cohen Int rod uc t i on
He reproduced photographs by the Genevan Frederic Boissonnas, used as illus-

trations in Le Parthenon by the archaeologist Maxime Collignon and in the
portfolio L'Acropole d'Athimes, le Parthenon, published by Albert Morance.85
One might also advance the hypothesis that Jeanneret had read Charles
Maurras's book of 1918, Athenes antique. Maurras deplored that " this force"
that was the Parthenon had gone " unappreciated" and refuted the interpreta-
tions in Renan's Priere sur l'Acropole, which he found verbose.86
The effects of the Parthenon, a " machine for stirring emotion," are pro-
duced by the use of a modular composition whose "plastic mechanics" create
an impression of "cut and polished steel." 87 The unusual term modenature
(rendered in t he present translation as "contour modulation") 88 surprised
readers, beginning with Louis Bonnier, city architect of Paris, who asked him
to specify its origins, which he thought were Helvetian:
I have culled my memories. The word is not used in Switzerland . At least, I never
heard it there. But having spent some weeks on the Acropolis in Athens, the sense of
modenature struck me, and it must have been at that moment that I searched for a
word corresponding to the thing.
. . . The word is worth introducing into the practical language of architecture, 4 .~ ~.
signifying [as it d oes] something of capital importance in the architectural an. 89 \ I,
Le Corbusier took this apparently mysterious concept from Choisy's Histoire

de /'architecture of 1899, where it is defined as "the abstract art of accentu-
a ting masses" (fig. 10).90 Ir had first appeared as a term translated from the
Italian modanatura in the 1752 edition of the Trevoux dictionary; then
Quatremere de Quincy in 1832 included it in his Dictionnaire historique
D
d'architecture, defining modinature or modenature - a word he considered
to still not be accepted in French - as the architectural expression of the
"assembly and the distribution of the components, profiles, and mouldings
of an order." 91
If architecture is the "masterful, correct, and magnificent play of volumes
brought together in light," modeling strictly adheres, "still and exclusively," to
-----
the same definition. To illustrate its effects, Le Corbusier isolated details from
th e plates in Collignon's album to underscore their "passion " and "rigor."
Reverting to the initial emphasis of the book, Le Corbusier compared the
profile of the cornice of the pediment to "the line of an engineer." Had not
Maurras already seen the Parthenon as an "immense hangar made of mar-
ble"?92 And Nietzsche's remarks on the Greeks would not have escaped him:
Oh, those Greeks! They knew how to live: what is needed for that is to stop bravely
at the surface, the fold, the skin; to worship appearance, to believe in shapes, tones,
Fig. 10. le Corbusier
words - in the whole Olympus of appearance! Those Greeks were superficial - our ~ketches of the Karnak Temple and the Acropolis , after Auguste Choisy, Histoire de
of profundity!93 I architecture ( Paris: Gauth ier-Villars, 1899), 1:64, 41 2
22 23
Introduction
Cohen
An Ambiguous Political Position

Mass-Production Housing
The political undertones become more emphatic in the chapter "Architecture
To focus his readers on a pressing issue of the moment, Le Corbusier inserted
after the third element of his triad - "Architecture" - a revised version of the or Revolution," the book's only previously unpublished text; although slated
to appear in issue number 19 of L'Esprit nouveau, it never did because the
text on "mass-production housing" published in the December 1921 issue of
L'Esprit nouveau. It effectively functions as personal propaganda; this chapter review's publication was suspended between June 1922 and November 1923. 99
is among the ones that were the most heavily revised for publication in Vers Le Corbusier's political positions are rather elusive, but they are of a piece
une architecture. He kept the title page and the photograph of an automobile with the industrialist credo of Saint-Simonism. 100 In the preceding years, his
with its door open, but he removed the three images of houses by Perret that correspondence with Ritter clearly expressed his wariness of Socialists from
Chaux-de-Fonniers; he told him, in 1915, that he had stopped being socio
had appeared at the beginning of the December 1921 version. 94 The pages
showing the variations on the theme of the Domino House, the earliest designs (socialist) and become national (nationalist).1°1 But in postwar Europe, L'Esprit
for worker housing, and the Monol houses, based on Perret's shell vaults, are nouveau took a stand against French nationalist forces, opening its pages to
again brought together. Le Corbusier added a view of his "villa by the sea" echoes from Germany and Bolshevik Russia. Socially, the review espoused
project of 1921 and, most importantly, the villa apartments (immeuble-villas) conservative positions. Le Corbusier identified with the industrialists affili-
that he had just presented at the 1922 Salon d'automne. He unhesitatingly ated with the modernization of capitalism, adhering to their paternalist strate-
maintains that it is "under construction in Paris," although despite his efforts, gies, and showed no inclination to support the workers' movement. He
and some promising contacts, he had been unable to find a patron determined maintained that "things have changed," referring to the new factory equip-
ment to which the "human beast" (la bete humaine, after the eponymous
to realize it.95
Jeanneret vigorously denounced the standing preference for vernacular novel by Emile Zola) was enslaved and, above all, to the regulation of work-
architecture in the reconstruction of areas "devastated" by the war because he ing hours. Le Corbusier certainly had in mind that a law limiting the workday
had intended to sell the Domino House project to the French authorities for to eight hours had been passed by the French Chambre des deputes (Chamber
precisely chis purpose. And Le Corbusier mocked the unusual logistical prob- of deputies) in 1920, which made the question of leisure time as pressing as
lems involved in the use of traditional masonry because, thanks to his experi- that of production.
ence trying to negotiate construction materials for SABA, he understood the Jeanneret uses an animal metaphor to call into question the "dwellings,"
practical difficulties of transport. Finally, he objected to the notion that a what's more hideous, of the said "beast." These "snail shells" full of tubercu-
house is a "poem," the culmination of its owner's life, and promoted the idea losis are contrasted w ith new objects, with factories, and with offices. In his
of "having a house as practical as our typewriter." H ere he endorsed-in an preparatory notes, he mentioned his work on the transformation of land
effort to exclude housing from the field of art- Laos's position identifying property laws and drafted an assessment even more critical than the one that
architecture with the monumental in his article "Architektur," which he knew appears in the final text: "There are too many wretched, disgraceful, scan-
from its 1912 translation. 96 Just as much a "tool" as t he litcle Ford that dalous neighborhoods in old cities, w hich are worm-eaten and impossible to
Le Corbusier owned at the time, the house was a model of residential design disinfect." 102
not only beca use of its livability and its degree of finish but also because it Le Corbusier seems to rule our a ny autonomous initiatives on the part
could be produced on an assembly line. It is at this point in Vers une architec- of the producers and place his confidence in a "special class of intellectuals
ture that Le Corbusier's long-sustained passion for Taylorism and Fordism so large that it constitutes the active social stratum." These wage earners,
whose numbers were on the rise, were in revolt and called the existing social
becomes apparent.97
The syncretism of this chapter is quite stunning. Le Corbusier moves framework into question. It was not by chance that Le Corbusier, indignant
among his readings (from Loos to the Jesuit priest Marc-Antoine Laugier, dis- about a possible "destruction of the family," introduced a p aragraph challeng-
covered while he was preparing La construction des villes), his own projects, ing the "current principle of ownership" and calling for initiatives that would
the problems of domestic life in apartment buildings, his observations about make people "enthusiastic about building." His position was quite clearly
t he policies of reconstruction, and his critique of the Parisian suburban land- reformist, which permitted him to end his book with the calm assertion that
scape. He also secs forth his idealistic vision of America, where a "new state "we can avoid revolution," a phrase added in pen during the revision of the
of mind" had made possible the elimination of fences between subdivision first typescript.103
lots. On this point, he had asked a picture researcher to find him material Another reading is possible, however, one in which "architecture" would
"about American skyscrapers, about American garden cities (Los Angeles, signify the lessons of history and "revolution" would signify modernity.
Chicago, or elsewhere) as well as about factories with gardens." 98 Given the disillusionment that the amateur industrialist Jeanneret exp erienced
in the postwar context, he may have felt that social conflict could be settled
25
24
Introduction
Cohen
only by reconciling the modern world with a carefully vetted past. His reading
of Also sprach Zarathustra cannot be ignored, nor the way this encouraged
..,__ _ both his iconoclasm and his resolve to construct a modern cult.
Rhetorical Tactics
So it was by going "toward" an architecture that the social threat would be
avoided. This kinetic image {which recalls the title of an article written in
1910 by the Czech architect Pavel Janak) raises the question of Le Corbusier's
rhetorical strategies in the text, illustrations, and page layoucs. 104 Thus the
cover chosen for t he 1923 edition, with its view down t he promenade of the
Aquitania, intimates motion "toward" t he bow of the ship. The w indow
opened in the rectangle of the cover designates a horizon at which the hopes
expressed in the book would converge.
Initially, when the book was provisionally titled Architecture ou revolu-
tion, Le Corbusier had sketched a cover with the same image placed above the
title (fig. 11). The final version is imbued with a cert ain mystery. It was a ques-
tion not of going toward a "new" or "modern" architecture but of dismissing
the possibility of any sort of architecture.
In 1924, reacting to the first reviews, Le Corbusier would claim to have
written the book "in bold strokes," but examination of the successive manu-
script versions of the articles for L'Esprit nouveau and analysis of the changes
made between their initial publication and the book of 1923 reveals a sedi-
mentation of revisions and refinements. 10s Le Corbusier's manner of writing
has been analyzed more than once. 106 He read and assimilated Nietzsche, the
French poet Lautreamont, and Charles Baudelaire, from whom his borrow-
ings are more structural t han literal. Jean-Claude Garcias has discerned some-
thing of John Ruskin's prophetic tone in t he writing for L'Esp rit nouveau, as
well as formulations worthy of a " mid-level bureaucrat Barres or a department-
store countess of Noailles," noting as evidence the many "paradoxes a nd oxy-
morons" that recur througho ut the argument. 107
Each chapter, heralded by a summary repeated from the beginning of t he
book, shares the same structure - title page, reiteration of the initial synopsis,
body of the argument-a fac t t hat belies Le Corbusier's claim to spontaneity.
Taking advantage of the hiatus in the production of the review between issues
17 and 18 (dated June 1922 and November 1923), he loosened up the Esprit
nouveau page layouts, notably to accommodate the resume headings at the
start of the chapters. A principle of oratorical amplification was brought to
bear on each. The title serves as a kind of textual concentrate; its words are
scattered rhythmically throughout the text proper, akin to the well-known
title of Mallarme's poem "Un coup de des jamais n'abolira le hasard" (A
throw of the dice will never abolish chance). Beginning with the title page, a Fig. 11. Le Corbusier
parallel progression of text and image leads through a network of opposi- Sketch for book cover with the working t itle Architecture ou revolution, [1923]
tions, affirmations, and syllogisms to a final deduction, as Guillemette Morel
Journel has shown in a penetrating analysis of the chapter on automobiles. 108
The text itself constitutes a veritable anthology of rhetoric. Le Corbusier's
27
26
Cohen I nt r oduct i on
reminders give the text the character of a public address to architects. The
IO recourse to anaphora, or repetit ion of the same word at the beginning of
several sentences, is part of this stance, as is the use of a mode of punctuation
inspired by newspaper headlines and publicity brochures. In the body of the
book, he brings together a long series of affirmations in the present indicative,
extending from banal observations to revelation, even paradox. The likening
C'est un prol1J.ema d'ac1.aptation cu les choses objec tivr, s de of the engineer's work to "great art" is one of the recurrent paradoxes, while
"eyes that do not see" is another. The assertions are supported by "proofs"
taken from current developments in Paris and from journalistic accounts of,
for example, life in the United States. But Le Corbusier also draws on per-
La societe ~ deEire vicle=ent uce chose¥ qu ' elle ob- sonal experience: his travels, h is industrial failures at SABA, his first construc-
tiendra ou qu'elle n'obtiendra r.as. Tout est la ; tout depend de tion sites. He even goes as far as addressing himself to the reader in a feigned
first person, ,vhen he imagines owning a Citroen because he is "a dandy." 10 9
1 1 1,ffort qu' on fei;a et de l'attention qu'on accor,lera a des symptomes
This inventory leads to prescriptive statements such as, "We must see to
aJjarmo.nts • the establishment of standards," and "We must create a mass-production
Architecture ou revol ution. state of mind." Le Corbusier seems to divide society into a "coalition" of the
~·fad- ~ - /4 ~' backward-looking ("architects and aesthetes") and those collaborators, either
already "committed" ("major industry, specialized factories") or "desirable,"
to whom the orders are directed. This dialectic of statement and prescription
or injunction henceforth became a staple of Corbusian argumentation. The
recourse to verbs heuristic ("to study," "to seek"), didactic ("to recognize,"
"to show " ), and prescriptive (" to remind," "ro demand" ) is, according to
Morel Journel, one expression of his "rhetorical violence." 110 Furthermore,
adjacent terms in the chapter t itles gen erate contradictory expectations on
w hich the book plays. 111 Thus t he meaning of the comma separating "aes-
thetic of the engineer" and "architecture" in the fi rst chapter becomes appar-
ent only gradually, and the question "Architecture or revolution?" finds an
affirmative response ("We can avoid revolution" ) only in extremis (fig. 12).
The book constructs a world consisting of admirable professions (engi-
neering), con temptible institutions (the Beaux-Arts), and oppressive territo-
ries (slum neighborhoods) . The great building projects of the day, such as t he
reconstruction of "devastated " regions, appear only as backgroun d. Analo-
gies lead to eminently memorable slogans that sometimes obscure the book's
subtler arguments. Characterizing the house or t he Parthenon as machines
"for living in" or "for stirring emotion," Le Corbusier revives the organicist
analogy of t he nineteenth cent ury, but buildings are no longer made o f bone,
flesh , and skin, although h e still invokes the "shell" of t he slums. In the age of
the automobile, the latter is said to have simultaneously a ""chassis" (chassis)
and "coachwork" (carrosserie).
The Book's "Physique"

"Architecture ou revolution," typescript wit h handwritten addition by Le Corbusier: "On peut The ambitions of the text are reinforced by many visual effects first used in
eviler la Revolution" (Revolution can be avoided), [1923] L'Esprit nouveau. The raw material is the space on the page, an extension of
Mallarme's explorations w ith scattered "blanks" and Ap ollinaire's with calli-
grams. Utterly experimental in semantic and aesthetic terms, the book plays
28 29
Cohen I ntroduction
on all the typographic registers but relies on a proportional grid using the
golden section. The running text is set in Elzevir and the titles in sans serif
capitals that are either wide or narrow. 112 The discourse is modulated by the
use of boldface type and a variety of font sizes and by recourse to dashes and
italics but remains tame in comparison w ith contemporary Dutch, German,
or Russian ventures.
The images are not straightforward illustrations of the title statements or
"extrinsic evidence for t he discourse," as has been noted by Morel Journel,
but enter into an ironic or distanced relationship with it in accordance with
x
techniques tried out by Picabia and Giorgio de Chirico, w hose paintings
Ozenfant and Jeanneret had published.1 13 Farther upstream, there are prece-
._. -0 0 t:> ,9· /)
dents for the word-image relationship established by Le Corbusier in illus-
trated French periodicals published since the mid-nineteenth century, from Le
Magasin pittoresque to L'Illustration and the dailies. 114 In 1915, while devel-
oping his France ou Allemagne? Jeanneret had proposed an imitation of an
Austrian Werkbund publication featuring "images taken from old publica-
tions, reduced and grouped on a page." 115 j
The provenance of t he images, especially the photographs, is quite diverse ..____. .
/ l
and is documented in the "Editor 's and Translator's Notes" in the present vol-
ume (fig. 13 and see fig. 10). 116 Le Corbusier uses books like Choisy's Histoire
de !'architecture and newspaper clippings and advertising materials from
automobile and aircraft makers but also pictures purchased in Paris and while
traveling, duly cropped and retouched, if he felt it necessary, as in the case
·r I~-,,;=-----' .
' J. . . I::_,,
7' > .-,• .,_\
I
,,..,,. ~-f ',
of the silos mentioned above. The manipulations made to the illustrations i; lu 'k1·..I · , '' ' ,.,··
/,'/I 1(1' : - 4- I ,_-. '
for "The Lesson of Rome" are perhaps the most striking. He uses prints by L _ _ j - __
Alinari or Anderson, bought during his 1921 trip (see fig. 7, fig. 14). Besides 'frw-·
the multiplication of images achieved by using two frames of the same photo-
graph, he performs a subtraction, for instance by getting rid of half of an illus-
tration of Saint Peter' s, which is furthe rmore flipped (figs. 15, 16, and
fl
p. 204). 117 He also proceeds by addition w hen grouping Beaux-Arts architec-
ture images to produce an effect of saturation, repeated with "The Rome of
Horrors" (see fig. 14 and p. 215). 118 Finally, his severe visual editing modern-
izes buildings such as the silos in Buenos Aires, as well as, most strikingly, the
Roman church Santa Maria in Cosmedin, whose columns are carefully inked
J I Cf .
<[f
~
"I
out (figs. 17, 18, and pp. 200-206).119 ~ {;~
The rhythm of the page assemblages suggests cinematographic montage,

with slow sequences and rapid sequences, close-ups of details (the Delage brake
mechanism ), and distance shots of industrial landscapes. Despite their modest
audacity, when compared to De Stijl or G, Le Corbusier's page layouts shocked
the printers, as Le Corbusier recounts in his preface to the 1958 reprint:

The galleys of my articles {then brought together) provoked astonishment and Sketches for illustrations in " Les pleins contre les vides" (Solids against voids), [1921]
indignation at the imprimerie Arrault in Tours (our printer); they said, speaking of Paris, Fondation Le Corbusier
me: "He's a madman! " Already! And this, with regard to typography and {typo-
graphic) craft. Vers une architecture (1920- 21) testifies to a spirit of its own. 120
30 31
Cohen I ntroduction
·. . 'i'.' . - -·
:\ l-•,.,,J
.~·
t
, rr
i\ '-'
J'
I
II
\ O ,=__O
.(f1?/b
- -- - - --, - - -~ - - --
fig. 14. Le Corbusier fig. 15. Le Corbusier

Sketches for illustrat ions in "Rom e et nous" (Rome and us), [ 192 1], elements for the Sketches for illustrations in "Michel-Ange" (Michelangelo), [192 1]
assembly on p. 211 Paris, Fondation Le Corbusier
32 33
Cohen In tro duc t ion
\ .
,\

Fig. 16. Apse and sacristy of Saint Peter's, Rome
Sketches for illustrations in "Rome byzantine" (Byzantine Rome) wit h marks for
Le Corbusier's cropped and inverted version of this Alinari photograph is on p, 204 of the
retouching the photographs of Santa Maria in Cosmedin , ( 1921]
present edition. See also the corresponding sketch in fig. 15.
Paris, Fondation Le Corbus ier
34 35
Introduction
Cohen
Doubtless it makes more sense to assess the book's page designs in terms
of dissonance than of harmony. They do not reflect an unapproachable Gesamt-
kunstwerk, in which different expressive modes are smoothly integrated, so
much as a Merzbild of juxtaposed fragments. W hat's more, the conditions
under which L'Esprit nouveau was pulled together led to comic discrepancies
t hat were preserved in Vers une architecture. Received t oo late to be included
in the June 1921 issue on airplanes, the photographs of the Caproni cockpit
were used in July to illustrate the article on automobiles! Le Corbusier main-
tained that "their signification holds," a comment chat confirms the commu-
tativity of the technical objects: a plane replaces a car, and the discourse goes
on.121 Readers who have not p aid close attention to the chapter sequencing
will often be surprised by the choice of illustrations, including the in itia l
image of "Mass-Production Housing" : a photograph of an a utomobile that,
to reinforce the domestic an alogy, h as its door open, as if onto the interior of
a house.
Elsewhere the connection with technical objects such as turbines is more
mysterious (fig. 19). And the book's final illustration, a tobacco pipe from the
Saint-Claude cooperative in the Jura, remains puzzling (fig. 20). This object
might derive from Mallarme's nostalgic prose poem "La Pipe." 122 Its inclusion
was a last-minute idea; the object was photographed as the result of an
exchange wit h Besson , born in Oyonnax, also a pipe-manufacturing center.
Le Corb usier had communicated to him "his fu rious desire to know the
works of art that you fabricate at Saint-Claude." 123 This "precious instru-
ment" wit h its streamlined form is perhaps also a signature of Le Corbusier,
who was not averse ro using a pipe, as can be seen in the famous photograph
of his meeting w ith Mies van der Rohe in Stuttgart in 1926. Oddly, it was
with regard to this "exquisitely anonymous" instrument that Lewis Mumford
remarked h ow Le Corbusier was "very ingenious in picking out manifold
objects, buried from observation by their very ubiquity, in which this mechani-
cal excellence of form has manifested itself without pretence or fumbling." 124
Nothing is fu rther from this o bservation tha n t he " infidelity of images"
evoked by Rene Magritte in 1928, when he painted his pictu re Ceci n'est pas
une pipe (This is not a pipe), which is sometimes linked to chis illustration.
The "physique" of Vers une architect ure greatly char med French intellec-
tuals. In 1935, the art hist orian Elie Fa ure, who was published by Cres before
Le Corbusier was, su bscribed to L'Esprit nouveau in 1921, and informed the
editors of his interest in "the beginning of [their] effort" and of his "full"
approval of its "essential tendencies," recalled his initial reaction as follows:
Remember those singular layouts, chaotic at first glance, but a rranged with so
much mischief. Remember the use of surprising photographs as illustrations, some-
Fig. 18. Interior of Sa nta Maria in Cosmedin, Rome __ times beautiful, sometimes comical, aerial views, images of wheels and motors, of
Le Corbusier's retouched version of this A/inari photograph is on p. 203 of the present ed1tmn.
outdated tableware, of "style" furnit ure, of pipes, of telephone receivers; or even of
pen and ink sketches, sometimes charming and carefully fi nished, other times
dashed off with verve, but always tied to urging the rigor of an argument that fixed
37
36
I ntroduct i on
Cohen
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Fig. 19. Low-pressure ventilator Skekhes for illustrat ions in "Arch itecture ou revolution" (Architecture or revolution), (1923)
From "Societe Rateau , ventilateurs a haute pression" (Societe Rat eau, high-pressure ventilators),
Pans, Fondat ion Le Corbusier
Societe Rateau brochure, n.d., owned by Le Corbusier The pipe is not yet conceived of as the concluding illustration but is left in the m iddle of the chapter.
39
38
Introduction
Cohen
the thinking of the reader as if with a makeshift nail. It shook him up, tickled him, content. Le Corbusier delivered his "final manuscript" to Besson on 4 Janu-
knowing him to be apathetic and dense. With its deadpan humor, it incensed him
ary 1922, even as he continued to negotiate with Laffitte, playing the one
against the other for reasons that remain obscure. 134 Besson reread the book
after having terrified him.1 2 5
over the summer, in his room at the hospital in Lariboisiere.
Le Corbusier's project was also appreciated by the poet Paul Valery, who Still called Architecture et revolution and already in press, the book as
was sensitive to architecture. In 1921 he had published his dialogue Eupalinos yet lacked a proper contract. Doubtless spurred by the succes de scandale of
ou /'architecte in response to the work of Perret. In 1925, Valery congratu- the presentation of t he "Ville contemporaine" at the Salon d'automne, an
lated Le Corbusier on the publication of L'art decoratif d'aujourd'hui, salut- agreement was reached with Cres in December 1922 for a printing of three
ing its preoccupation with "links" to the past, assuring him th at "purity thousand copies of a book now entitled L'architecture nouvelle.135 But in
cannot even begin if yo u don't introduce it through the scattered examples of January 1923, L'Esprit nouveau invoiced Cres for an advertisement for Vers
it that one finds in the past." 126 Valery was interested in the book's "phy- une architecture to appear in issue number 18 of the review. 136 In the end, the
sique," using one of the most interesting metaphors in Vers une architecture to title announced five years earlier was retained.
In Le Corbusier's view, the book seemed "well printed"; he had no qualms
call it, in 1926, "a perfect machine for reading. " 127
about production issues.137 Financial questions seem to have been more deli-
cate, however, and he asked Cres repeatedly when he would be receiving
Relations with the Publishers
T he book's genesis was by no means straightforward. Five years passed royalties, even as he sought to recover costs for L'Esprit nouveau by selling
between the mention, in 1918, of a work " in press" and its distribution to book- the printing plates used by the publisher. Overall, the experiment was such a
stores in 1923. In a full-page advertisement published in Apres le cubisme, commercial success that a second edition, augmented by a new preface, was
Ozenfant and Jeanneret announced, as early as 1918, a series of volumes that issued in 1924. This was so completely unexpected that the plates of the first
included Vers une architecture, which is mentioned again in the November edition had already been dismantled.
1921 issue of L'Esprit nouveau. 128 In the interim, Jeanneret told his parents
in January 1919 that he had "a new book commission that will be called Toward a Series
Vers une architecture [and] that will be an avant-garde thing." 129 He had The series of books debated by Ozenfant and Jeanneret in 1918 would be
always expected to publish his L'Esprit nouveau articles as a book. Preparing started in 1924. On April 7, Cres agreed to issue new titles, and Le Corbusier,
them first for the journal substantially reduced the cost of the book's in itial in his preface to the new edition of Vers une architecture, employed a military
text compositio n and printing, but publication was delayed by unexpected metaphor to explain the meaning of the phrase "collection de !'Esprit nou-
veau" on the cover. 138 It was, he wrote, a matter of "expanding the terrain
difficulties.
The first edition of Vers une architecture, like the articles in L'Esprit nou- around the breakthroughs that had been made " with Urbanisme and L'art
veau, was signed Le Corbusier-Saugnier, the joint pen name of Jeanneret and decoratif d'aujourd'hui, described as the " right and left flanks" of this army
Ozenfant. However, Le Corbusier implicitly acknowledged his responsib ility on the march. The central element wou ld be "flanked by t\vo far-flung sup-
with the dedication "to Amedee Ozenfant" on the fa lse t itle page of the book, ports - on the one h and, the urban architectural phenomenon, through which
which, by elimination, designates him as its sole author, a status he claimed architecture is located; on the other hand, wh at has come to be called by the
sad phrase 'decorative art."'139
openly fo r himself beginning in 1924.
In February 1922, Le Corbusier took stock of his project in a letter to Paul Other volumes would appear in the series, such as La peinture moderne by
Laffitte, director of Editions de la Sirene, the publishing house founded by Ozenfant and Le Corbusier and the Almanach d'architecture moderne, a trans-
Jean Cocteau a nd Blaise Cenclrars. 13° Then in April he announced to Ritter forma tion of the unpublished last issue of the review (no. 29), followed by the
the pending publication of a book entitled Architecture et revolution, "a set last three titles: Une maison, un palais (A house, a palace) (1928), Precisions
of articles from L'E[sprit] N[ouveauj. " 131 Forty years later, he still maintained sur un etat present de /'architecture et de l'urbanisme (Precisions o n the
to Jean Petit that he had brought together his a rticles at the suggestion of Present State of A rchitecture and City Planning) (1930), and Croisade, au le
Laffitte, who seems to have proposed the new title.132
crepuscule des academies (Crusade, or the t\vilight of the academies) (1932 ).
From the encl of 1921, Le Corbusier was in contact with the publisher Moreover, Le Corbusier adamantly defended the t rademark of his series. In
Georges Cres, with whom Faure had just published the sequel to his Histoire 1928, partly to thank Giedion for supporting his design for the League of
de ['art, to request review copies of his books. 133 Besson, the head of publica- Nations competition, he recommended to Cres that he publish a translation
tions at the house who had published Cahiers d'aujourd'hui before the war, of Bauen in Frankreich (Building in France)- but on the condition that it not
would be Le Corbusier 's interlocutor regarding all questions pertaining to appear in his collection!140 Beyond the Cres collection, the publication of the
41
40
-----
In troduct io n
Cohe n
first volume of his Oeuvre complete, compiled in 1930 by Willi Boesiger and The Break with Ozenfant
Oscar Storonov under his guidance, can also be considered as an extension of On the copy tha t Le Corbusier gave to Ozenfant, he inscribed the words,
the chapters featuring his works in Vers une architecture. 141 "This book is dedicated to you in testimony to our friendship and in virtue of
our work together." 148 But the printed dedication to Ozenfant disappeared
Publicity and Initial Reception from the 1924 reprint, the one translated in the present edition. Le Corbusier
A virtuoso since 1920 at attracting advertisements for L'Esprit nouveau, Le maintained that an error had occurred when the printer reset the t ext and
Corbusier did a remarkable job of orchestrating the release of his book. claimed he was distraught about "not being able to fix things except in the
Before it was issued, he wrote a prospectus that, in late July 1923, was handed future, if by some miracle there should be a new edition." Ozenfant said he
out at the congress of the Societe frarn;:aise des urbanistes in Strasbourg. He had seen "proofs with the dedication crossed out." 14 9
publicized the book in the pages of L'Esprit nouveau by insisting that it wou ld In 1924, Le Corbusier reproached him for being jealous of his "success "
be possible to avoid revolution through housing. Another vigorously worded and t ook umbrage at his having "claimed that the book Architecture was also
pamphlet was distributed by his friend Jean Budry, who was responsible for °
by [him)." 15 For his part, Ozenfant still judged Vers une architecture " capi-
marketing the book. Its opening lines snapped in the wind: "This book is tal." 151 But by 1925 their friendship was "fissured,"15 2 as Le Corbusier himself
implacable. There is none like it" (see fig. 1). The text clarified the title, which admitted, and thereafter the split continued to widen. In 1926, Ozenfant went
still carried a certain aura of mystery: "Modern tools and the modern spirit so far as to offer this genealogy of the book's driving ideas:
are at the limit point of fusion; a great architectural period begins. We are
heading toward an architecture. " 142 He tried to increase the book's readership Of course I did nor write it, bur what you say in it is a translation of what you and
by asserting that it "is not intended only for professionals" but "was made I, you as much as I, in other words we, said and thought during the long years of
instead for the general public." The prospectus, like the book, has a tone our collaboration: I having never maintained anything else. Moreover I have no
of imperative necessity. The masses were "obliged, in their own interest, to author's vanity about ideas that are neither yours nor mine, but Loos' and Perret's,
reguire" another architecture, a formulation that Le Corbusier would take up as a reading of Ornament and crime ... proves; and as regards machines, long
again, twenty years later, in La charte d'Athenes (Athens charter) .143 before knowing you we talked about them almost daily with ou r old master
Subscribers to L'Esprit nouveau would constitute the book's first echo Auguste Perret, and if I got on so well with you, that's because Peuet (it was Perret
chamber. Two reviews were devoted to it in the December 1923 issue. The who introduced you to me) -Perret, yo u, and I had ideas in common.153
w riter Paul Budry, who founded Cahiers vaudois with Edmond Gilliard,
Ernest Ansermet, and Charles Ferdinand Ramuz, took malicious pleasure in In an ironic draw ing of 1932, Le Corbusier would represent Ozenfant in the
refuting Le Corbusier's examples, emphasizing that the " pure hulls of ocean guise of a male but quite busty wet nurse holding in his arms a chubby black
liners ... harbor countless salons copied after the gare d'Orsay," that " in baby (himself) shown devour ing his teat, adding as sole commentary a quote
Goliath dining- and sleeping-cars, the copper fittings are shaped like poppies," from a letter sent to h im by the painter: "Corbu, having had his fill , bit
and that "Americans with their silos acquire ... Romanesque basilicas to set the breast of his wet nurse" (fig. 21 ).154 H aving clearly reclaimed a portion of
down in their English gardens." 144 He recalled that the G reeks h ad " their the paternity (or rather maternity) of the book, Ozenfant noted in 1928 t hat
Tanagra figurines and their shacks at the foot of the Parthenon" without dis- "it is not customary for one of a book 's signatories to dedicate that book to the
missing the intentions of a book that was "constructive and steely." 145 Budry other one." 155 The wounds caused by this controversy, which largely remained
could envision a day when "t his line of argument about the automobile will secret, cont inued to fester. As late as 1936, the Cahiers d'art published a rumor
outclass t he Prayer on the Acropolis." 146 attributing Vers une architecture to both Le Corbusier and Ozenfant. 156 And
The review by Ozenfam was more effusive. The painter was full of praise in his M emoires, Ozenfant would write, " He wanted to be alone; I withdrew,"
for this "architecture course like none other." In his view, the " luminous adding that his former friend had " many gifts, but not [one] for gratitude."157
demonstration" of this " realist but winged" book came at just the right Work on new versions of the book continued to occupy Le Corbusier as
moment. While " old, melancholy, back-breakingly thick walls" distressed Le he dealt with va rious struggles throughout the decade. In 1928, when Le
Corbusier, he sketched "new shells worthy of beings who are really n ew, Corbusier was p ondering his defeat in the League of Nations competit ion,
w hich is t o say lucid and poetic: in a word, complete." Ozenfant paid particu- there was a third edition w ith a new introduction, "Temperature." This text,
lar attention to his "organic" houses, evidence that " his art is worthy of illustrated by his project and those of the winn ers, closed with a m'ock ing
Purist intentions." 147 reproduction of a fragment of the facade of t he Cercle Militaire, built on the
place Saint-Augustin by Charles Lemaresquier, a professor at the Beaux-Arts
and influential as a jury member who favored the conservative architect Paul-
43
42
In troduc tion
Cohen
Henri Nenot, whom Le Corbusier had denounced ceaselessly. 158 This image is
a pendant of sorts to that of the Spreckels Building in rhe first chapter. In an
understated and rather cynical turn of phrase, Le Corbusier claims to have
thought that the book "had accomplished [its] task" and that, "being a mani-
festo, it had had its moment, and this was past." Bur since the war with the
Academie had resumed, "Vers une architecture remains mobilized. After the
German, English, and American translatio ns, this book-manifesto goes to
harness again and continues its work."159
Toward Translations
The successi ve French editions of the book were accompanied by some
instances of quasi-plagiarism, and the demand for translations was growing.
In October 1923, the writer Ilya Ehrenburg, in Berlin at the time, contacted Le
Corbusier on behalf of Gosizdat. The Soviet state publishing house was look-
ing for "a book on architecture " and wondered if he would agree to a Russian
translation of his book. 160 A year earlier, Ehrenburg had already mentioned
"the proposal from a Russian publisher to write a book on the machine aes-
thetic," transmitted by Ozenfant. 161 The project came to nothing and only
Urbanisme would be translated into Russian in 1933. Another early project
was initiated by the Prague critic Karel Teige, who kept close track of devel-
opments in L'Esprit nouveau. In 1922, Teige had republished parts of the
book as they appeared in L'Esprit nouveau in the almanac Z ivot II (Life II),
and in 1923 he discussed the positions taken in Vers une architecture in the
new periodical Stavba (Construction). 162 In 1925, Teige alludes to a n inquiry
from Otokar Storch-Marien, head of the publishing house Aventinum. 163
A Japanese version by Miyazaki Kanemitsu was published in Tokyo in
1929. It was preceded by a long series of partial translations published in
Japanese periodicals beginning in 1924. 164 Kanemitsu's translation was com-
plete - based on both t he origina l French edition {provided him by the archi-
tect Fujushima Ga ijiro) and the German translation - but the layout was
entirely different, and the volume was given a variant t itle th at translates as
"Toward artistic archirecrure." 165 Finally, a Spanish translation, accurately
titled Hacia una arquitectura but in a smaller format than the French edition,
appeared in Buenos Aires in 1939. The layouts were tightened, t he captions
were simplified, and some illustrations (e.g., the Fagus factory) were omitted.
Curiously, the silos in Buenos Aires, although visible from the center of the
city, were said to be situated " in the United States." 166
But it was in Germany that the enterprise was carried. out most quickly.
Unauthorized translations o f individual chapters were published here and
there, and parts of "Mass-Production Housing" were tran slated by the assis-
tants of Karl Moser at the Eidgenossische Techn ische Hochschule in ~ urich
before 1925. 167 Early in 1924 , the book also attracted the interest of Gropius,
Caricature of Amedee Ozenfant as a nurse and Le Corbusier as a suckl ing baby, sent by
Le Corbusier to Ozenfant, 8 July 1932 Alexander Dorner, the curator at the museum in H anover, and Roger Gins burger,
Private col lect ion a young architect from Alsace. 168 The la tter proposed to the Munich publisher
Hugo Bruckmann tha t he translate Vers une architectu re, a book, he said,
44 45
Cohen Introduct i on
that "would be of the greatest interest in German-language countries and that

would help to eliminate many tendencies toward the decorative and the artifi-
cial in the new architecture of these countries." 169
The art historian Hans Hildebrandt would be more successful; in 1926
he published a translation of the second edition of the book under t he t ide
1
Stuttgart, den 6.Nov ember 1925. Kommende Baukunst (The emerging architecture), perhaps an intentional
echo of the title of a book by Walther R athenau. 170 The genesis of this version
,\ was rather tortuous. A professor at the Technische H ochschule in Stuttgart
Cher Monsie ur Le Corbus i e r, and a subscriber to L'Esprit nouveau, Hildebra ndt and his wife, Lily, first
contacted Le Corbusier in 1923 , naming Ozenfant and Gropius as refer-
recevez me s meilleure s remerciements pour vott-e "Urbanisrne" ences.171 In 1924, Hildebrandt offered to translate his "brilliant" book, saying
qui est arrive! l' instant est q_ui m' a fait la plus grande joie. he had shown it to a great many architects and predicting that it would be
Naturellement je n'ai pas encore eu le temps de le lire,mais very successful on the level of "ideas," as well as in booksrores. 172 In his
response, Le Corbusier offered his own analysis of the situation in Germany:
li parcourant le l ivre en vi tesse j 1 a i rl..-;( dejA vu qu'il s'agit
d ' un oeuvre tr~s important et je sentirai la plus v i ve joie dell Wasmuth ... answered that the book would contribute nothing new in Germany,
le traduire 1 •annee prochaine et de faire mon meilleur pour la where these ideas have long been known and where they have been amply tested.
propagande de vo s i dees hardies, log i q_ues et conse quentes chez Now such is not my idea: for forty years Germany has rebuilt its cities; which occa-
sioned theories and a "search for the modern." But in my opinion they have not got-
nous.
ten to the bottom of architectural things and have worked on the surface: they have
L, edi t iori aJl.lemande de 11 Vers ur.e Archit ecture II sera publie
d one modern styles (Olbrich, Behrens, Fischer, Paul, etc.). An d they continue to do
en deux semaines et arrivera de bonne heur e ~ pour No e l. J'ai this today, according to formulas closer to construction, but here again, they are
reussi ! e miminer toute s le s difficultes saaf tr~s peu q_ui ne sentimental and do demonstrations of modern style, they do modern objects for
sent pas importantes . J e vo us le s commnuniq_ue avec la pri ~re de show. Of course in France my book would have a more violent - and perhaps more
brutal- impact on architectural professionals; but it also reached a stratum of
m' ecrire votr e avi s s i bientot q_ue possible parc e 1ue l' i mprimerie
people accustomed to the modern spirit through practice and their sense of con-
n ' a t tend q_ue votre reponse defini t ve pour achever le livre.
!J,,'; p;/1 struction. I am persuaded that modern architecture will be born in France. I do not
v!;~t 1) Page 19, en bas : Dans aucun di~tionnaire j 1 ai pu trouver ce q_ue want to seem exclusionary, but the career of a Behrens is typical, that of Poelzig is
, veut dire "poches". N'est - ce- pas q_ue v ous m'avez dit q_ue c ' e s t demonstrative, etc.173
~ r'"' '
1
,cl,•~ un mot pris de la cuis
· ine.
· ? Al ers on pou-r-c
- _ a -le traduire H J :>Iar j
d ¼,. <i ~l,f''" l"•;q---- _ ..,,. ;fr :Z..f.fi. , •'./ Le Corbusier pressed Hildebrandt to publish the book "shortly before the
V l .,._ 11-~"'l~ · •J ocb:k r:i:,.s.t" ou par "IlellB'!lt11 ou KeeaT81!18J;l't e-".c/4:"..._...._ tf.e,2-~/,-~ ''-< /-;
11 11
u:,.
r ·
Jn'.~(e:..._ ,ft_ <i. /, 4.._:··
. . .
. , d ,,;_ if'c ~-~ ~
'2-- Dan~lai ligne suivante j I ai t T·o uve dans le s d i ci.tmru:mires pour ~
tl!. e~ c...? . international exposition of 1925." 174 Toward the end of the year, Cres and the
Stuttgart-based Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt publishing house reached an agree-
4-...r fict_:;:, f-f,/,.j!di!gI faitages de plo~b 11
Fir st~~ungen•: . Est- ce - g_ue vous ment, while Le Corbusier asked Hildebrandt t o begin the transla tion without
delay, taking into account the "very slight modifica tions" in the second edi-
~ ~ en etes content? O u.t.. .
l/,f~sfl---=-:-:~ ---
b. t s er a- t - i· 1 -m i·eux de traduire "urbanisme II par tion.175 Once the contract was signed, 176 Le Corbusier was insistent about the
f, ,
J, fi\-
2),BPa:>/ / ,
1
en _au : book's form: " I find it indispensable that the typography of the book be
:f~ (j < Q.. ,. ' (/M} I
·I. 1'f!!14 ~"" 1 (J ~ 1 · " ou par " Grosstadtkultur 11 ? J ' a i choisi l e mot second, exactly like that of the French edition and you will oblige me by asking your
.. , ' Ct L
s:.,._,• L) J
f c..._c{.;fe.·UC<, ..__
printer to submit to me a sample of the characters he means to use; it is very
~ important that the typographic presentation of this book be consistent with
the spirit of the text." 177
Fig. 22. Hans Hildebrandt (German, 1879-1957)
Letter to Le Corbusier, 6 November 1925, with Le Corbusier's answer concerning the term poche Hildebrandt failed to understand certain terms. H e asks Le Corbusier if
Los Angeles, Gett y Research Institute poche is "a cooking term" (fig. 22). The latter returned his letter with anno-
tations, recalling that in the lingo of the Beaux-Arts, t his widely used word
designates the representation in plan of a section through load-bearing masonry.
46 47
I ntroduct i on
Cohen
informed Le Corbusier of a query from the English magazine Country Life

In answer to Hildebrandt's perplex ity at the word coco, Le Corbusier specifies
that he is alluding to a "high-society poison" (cocaine) and not the licorice- before the London publisher John Rodker committed to publish an English
edition of the book. 185 After the war, under the imprint of the Ovid Press and
based French drink of that name. More importantly, Hildebrandt notes his
the Egoist Press, Rodker published T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and James Joyce
willingness to translate modenature as Profilierung. 178 In his preface to the
and would bring to completion the publication of Sigmund Freud's works in
German edition, he compares the revolutionary use of concrete to two ot her
German. A subscriber and a contributor to L'Esprit nouveau, he would him-
breakthroughs: the transition from wood to stone in antiquity, and the inven-
self translate Les chants de Maldoror by Lautreamont, as well as Ozenfant's
tion of vaulting.
book Art. 186 On this occasion he entrusted the undertaking to the architect
On examining Kommende Baukunst, Le Corbusier paid homage to the
Frederick Etchells, whom he had met in Paris.
"devotion," " conscientiousness," "enthusiasm," and " generosity" of Hilde-
Etchells had studied at the Roya l College of Art with William Richard
brandt's work. He thought it was something of a "miracle to have managed
to get such fine images from negatives that had already served for three edi- Lethaby and Arthur Beresford Pite, who inspired an interest in the applied
tions." Knowing that his tran slator and his former associate were friends, he arts.187 Close to Roger Fry, w ith whom he participated in the Omega Work-
shops, he produced some mural paintings before 1914 and assimilated cubism
deplored the absence of the dedication to Ozenfant and explained their quar-
and futurism into his work. Etchells took part in the Vorricist exhibition of
rel: " Ozenfant becomes more convinced every day that he thought and said
what I wrote, to the point that I was led to dedicate V[ers] u[ne] a[rchitecture] 1915 at the Dore Galleries in London. In 1929, he and Herbert A. Welch
designed the remarkable offices of Crawford's Advertising Agency on High
to him to remove all plausibility from this claim." 179 In 1936, he claimed to
have found only one "erroneous" sentence in the translation, one that con- Holborn. 188 In 1932, while working for t he Grosvenor Estate in a neo-
Georgian vein, he would build two modern houses. Beginning in 1935, he
tained "studio argot" (i.e., poche) (see fig. 22 ), and to have no problems with
it, contrary to what was being maintained by an "old friend ... lying with devoted himself ro religious architecture, about which he would publish a
book in 1948, coauthored by the priest G. W. 0. Addleshaw.189
such cold-bloodedness that it has been impossible to continue to share the
Although interested in publishing matters, Etchells had none of Hilde-
concerns and pleasures of an undertaking with him." 180 The "friend" in ques-
brandt's academic rigor, and it was more as a propagandist than as a critic
tion was, of course, Ozenfant.
that he would tackle first Vers une architecture, then Urbanisme.190 There is
The tide itself is an indication of the semantic difficulties involved in creat-
ing the German edit ion. Hildebrandt opted to use not A rchitektur but Bau- inaccuracy even in the title, which he recast as Towards a New Architecture.
Etchells did not hesitate to replace t he 1924 preface with his own twelve-page
kunst, a term less corrupted by eclecticism, echoing posit ions formulated at
the start of the century by H ermann Muthesius, who also opposed the term introd uction illustrated by rather plain British structures and building compo-
modem, as being too close to Mode (fashion).1 81 In 1963, when a revised edi- nents and an operating theater. He admitted to " some awkwardness in phras-
ing a nd the retention of a certain number of Gallicisms" in his translation and
tion of the book was published in Germany in the new collection Bauwelt-
fundamente (Bauwelt's classics) the t itle was changed to Ausb/ick auf eine then took full responsibility for its literalism: "I have not felt it incumbent
upon me to modify somewhat rhetorical passages such as the above."191
Architektur (View of an architecture), as if the earlier debate had become
irrelevant.1s2 The 1926 design was largely faithful to the original, with some If the placement of the images confo rmed to the second French edit ion, the
use of larger characters for the running text and t he suppression of the con-
typ ographical exceptions - the German printers did not h ave the capital
trast between the latter and the block lettering of t he t itle headings made the
"block letters" that were requested for the titles. 183 There are also some amus-
ing changes in the illustrations. In the reminder about "surface," a caption design more tradit ional. The most emblematic of the many embarrassing tex- ·
attributes t he Fagus factory in Alfeld-uncredited in the French version - to tual inaccuracies is the transformation of the reminder about "volume" into a
Gropius. And in a patriotic gesture, the pipe that was t he original book's final reminder about "mass," which would leave the book open to criticism from
Frank Lloyd W right. 192 This became especially w orrisome in 1932, w hen
image was replaced by a view of t he interior of t he Zeppelin ZR III, which, as
Hildebrandt duly notes, had been seized as war reparations and now bore the Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson made "architecture as volume"
the first principle of the " international style" t hat they were promot ing, ro
name Los Angeles.
which they added, again echoing Vers une architecture, "surfacing materials "
and "plans."193 ,
An English Version
In 1926, Le Corbusier informed H ildebrandt that " the Americans t ranslate Etchells compounded his mere modifications and improprieties w ith out-
[my] books" and boasted that "the dollar permits them [to offer] terms t hat right mutilations. H e d ropped not only t he preface but also a p assage fro m
console me for those made by Deutsche Verlag [sic]." 184 However, it was from "Maisons en serie" in which Le Corbusier likens certain domestic practices to
across the Channel t hat a happy ending would come. Early in 1924, Cres neurosis: "When I build my house .. . I'll put my statue in t he foyer and my
49
48
Cohen I n trodu ction
little dog Ketty will have his salon. W hen I have a roof over my head, ere. A
subject for the neurological specialist." 194 Etchells's version of ch is key text
misled the English-reading public in many ways.195
A Parisian Success
Le Corbusier used Vers une architecture as a k ind of catalog, as an instrument
for canvassing possible future clients. He asked them to "point our" to him
rhe projects in the book that interested them. 196 Reading it convinced the
Bordeaux industrialist Henry Fruges to commission him to design residential
complexes in Lege and Pessac. 197 Le Corbusier also took pains to distribute it
to people with whom he maintained or was trying to foster relations. He sent
a copy nor only to the historian Marcel Poete but a lso to Eduard Benes, t he
Czech minister of fo reign affairs.198
The consequences of Le Corbusier's personal use of the book were nothing
compared to t he effect it had on architects, critics, and historians, whose reac-
tions were sometimes solicited w ith copies sent in h omage. Jacques-Emile
Blanche, a former professor of Ozenfant's, said in 1925 that he was "giving it Pont de Tanus.
out" to "young engineers whose parents are industrialists." 199 It was brought
by Oscar Nitzchke and Jacques Guilbert to the Laloux -Lemaresquier architec-
tural atelier of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. The book stirred up a latent rebel- Tout. et.ait. a rejeter a priori,
lion, and t he students challenged their boss to appeal to Perret and to create puis a reviser, ou a recreer.
the atelier of the Palais de bois, the first serious alternative to academic train-
ing.200 But in Paris-Journal Perret asserted his differences of opinion with La technique est !'en semble des moy ens materiels
Loos a nd Le Corbusier, condemning their "volume effecrs." 201 q:ue nous trouvons a notre disposition , et qui nous ·per-
mettent de realiser toute ceuvre con structive sur des
Sympathetic to the cri ticism of the "pit iful bad h abits of contemporary
bases logiques et durables.
architecture," the architect Pol Abraha m drew attention in 1924 to the "very
sure instinct for publicity" evidenced by Le Corbusier's "categorical apho-
risms" and "judgments without appeal." He congratulated him for having
used Choisy. 202
*
La techniqu e n 'est qu'un « moyen >> et non un e « fin »
Also praised by moderate modernists such as Michel Roux-Spitz, Vers une
a, vrai dire, c' e~t un iquen~ent la science permettant de
resoudre au mieux les divers problemes constructifs.
architecture became the canonical book-manifesto for at least a generation, in
terms of both its rhetoric and its visual structure.203 This became evident in
1929 with t he publication of Architecture by Andre Lur~at, Le Corbusier's
rival on the Parisia n scene (fig. 23). It exalted the virtues of the " lesson of the
*
P~ur l'archit ect e, la _connaissance des meilleurs moyen s
techniques est le premier stad e en m eme temps que le
engineer" and brazenly paraphrased the reminder about "volume." Lur~at
also deplored t he "loss" of modeling, "the subtlest and most difficult science 85
of the architect"; the derivation of his aphorisms from those of Le Corbusier
did not go unremarked.204
T he Paris-based Serbian theorist Miloutine Borissavlievitch considered
that "this curious book was not an 'Aesthetics."' 205 His colleague Faure was
more clearly engaged. In his preface to t he 1923 edition of his Histoire de
Fig. 23. Pont de Ta nus, Aveyron, France
/'art, he reproduced an American factory from L'Esprit nouveau and asserted Page from Andre Lurc;at, Architecture (Paris: Au Sans Pareil, 1929), 85
that "the machine, which is architecture ... is universal" and that "the factory
and the machine are going to give the face of the planet the unique form of
the mind." 206 In L'esprit des fonnes, he would profess admiration for "th e
50 51
Cohen Introduction
benevolent necessity" of Le Corbusier's effort to investigate the capacity of

reinforced concrete "to substitute an anthropocentric geometric abstraction
for climactic and ethnic empiricism." 207 He would lacer note that Le Corbusier
acts "much more like a metaphysician than like a n a rchitect, a practitioner"
and recalled that he "opposed the (if I may say) Lecorbusian pastime of the
regulating line" a nd "the excessive industrialization of architecture." 208
In L'architecture fran~aise, Marie Dormoy maintained in 19'38 that this
"violent indictment against pastiche, against copying, against the unintelli-
gent use of the technical means now at our disp osal" revealed the name of Le
Corbusier to the public and thereby "purified the air." But, faithful to Perret,
she condemned the excessive emphasis on plasticity and "dissimulation of
construction" heralded by the book's slogans, even while praising Vers une
architecture for having reasserted the "preponderant place" occupied by the
plan until the end of the eighteenth century.209
A Rallying Point for the Moderns

Vers une architecture was quickly taken up by the most engaged critics and
modern architects, beginning with those in Germany. In early 1922, the left-
wing critic Adolf Behne comments on the reminder dealing with the plan in
Friihlicht (Dawn), a magazine led by Bruno Taut, and elsewhere gives a long
appraisal of the ocher essays. In 1923, the Berlin critic Paul Westheim sees Le
Corbusier as a " leader" without a movement. 210 He took account of the "res-
olute struggle" that Le Corbusier led with his "examples of striking illustra-
tions" but related his "glorification of technical thought" to the painting of
0AHoii 113 octt0Bttb1x ocooe1rnocmeii Maurn.Hb1, kak caMocrnosi-
Robert Delaunay and Fernand Leger, considering this "unreserved fascina- meAbHoro opraH113Ma, SIBAS1emcsi ee AO 'l.pe3sb1'l.aiiHocm11 'lemkasi
tion" outmoded in Germany. H appily, there was compensation for this 11 mo'I.Hasi o pr a H 11 3 o Ba H Hoc m b. AeiicmB11meAhHo, BPSIA J\11 Mh1
" materialism of the engineer" insofar as architecture was seen as "plastic crea- MmkeM Bcmpem11mb B np11p0Ae 11Al1 B npoH3BeAeH11six 'l.eAoBe'leckoii
tion, spiritual speculation, superior mathematics." 211 AesimeAhttocm11 S1BA<::H11e, cmoAb onpeAeAeHtto opraHH30Battttoe.
Hem makoii 'lacm11 11A11 ::>AeMeHma Mam11Hh1, komopbiii obi He 3a-
Gropius read the translations of articles from L'Esprit nouveau distrib-
H111'\aA cosepmetttto onpeAeAettHoro 1'\ecrna, noAo>keH1rn 11 poA11
uted by Lily Hildebrandt. When he had been in Paris in 1923, he wrote Le B OOl.l.leii cxeMe 11 komopbii,i obi He S1B11Acsi pe3yAbmamoM oe3ycA0B-
Corbusier that the book interested him "immensely" and asked him to trade a Hoii HeooxoA11Mocm11. B 1'\am11He ttem 11 tte Mo>kem obimb H11'l.ero
copy for an album of Bauhaus works.m Echoing Le Cor)usier's negative Al1ll1Hero, H11'l.ero CAy'l.aiittoro, H11Y.ero «Aekopam11BH0ro» c mow
comments about German architecture and architectural training, he asserted moY.k11 3PeHHSI, kak ::>mo noHM1'\aemcsi B OOl.l.le>k11m1111. H11'l.ero He
in March 1924 that "while with rega rd to many questions you have taken Mo>kem ob1mb _s 1'\am11He HH np115asAeHo, HM yoaBAeHo, oe3 moro,
Y.moob1 He Hapym11mb 11eAoro. B CYl.l.lHOcm11 Mb1 cmaA\<HsaeMcsi
positions contrary co my intentions at the Bauhaus, I have never read a publi-
B Mam11He npe>kAe scero c tta1100Aee 'l.ernko Bb1pa>kettHbm MAeaAo1'\.
cation chat, at its very core, comes as close co my own thoughts and writings
93
as your book does." 213 He su bscribed to Le Corbusier's positions regarding
industrial production but remained skeptical about training artists at the
school of the factory.
Some Dutch modernises were favorably disposed coward Le Corbusier's
book. In 1932, looking back at the beginning of his career, Gerrie Thomas
Fig. 24. Airplane manufactured by the Ansaldo factory
Rietveld noted that "during the world war a great deal of experimentation Page from Moisei Ginzburg, Stil' i epokha, problemy sovremennoi arkhitektury
took place in Holland. At the same time, in France, the brilliant Le Corbusier (Moscow: Gosudarstvennoi lzdatelstvo, 1924), 93
has worked and produ ced writings with the aim of replaci ng a worn-out
romanticism with new life." 214 For all that, the book's reverberations would
52 53
Intro d uc t io n
Co h en
extend far beyond professional architectural circles. Opening a Le Corbusier Unpublished during his lifetime, this text was the basis for a more concise
retrospective exhibition in 194 7, Willem Sandberg, director of the Stedelijk article by Wright in World Unity, where t he claim of American precedence is
Museum, recalled the book's intellectual and visual impact on him twenty more emphatic: "France the discoverer must 'discover' these plain truths
years before.215 One of the most active Dutch support ers of Le Corbusier anew," but the operation is just as salutary in America:
during this period, however, was the architect Alfred Boeken, who in 1930
pronounced Vers une architecture, L'art decoratif d'aujourd'hui, and Urba- We are, by nature o f our opportunity, time, and place, the logical people to give
nisme rhe "three gospels of designers." In 1936, he would publish Archi- highest expression to the "N ew." .. . We fa il to see it in ourselves because we have
tectuur, the diction and page layouts of which manifestly plagiarize Vers une been imit ating an old world that now sees in us, neglected, a higher estate than it
architecture. 216 has even known in its own sense of itself.225
In Moscow, N ina Yavorskaia, curator of the Museum of Contemporary
Western Arr, declared in September 1924 that "the great value of this book con- Wright never stopped making ironic comments about the slogan "A home is a
sists in the author's having transcended the romanticism of the machine ... so machine to live in," 226 and Lewis Mumford would criticize Le Corbusier's
distinctly perceptible among the Russian Consrructivists." 217 Moisei Ginzburg, "conscious exaggerarion." 227 By contrast, Richard Buckminster Fuller would
leader of the said Constructivists, then published Stil' i epokha (Style and find in it a justification for his Dymaxion industrialized house project.22s
epoch), which included carefully selected alternate views of the same objects
(e.g., the Caproni triplane, the silos in Buffalo, and the Fiat factory in Lingotto), Skepticism and Hostility
maintaining that he was looking for a new " style" (fig. 24 ).218 With a Corbusian The reception was by no means unanimously favorable. Writing in Wasmuths
emphasis, he evoked the "organisms of industry and of engineers." 219 Monatshefte (Wasmuth's monthly) in 1926, the Danish architect Steen Eiler
Rasmussen questioned the Kommende Baukunst of Le Corbusier, comparing
Modem Irritations and Jealousies his theoretical statements with his buildings: the hall of the La Roche House
Jealousy, however, animated some figures in the modernist camp. Van Does- illustrates a project that is "not spatial and still less plastic," being all "line
burg's manifesto "Vers une construction collective," published in 1924 with and surface." He concluded that Le Corbusier had created " a new architec-
Cor van Eesteren but ostensibly written in 1923 at the time of the De Stijl ture that corresponds to the abstract representations, stripped of spatial and
group exhibition at the Effort Moderne gallery, bore a similar title, as did the plastic sense, of modern man." 229 The Russian conservative Alexei Shchusev
contemporary proclamation "Tot een beeldende Architectuur" (Toward a refused to see a new style in the "silos in Buffalo ." 230 By the end of the 1920s,
plastic architecture) of 1924 .22° These formulations indicate differences that the most adamant reactionaries, such as the Swiss Alexander von Senger,
would only grow more pronounced. 221 For his part, J. J.P. Oud published an found that no words could be too harsh fo r t he book.231
article in 1924 that, while quite favorable, played false w ith Le Corbusier's Reactions to the publication of th e Italian edition of Vers une architecture
visual argument, using as its sole illustrations picturesque ink-line drawings. were among t he liveliest. Giuseppe Giovannoni judged it so dangerous t hat he
Although deeming the book "really propaganda," Oud said it was a "plea- forbade its inclusion in the collection of rhe library of architecture faculty in
sure" for him. 222 In response to t his positive assessment, van Doesburg acri- Rome.232 However, his colleague M arcello Piacentini praised several chapters
moniously declared in De Stij/ t hat Oud had ignored the textual precedents from it in 1923, lauding " the perfect k nowledge of the material" and the
published in his review in 1917- 18.223 "brilliant images sparkling with conviction" but above all the search for an
Wright, always attentive t o architectural developments in Europe, main- architecture that was " neither new nor old " but simply "truthfu]."233
tained the precedence of his pursuit of an a rchitecture of "surface and mass" In t he United States, Pa ul-Philippe Crer, an adherent of the Beaux-Arts
(a view t hat was shared by Sullivan). H e noted that while Le Corbusier omit- doctrine at the Univer sity of Pennsylvania, reacted to the " aesthetic of the
ted the "third dimension" - depth - W right approved of the enterprise: engineer" and stressed in 1928 that the architect must rake into account th e
limits imposed on him by "mech anical conditions" : "He must control these
I should be content were France - our fashion-monger in this school of "surface limitations and with them, rather than in spite of them, express an organic
and mass" - to again set a fa shion among us for a generation or two-as seems harmony bet ween the mechanical and architectural fact ors of the structure."
likely. Lean, hard plainness, mistaken for simplicity, has the quality of simplicity Cret concluded his analysis with language taken directly from Le Co,rbusier:
to a refreshing extent, where all is fat or fa lse. It is aristocratic, by con trast. I say "The architect, by establishing a rela tionship of forms, realizes a per vasive
this fas hion would be good for what ails these United States in Architecture, this order tha t is the pure creation of his mind."234
cowardly, superficial artificiality. Any transient influence in the right direction is In London, the RIBA j ournal judged the book to be as " annoying" as it
welcome.224 was "stimulating" a nd expressed regret over the "confusion of thought" that
54 55
Introduct i on
Cohen
reigned "below the entertaining flutter of its sentences." 235 But the most The reading of Le Corbusier in Japan was facilitated by the translation of
extraordinary response was one by Edwin Lutyens, published in 1928 under 1929: ten years later, in his article "Michelangelo sh6 - Le Corbusier ron he
the title "The Robotism of Architecture." The builder of New Delhi declared no josetu toschite" (Homage to Michelangelo: introduction to the study of Le
himself to be "amused, sometimes excited, sometimes angry at the boil of M. Corbusier), Tange Kenz6 leaned directly on chapters from Vers une architec-
Le Corbusier's emotions." He did not impugn the "delightful photographs of ture. He borrowed a few phrases from "The Lesson of Rome" a nd, above all,
grain elevators," but he took umbrage at drawing a connection between the compared the creative stance of the two men, stating, "Le Corbusier inhabits
Parthenon, "a pure creation of mind, of fair and fine mjnds," and the air- now the same temporal space as Michelangelo once did and bears the same
plane, "which one faulty stay or bolt may crash to the ground." Fortunately, historical mission."244
the "lesson of Rome" "comes as a relief." The book takes the reader "down a The London translation soon occasioned comment in the United States.
channel of architectural adventure," but its axioms ring false to Lutyens, who Early in 1928, the architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock praised
opines that, if it is "to be a home, a house cannot be a machine." Above all, this "immensely stimulating" volume, lauding Etchells for having "succeeded
"emotion will never be controlled by sparking plugs" and "the logic of a admirably," pardoning his omissions but reproaching him for the inaccuracy
French mind may make a Corbusier house, or even a Versailles, but never a of the English title. H e moreover rejected the "staccato and aphoristic" style
Hampton Court." The houses promised in the book can thus be only fo r of the original, too often "broken," and its "method of arrangement" based
robots, and blind ones at that: "robots without eyes -for eyes that have no on repetition. In a somewhat forced rapprochement, he compared Le Corbu-
sier's analyses to those of Rhys Carpenter on Greek art: "Against this cool,
vision cannot be educated to see." 236
abstract presentation, t he vigorous heat, the constructive positiveness and
the intellectual and emotional contemporaneity of Vers une architecture stand
An Eye-Opener for the Young
Widely debated throughout the world, Vers une architecture functioned as a in the highest possible relief. For all its faults it is the one great statement of
kind of photographic developer for the youngest architects and critics. The the potentialities of an architecture of the future and a document of vital his-
Berlin architect Julius Posener, a student of Hans Poelzig, underlined in his torical significance." 245 Henceforth, t he book was part of the "cultural bath"
memoirs that, far more than Le Corbusier's buildings, it was the book and of American architecture and shaped the destiny of young architects such
the principles it articulated that rallied his generation. 237 For contemporary as M ax Abramovitz, who would recall that he "took [it] seriously" and
Italians, it was a trigger. This is evident in t he letter sent to Le Corbusier in 192 7 "decided it backed up [his] life."246
by Carlo Enrico Rava, founder of Gruppo 7, who affirmed that he and his The book was also a discovery for the generation of Josep Lluis Sert in
friends, among them Giuseppe Terragni, "were enlightened and spurred on by Catalonia: he returned from Paris in 1926 with Vers une architecture and
t\'V'O books, Le rappel a l'ordre and Vers une architecture: two men, also young,
Urbanisme, books that he "devoured" and that were a " revelation for the
Jea n Cocteau and you, sir, showed them the path to follow, the true one." 238 young who were then working in th e art schools.... All of a sudden, someone
Moreover, the group's first manifesto used slogans from Le Corbusier's book. 239 spoke clearly, a quite precise general line became apparent; few sentences
Vers une architecture would also be fundamental reading for the young Carlo and some photographic examples." 247 The book would be t he reason for Le
Scarpa, who discovered the book during the Milan Triennale of 1933. 240 Corbusier's first invitation to Barcelona, where Josep Torres Clave would
In Great Britain, of course, young architects could read the Etchells trans- paraphrase Vers une architecture in his 1929 lecture "La architectura mod-
lation relatively soon after the French edition was published. Recalling his erna."248 In Brazil, at the same moment, young architects got hold of it from
studies at the Archit ectural Association, J. M. Richards wrote: "We read the nat ive Europeans such as Grigori Warchavchik.249
magazines and the latest books (the first English version of Le Corbusier's
Vers une architecture came out in 1927, when I was in my third year)." 241 As Juggling with the Canon
for Maxwell Fry, he claimed to have read th e book "concurrently" with The response to Vers une architecture would by no mean s be limited to archi-
Ozenfant's Arts. 242 The architectural historian John Summerson wo uld not tectural circles - art historian s also used it for their · own purposes, as
hesitate to note the book's "explosive emphasis" in his texts from t he early Ant hony Vidler has lucidly observed. 250 In his Von Ledoux bis Le Corbusier,
1930s, observing t hat "everybody has heard of Le Corbusier. Vers une archi- Austrian historian Emil Kauffmann built in 1933 his interpretation of
tecture was a very witty book, which brilliantly overstated the case for func- "autonomous" architecture on his reading of the book. 251 In 1949 Anthony
tionalism." Elsewhere, he would write that "very few p eople are interested in Blunt would dwell upon it in his discussion of mannerism and, despite the
architectural mouldings, but everybody is susceptible to the charms of an problems of the Etchells translation, Towards a New Architecture would be
aeroplane, a fine modern car, an express locomotive or even less spectacular widely used by Colin R owe in his comparison of Le Corbusier's architecture
works of the age such as a finely made gold club or tobacco pipe." 243 and Palladianism.252 He remarked that, as in the case of the Italian architect,
57
56
Cohen Introduction
the influence of Le Corbusier "has been principally achieved through the

medium of the illustrated book." 253 Similarly, Banham would focus on the
importance of the book itself. In December 1954, he asked Tony de! Renzio to
lecture on it at London's Institute of Contemporary Art as part of his seminar
"Books and t he Modern Movement" before discussing it at length in his i
Theory and Design in the First Machine Age. 154 And Vidler astutely reads the
very structure of Banham's Los Angeles-with its alternating pattern of chap- 1
ters devoted to the city's "ecologies" and to its architecture, and its final list j
of sources entitled "Towards a Drive-In Bibliography" - as a parody of Le
Corbusier's book.255
1
The Long Life of a Manifesto
Le Corbusier's own passion for his first great book would last. On the occa-
sion of its reissue in 1958, he dismissed the notion of introducing any "mod-
i
·1
I
I
ern phorographs." He maintained ro his literary agent that " this book has no J
reason to exist except with its [photographic] documentation from 1919-
1920."256 A transparent Rhodoid jacket was placed over the original cover,
carrying the inscription "written in 1920" (fig. 25 ). It also had a line engrav-
ing from the Bulls painting series and a Zip-A-Tone rectangle that partially
obscured the original title and the ocean liner's gangway, a masking effect-
or one of revelation- that maintained a distance from the 1923 cover. 257
The success of Vers une architecture has continued. It has been translated
into languages of the utmost diversity, which have multiplied since 1980. 258
The meaning ascribed to Le Corbusier's argument, of course, h as evolved,
even if there can be no doubt about the powerful effect of the reminders, and
of the injunction ro "open one's eyes," on at least three generations of archi-
tects. The book's pages have undermined the credibility of con servative aca-
demic precepts, determined the vocation of hundreds of young people, and
been internalized so thoroughly as ro result in unwitting plagiarism.
So the book offers an account not just of the personal conflicts of its
author, and of his quest t o reconcile his German and Latin cultures, but also
of those of a n entire generation. More than a personal bildungsroman -
although it is certainly that t oo - Vers une architecture was an attempt to
transcend the split bet\veen the values of the industrial age and those of classi-
cal culture, one that only a rhetorician as skillful as Le Corbusier could bring
off. Overall, the impact of this provocative book has undoubtedly been even
greater than that of the nonetheless pathbreaking buildings by its author.

Design for t he Rhodoid jacket of t he first post- World War 11 edit ion of Vers une architecture, 1958
58 59
Cohen Introduction
Notes 12. Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, "France ou Allemagne? Enquete sur un cote de

Abbreviations used in the notes: l'activite arcistique de deux peuples pendant une periode hisrorique (1870-1914); une
FLC Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris oeuvre necessaire de rehabilitation," MS £1 (11)275, FLC.
GRI Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles 13. See H. Allen Brooks, Le Corbusier's Formative Years: Charles-Edouard Jean -
IFA Instirut frarn,ais d'archirecture, Paris neret at La Chaux-de-Fonds (Chicago: Univ. of Ch icago Press, 1997 ); Geoffrey I-I.
Baker, Le Corbusier-The Creative Search: The Formative Years of Charles-Edouard
1. Reyner Banham, Theory and Design in the First Machine Age (London: Archi- Jeanneret (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1996); Stanislaus von Moos and Arthur
tectural Press, 1960), 220. Riiegg, eds., Le Corbusier before Le Corbusier: Applied Arts, Architecture, Painting,
2. Vincent Scully, preface ro Robert Venturi, Complexity and Contradiction in Photography, 1907-1922, exh. cat. (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 2002 ).
Architecture (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1966), 11. 14. Le Corbusier, Lettres ases maftres, vol. 1, Lettres aAuguste Perret, ed. Marie-
3. Guillaume Apollinaire, "L'Esprit nouveau et Jes poetes," Mercure de France, j eanne Dumont (Paris: Editions du Linteau, 2002).
n.s., 130 (1918): 385- 96. The historian Edgar Quinet also used this title for his book 15. Jean-Louis Cohen, "Le Corbusier's Nietzschean Metaphors," in Alexandre
about politics: L'Esprit nouveau (Paris: E. Dentu, 1875). Kostka and Irving Wohlfarth, ed s., Nietzsche and "An Architecture of Our Minds"
4. Amedee Ozenfant, Memoires 1886-1962 (Paris: Seghers, 1968), 113; Franc;:oise (Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities,
Ducros, Amedee Ozenfant (Paris: Cercle d'Arc, 2002 ), 64-65. Some texts are signed 1999 ), 311-32. Paul Venable Turner, The Education of Le Corbusier (New York:
with individual pseudonyms, such as Vauvrecy, Julien Caron, and De Fayet for Ozen- Garland, 1977), 236-37, was the first to report these readings.
fant and Jeanneret; and Paul Boulard for Jeanneret. The texts about painting carry the 16. De Fayer, "Toepffer, precurseur du cinema," L'Esprit nouveau 2, nos. 11-12
double signature "Ozenfant-Jeannerec." (1921): 1336-43. Stanislaus von Moos, "Voyages en Zigzag," in Stanislaus von Moos
5. Carlo Olmo and Roberto Gabetti, L e Corbusier e "L'Esprit nouveau" (Turin: and Arthur Ruegg, eds., Le Corbusier before Le Corbusier: Applied Arts, Architecture,
Einaudi, 1975); Stanislaus von Moos, ed., L'Esprit nouveau: Le Corbusier et !'industrie Painting, Photography, 1907-1922, exh. cat. (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 2002),
1920-1925, exh. cat. (Strasbourg: Musees de la Ville, 1987). 22-44.
6. Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc, eds., Der Blaue Reiter (Munich: R. Piper, 17. See the luminous analysis by Tim Benton, "From Jeanneret to Le Corbusier:
1912); Paul Schultze-Naumburg, Kulturarbeiten: Herausgegeben vom Kunstwart, 9 Rusting Iron, Bricks and Coal, and the Modern Utopia," Massilia 3 (2003): 28- 39.
vols. (Munich: G.D. W. Callwey, [1904-17]). 18. On the sequencing of t he articles and the chapters, see Guillemette Morel
7. "Francis Picabia et Dada," L'Esprit nouveau 2, no. 9 (1921): 1059-60. Journel, "Le Corbusier: un architecte ecrivain de la modernite?" {archi tect's thesis,
8. A careful comparison of the initial L'Esprit nouveau articles with the successive Ecole d'architecture Paris-Villemin, 1983), 16-18.
versions of the book can be found in Le Corbusier, Vers une architecture, ed. Giovanni 19. Banham, Theory and Design (note 1), 220.
Maria Lupo and Paola Paschetro (Turin: Bottega d'Erasmo, 1983). The most compre- 20. Le Corbusier, "Le voyage utile;' in idem, L'art decoratif d'aujourd'hui (Paris:
hensive attempt at reconstructing the genesis of the book is Geoffrey Simmins, "New G. Cres, 1925), 216.
Lamps for Old: Tradition and Innovation in Le Corbusier's Vers une architecture" 21. Sigfried Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture (Cambridge: Harvard Univ.
(Ph.D. diss., University of Toronto, 1987). Analyses from recent decades include: Peter Press, 1941), 146-48.
Allison, "Le Corbusier, 'Architect or Revolutionary': A Reappraisal of Le Corbusier's 22. Le Corbusier, Precisions sur un etat present de /'architecture et de l'urbanisme
First Book o n Architecture," Architectural Association Quarterly 3, no. 2 (1971): (Paris: G. Cres, 1930), 35: ''j'ai porte l'ingenieur sur le pavois. Vers 1me architecture ...
10- 20; Martin Riehl, Vers tme architecture: Das moderne Bauprogramm des Le lui etait voue pour une bonne part. C'etait un peu par anticipation. j'allais pressentir
Corbusier (Munich: Scaneg, 1992); and Jonathan Hale, "Towards a New Archite2- bientot 'le constructeur; le nouvel homme des temps nouveaux."
ture," Harvard Design Magazine, no. 6 (1998): 66- 67. 23. Hermann Muthesius, Stilarchitektur und Baukunst (Miihlheim/Ruhr: Schimmel-
9. Jean Cocteau republished in 1926 his text of 1918, Le coq et /'arlequin, under pfeng, 1902); translated as Hermann Muthesius, Style-Architecture and Building-Art,
the ticle Le rappel a /'ordre (Paris: Stock, 1926). intro. and trans. Stanford Anderson (Santa Monica: Getty Center for the History of Art
10. Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, Etude sur le mouvement d'art decoratif en Alle- and the Humanities, 1994); Josef August Lux, Ingenieurdsthetik (Munich: Gustav
magne (La Chaux-de-Fonds: Haefeli, 1912) . Lammers, 1910), 12-13.
11. Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, La construction des villes: Genese et devenir d'un 24. Robert de la Sizeranne, "L'esthetique du fer," in idem, Les questions esthe-
ouvrage ecrit de 1910 a 1915 et laisse inacheve, ed. Marc E. Albert Emery (Lausanne:
' cata-
tiques contemporaines (Paris: H achette, 1904), 4-50. This book is featured in the
L'Age d'Homme, 1992). The most rigorous version is published in Christoph Schnoor, log of the La Chaux-de-Fonds arc school library (call number 30).
"La Construction des vi lies, Charles-Edouard Jeanneret's erstes stiidtebauliches Traktat 25. Le Corbusier to William Ritter, 23 December 1913, R3(18)3 06 , FLC: "]es
von 1910/1911" (Ph.D. diss., Technische Universitiit, Berlin, 2003 ). architectes sont des pantins"; "mon admiration va sans reserve aux ingenieurs qui
60 61
Cohen I ntr od uct io n
lancent leurs pones phenomenaux, qui oeuvrent pour ]'utile, le fort et le sain"; "je
ou quelque architecte trainant amour des tables a calcul, avait voulu 'embellir' le
pur travail du technicien: comme si on pouvait embellir un oeuf! .. . ]'effac;:ai a la
vo udrais que lorsque par ]'art nous voulons faire comme eux, de !'utile, ce soit en con-
gouache ces excroissances, et tout devint pur, ou plutot le redevinc.
cevant la cache si solennelle, si serieuse, qu'alors, oui, nous osions redresser la tece et ...
ecre [non] plus des parasites, mais [es supremes utiles." 38. Scarlett Reliquet and Philippe Reliquet, Henri-Pierre Roche: L'enchanteur col-
26. Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, "Le Renouveau clans !'architecture," L'Oeuvre l , lectionneur (Paris: Ramsay, 1999 ), 79-107, 159.
no. 2 (1914): 34: "Nos Romains, nos Gothiques, nos Louis XIV, ce sont maintenant Jes 39. Le Corbusier, " l silo Roche," handwritten note, B2(15) 164, FLC: "Livre; illus-
ingerneurs ." trations nouvelles."
27. Le Corbusier to Auguste Perret, 20 January 1914, E1(11 )94, FLC; IFA; repr. in 40. Le Cor busier, "remplacer l'usine de Gropius," handwritten note, B2(15 ), FLC:
Le Corbusier, Lettres ases maitres, vol. 1 (note 14), 98: "fair voir en 1909 ou 1910 clans "Livre; illustrations no uvelles."
[son] album de photographies (des 9 x 9, je crois) un fameux et immense pont de fer qui 41. Typescript of "Esthetiq ue de l'ingenieur," B2(15)77, FLC: "craignons !es archi-
doit etre clans !es Cevennes." tectes americains. Preuve: . .."
28. Le Corbusier to Auguste Perret, 27 November 1913, E1(11 )86-87, FLC; IFA; 42 . Julien-Aza1s Guadet, Elements et theorie de /'architecture, vol. 1 of 4 (Paris:
repr. in Le Corbusier, Lettres a ses maitres, vol. 1 (note 14), 87- 88 : Librairie de la Construction Moderne, 1899).
43. Thierry Mandoul, "L'Histoire de /'architecture d'Auguste Choisy, entre raison
lorsque l'architecte aura mis clans la maison l'honnece expression du constructeur
et utopie " (Ph.D. diss., Universite de Paris 8, 2004).
de paquebot, ii semble que tout le fare! et la crasse qui nous grimenr tomberont
44. Sergei Eisenstein advanced a reading that parallels Choisy's: Sergei M . Eisen-
comme des ecailles.
stein, "Montage and Architecture," Assemblage 10 (1989): 111- 31. See also Richard A .
. . . Alors je reverais d'etre un constructeur de pants ou un perceur de tunnels, ou
Edin, "Le Corbusier, Choisy and French H ellenism: The Sea rch for a New Archi-
un qui lutte contre un fleuve immense pour le barrer et former un lac ou un qui
tecture," Art Bulletin 69, no. 2 (1987): 264-78.
lance a travers nos Alpes ou a cravers !es steppes les deux rails d 'un chemin de fer.
45. Le Corbusier to Tony Garnier, 14 May 1919, E2 (3 )54, FLC: "tendance trop
Alors je serais sur la route de l'affranchissement.
grecisame"; "le premier qui ait realise ['entente de !'art avec notre magnifique epoque."
29. Le Corbusier to Max Du Bois, (1914], E1 (19)185, FLC: "Jes ingenieurs y The earliest letter between Le Corbusier and Garnier to survive dates from 1915: Tony
auront la part belle et Jes architectes celle de cretins . . . qu'ils sonc souvent." Garnier to Le Corbusier, 13 December 1915, B1 (20)86, FLC .
30. Le Corbusier t0 William Ritter, 31 December 1917, Gl (6)54- 56, FLC. 46. Eugene Henard, " Les alignements brises: la question des fo rtifications et le
31. Walter Gropius, "Die Entwicklung moderner Induscriebauk unst," in Die Kunst boulevard d e grand e ceinture," in idem, Etudes sur Les transformation s de Paris et
in Indu strie und Handel. ]ahrbuch des D eutschen Werkbundes, 1913 (Jena : Eugen autres ecrits sur l'urbanisme, vo l. 1 (Paris: Librairies-Imprimeries reunies, 190 3),
Diederichs, 1913), 17- 22. Le Co rbusier owned a copy of the book; personal library of 23- 53 . On the origin o f pilotis (stilts), see Adolf Max Vogt, L e Corbusier the Noble
Le Corbusier, B2 , FLC. Savage: Toward an A rcheology of Modernism (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998 ).
32. Le Corbusier to Auguste Perret, 30 June 1915, E1 (1)174, FLC; IFA; repr. in Le 4 7. Auguste Perret, " Ce que j'ai app ris a propos des villes de demain; c'est qu'il
Corbusier, L ettres a ses maitres, vol. 1 (note 14), 142. He also tells him that he has "fait faudrait les construire dans des pays neufs," L'Intransigeant, 25 N ovember 1920, 4;
venir ... Jes maisons americaines de FLW" (had sent to him . .. the American houses of Francesco Passanti, "Le Cor busier et le gratte-ciel: aux origines du plan Voi sin," in
F(rank] L(loyd] W[right] ). Jean-Louis Cohen and Hubert Damisch, ed s., Americanism e et m odernite: L'ideal
33. Reyner Banham, A Concrete Atlantis: U.S. Industrial Building and European americain dans /'architecture (Paris: Flammarion, 1993), 171-89.
Modern Architecture, 1900-1925 (Cambridge: M IT Press, 1986). 4 8. This hypothesis is set forth in Winfried Nerdinger, " Standard et type: Le
34. Le Corbusier to the Perret brothers, 26 March 1910, lFA; repr. in Le Corbusier, Cor busier et I' Allemagne 1920- 192 7," in Stanislaus von M oos, ed., L' Esprit nouveau:
Lettres a ses maitres, vol. 1 (note 14), 46- 47: "perspective que [lui] ouvrait Monsieur L e Corbusier et l'industrie 1920-1 925, exh. cat. (Strasbourg: Musees de la Ville, 19 87),
Auguste d'un sejour a Chicago." 45; and Francesco Passanti, "Architecture: Proportion, Classicism, and O ther Issues,"
3 5. Le Corbusier to Auguste Perret, 3 June 1914, IFA; rep r. in Le Corbusier, L ettres in Stanislaus von Moos and Arthur Riiegg, eds., L e Corbusier before Le Corbusier:
a ses maftres, vol. 1 (note 14), 104: "les immenses betonnages du Panama, !es fo lles Applied Arts, Architecture, Painting, Photography, 1907- 1922 , exh. cat. (N ew Haven:
maisons du nouveau monde, le profond de cette vie toute moderne me fa scinent ." Yale Univ. Press, 2002), 78.
36. Le Corbusier, Vers une architecture (Paris: G. Cres, 1923), 18, 17. 49. Le Corbusier to Theodor Fischer, 18 Ap ril 1932, E2 (2 )2 67, FLC: "elements
37. Ozenfant, Memoires 1886-1962 (note 4 ), 113: architecturaux sains et constructifs."
50. Fritz Haeber, Peter Behrens (Munich: Miiller & Rem sch, 1913 ), 35; and Le
II y avait bien, par-ci par-la, en couronnement d e ces puissantes batteries de cylin-
Corbusier to Auguste Perret (note 35).
dres monumentaux comme des donjons, quelques froncons a la grecq ue: l'ingenieur,
51. Postcard, L5(4 )113, FLC; Vers zme architecture (192 3), 59.
62 63
Cohen Introduction
52. Amedee Ozenfant and Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, "Sur la plastique I. Examen The prose poem was first published in the collection Divagations (Paris: Fasquelle,
des conditions primordiales," L'Esprit nouveau 1, no. 1 (1920): 43. 1897), 15-16. Jeanneret had already mentioned Mallarme in a letter of 1911 to William
53. Vers une architecture (1923), 62: "pas encore eu le plaisir de rencontrer d'ar- Ritter. See Passanti, "Architecture" (note 48), 88,291 nn. 90-91. ln October 1914 in La
chitectes contemporains qui se soient occupes de cette question"; Hendrik Petrus Chaux-de-Fonds, he had bought an anthology featuring the poem: Vers et proses
Berlage to Le Corbusier, 30 December 1923, £1(7)112, FLC: (Paris: Librairie academique Perrin, 1912); J 186, FLC.
62. Georges Rozet, "Les yeux qui ne voient plus," L'Oeuvre, 5 January 1919. This
Je me hate de vous informer que, depuis 1890 deja, cette question est etudiee en
article was brought to my attention by Francesco Passanti.
Hollande (initiateur 1. architecte de Groot) et avec un tel succes que beaucoup d'ar-
63. Ozenfant et Jeanneret, "Formation de l'optique moderne," L'Esprit nouveau 5,
chitectes commencerent alors a dessiner leurs p lans et fo,;ades d'apres un trace regu-
no. 21 (1924); the journal also published a series of articles by psychophysiologist
lateur.
Charles Henry; see Charles Henry, "La lumiere, la couleur et la forme," L'Esprit 110u-
Et comme exemple je vous informe que la nouvelle bourse a Amsterdam,
veau 2, no. 6 (1921): 605-23; no. 7 (1921 ): 728- 36; no. 8 (1921 ): 948-58; and no. 9
1897-1904, est consn:uit (sic] selon le triangle 3, 4, 5.
(1921): 1068-75. On these issues, see Nina Rosenblatt, "Photogenic Neurasthenia:
Berlage nonetheless supported Le Corbusier's project for the League of Nations in Aesthetics, Modernism and Mass Society in France, 1889-1929" (Ph.D. diss., Colum-
1927. bia University, 1997), 90-141.
54. Le Corbusier to Hendrik Petrus Berlage, 11 January 1924, £1 (7)113, FLC: "je 64. Lux, "Das Neue Auge," in idem, lngenieuriisthetik (Munich: Gustav Lammers,
connais depuis longtemps la bourse d'Amsterdam que j'ai toujours admiree." 1910), 8.
55. Hendrik Petrus Berlage, Grundlagen imd Entwicklung der Architektur: Vier 65. Jahrbuch des Deutschen Wlerkbundes, 1914. Der Verkehr (Jena: Diedrichs,
Vortriige gehalten im Kunstgewerbemuseum zu Ziirich (Rotterdam: W. L. & J. Brusse, 1914).
1908); translated in H endrik Petrus Berlage, Thoughts on Style, 1886-1909, trans. Ian 66. Paul Souriau, L'esthetique du mouvement (Paris: Felix Alcan, 1889); La beaute
Boyd W hyte and Wim de Wit (Santa Monica: Getty Center for the History of Art and rationnelle (Paris: Felix Alcan, 1904), no. 13 in the catalog of the La Chaux-de-Fonds
the Humanities, 1996), 185-252. Semper's remark is quoted on p. 187. art school library.
56. Le Corbusier, "Architecture d'epoque machiniste," Journal de psychologie 23 67 . Olmo and Gabetti, Le Corbusier e "L'Esprit nouveau" (note 5), 9, 10, 43,
(1926): 346: "elever"; "resille de diagonales"; "canevas"; "a ce compte-la routes les 119- 21.
broderies au point d e croix seraient fa ites au trace regulateur." 68. Le Corbusier ro Perret (note 32): "l'honnete expression d u constructeur de
57. Vers une architecture (1923), 5 7, 27- 28 . In an undated preparatory note, he paquebots." Camille Mauclair, Trois crises de /'art actue/ (Paris: Fasquelle, 1906), 222:
writes, "La rue de Rivoli est de !'architecture, le bd Raspail n'en est pas" (The Rue de "cette maison a locataires se presente com me ... un paquebot pret a partir." Mauclair's
Rivoli belongs to architecture, but not the Blvd. Raspail); A2(15 )151, FLC. book was assigned no. 53 in the La Chaux-de-Fonds art school library catalog.
58. Vers une architecture (1923), 19. 69. Le Corbusier to William Ritter, 7 April 1922, R3(19)391, FLC: "vous y verrez
59. Le Corbusier to Auguste Per ret, 14 December 1915, IFA; repr. in Le Corbusier, mes idees sur ['architecture en vous souvenant qu'a l'ecole a 20 ans on m'avait sur-
Lettres a ses maftres, vol. 1 (note 14), 151-54. Le Corbusier does mention them in his nomme 'Paquebot.' (:a n'a pas change."
introduction to 0. Storonov and W. Boesiger, eds ., Le Corbusier und Pierre Jeanneret: 70. Felix Philipp Ingold, Literatur und Aviatik. EurofJiiische Flugdichtung 1909-
Ih r gesamtes Werk von 1910 - 1929 (Zurich: Girsberger, 1930). 192 7, mit einem Exkurs uber die F/11gidee in der Modernen Malerei und Architektur
60. Le Corbusier to Auguste Perret, 3 November 1914, IFA; repr. in Lettres a ses (Basel: Birkhauser, 1978); Joseph J. Corn, The Winged Gospel: America's Romance
maftres, vol. 1 (note 14), 121- 24. He also mentions his readings of the poet in a letter to with Aviation, 1900- 1950 (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1983) .
Amedee Ozenfant, 28 July 1918, GI (6)182, FLC. 71. Le Corbusier, Sur !es quatre routes (Paris: Gallimard, 1941), 108- 9: "la
61. Stephane Mallarme, "Le phenomene futur," in idem, Oeuvres completes, ed. chirnere fut capturee par !es hommes et conduite au-dessus de la ville"; 112: "du point
Bertrand Marchal, 2 vols. (Paris: Gallimard, Bibliotheque de la Pleiade, 1998), 1:413-14: de vue de !'architecture, clans l'etat d'esprit de l'inventeur d'avions."
"femme d'autrefois"; "monrreur de choses passees." The poem ends thusly: 72. Ducros, Amedee Ozenfant (note 4), 65- 67.
73. Amedee Ozenfant to Le Corbusier, 13 August 1924, E2(17)490, FLC: "vous
Quand mus auront contemple la noble creature, vestige de quelque epoque deja aimiez le paquebot, moi !'auto.... Ma fam iliarite p lus grande avec la rnecanique et
maudite, les uns indifferents, car ils n'auront pas eu la force de comprendre, mais votre gout pour la construction se sont vice entendus."
d 'autres navres et la paupiere humide de larmes resignees se regard eront; tandis que 74. The museum curator Walter Riezler discussed in Cologne the Parthenon as
!es poetes de ces temps, sentant se rallumer leurs yeux eteints, s'achemineront vers an expression of t ype; see Francesco Passanti, " The Vernacular, .Modernism, and
leur lampe, le cerveau ivre un instant d'une gloire confuse, hantes du Rythme et Le Corbusier," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 56, no. 4 (1997):
clans l'oubli d'exister a une epoque qui survit a la beaure. 443.
64 65
I n trod uc ti on
Co h e n
75. Beatriz Colomina, Privacy and Publicity: Modern Architecture as Mass Media . · .. Ce mot merite d 'entrer dans la langue pratique de ['architecture signifiant une
(Cambridge: MIT Press, 1994); von Moos, ed., L'Esprit nouveau (note 5 ). chose capitale de l'art architectural.
7 6. This project from 1923 would be adopted by the French Chambre des deputes
Bonnier would apologize on 2 March, reenacting his reluctance to use an "obso-
(Chamber of deputies) in 1928. lete" (hors d'usage) term; A2 (5 )35, FLC .
77. Vers une architecture (1923), 126, 128: " chassis superbe"; "carrosseries deplo-
90. Auguste Choisy, Histoire de /'a rchitecture, 2 vols. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars
rables" ; "[ne] connaissaient rien." 1899), 1:48: "l'art abstrait d 'accentuer Jes masses." '
78. Le Corbusier here reused the best part, beginning on p. 43, of Ozenfant and
91. Antoine Chrysostome Quatremere de Quincy, Dictionnaire historique d'archi-
Jeanneret, "Sur la plastique" (note 52 ). tecture: Comprenant dans son plan !es notions historiques, descriptives, archeo/o-
79. Le Corbusier to William Ritter, 9 April 1915, R3(18)420, FLC. giques, biographiques, theoriques, didactiques et pratiques de cet art, 2 vols. (Paris:
80. Le Corbusier to Amedee Ozenfant, postcard, (1921), E2 (17)483, FLC:
Librairie d'Adrien le Clere, 1832 ), 2:121: "!'assemblage et la distribution des membres
Yous savez qu'il y a dix ans Michel-Ange, pour moi, metcait a la pone Raphael. des profils ou des moulures d'une ordonnance." Quatremere mentions as a preceden;
J'aurais eu de grandes joies a verifier avec vous cette loi implacable du monde, dans Pierre-Frarn;:ois Hugues d'Harcanville, Recueil d'antiquites etrusques, grecques et
une intimite que j'aurai tout fait pour retablir. romaines, 4 vols. (Paris: chez !'auteur, 1785-88), 1:50, who mentions the "rules of con-
Pour cette fois voyons Rome pour soi meme. II n'y aura pas eu pour nous la tour modulation" ([es regles de la modenature ).
92. Maurras, Athenes antique (note 86), 59: "immense hangar de mar bre."
lec;:on de Rome.
93. Friedrich N ietzsche, The Gay Science, ed. Bernard Williams, trans. Josefine
81. Le Cor busier, sketch for "L'illusion des plans," n.d., B2(15)104, FLC.
Nauckhoff, poems trans. Adrian Del Caro (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2001), 8-9.
82. Charles Blanc, Grammaire des arts du dessin (Paris: R enouard, 1867).
94. Le Corbusier, " Supprimer maisons Auguste," handwritten note in "Livre; illus-
83. Ernest Renan, Priere su r l'Acropole (Paris: A. Ferroud, 1920; original ed.,
trations nouvelles," B2(15 )164, FLC.
Paris: E. Pellecan, 1899), 6. The copy purchased by Jeanneret in Athens is in the FLC: J
95. Vers une architecture (1923 ), 206. On this project, see Pierre-Alain Croset
231, FLC. " Immeubles-villas, les origines d'un type," in Jacques Lucan, ed., Le Corbusier (1887~
84. Le Corbusier to William Ritter, 1 July 1920, R3 (19)366, FLC: "le Parthenon,
1965), une encyclopedie, exh. cat. (Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou, 1987), 178-89.
ce d rame." 96. Adolf Loos, " L'architecture et le style moderne;' Les Cahiers d 'aujourd'hui 1,
85 . Max ime Collignon, Le Parthenon: L'histoire, /'architecture et La sculpture,
no. 2 (1912 ): 82- 92.
with photographs by Frederic Boissonnas and W.-A. Mansell (Paris: Librairie Centrale
97. Le Cor busier, Pour bfltir: Standardiser et Taylo riser, supplement to the Bulletin
d'art & d 'architecmre, 1910- 12); most plates reproduced in the book can be found in
du Redressem ent fran r;ais 3 , no. 9 (1928): 1-8. On this point, see Jean-Louis Cohen,
Le Corbusier's copy in the FLC. L'A cropole d' Athenes, Le Parthenon, intro. Gustave
Scenes of the World to Come: European Architecture and the Am erican Challenge,
Fougeres (Paris: Albert Morance, 1910). 1893- 1960, exh. cat. (Paris: Flammarion, 1995), 69- 71; and Mary McLeod, " 'Archi-
86. Charles Maurras, Athenes antique (Paris: De Boccard, 1918), 5 5: " j' ai peine a tecture or Revolution': Taylorism, Technology, and Social Change," A rt Journal 43 , no.
comprendre qu'on ait meconnu cette force." 2 (1983): 132- 43.
87. As Dan Sherer remarks in a perceptive article, Le Corbusier had no archaeolog-
98. Le Corbusier to M onsieur Hostache, 23 March 1922, B2(15 )13, FLC: "sur des
ical knowledge of the use of models for the definition of propor tions: Dan Sherer, " Le
gratte-ciels americains, sur des v ues de cites-jardins americaines (Los Angeles, Chicago
Corbusier's Discovery of Palladio in 1922 and t he M odernist Transform ation of the
ou autres) ainsi que sur des usines avec jardins."
Classical Code," Perspecta 35 (2004): 24. 99. On the planned p ublication of "Architecture or Revolution," see A1(5)304,
88. See also the discussion of this term in "From the Translator" in the present vol-
FLC.
ume. Jeanneret was for many years interested in this issue and had mentioned the term
100. Antoine Picon, Les Saint-Simoniens (Paris: Belin, 2003).
modeling (modeler) in one of his letters to Charles L'Eplattenier, repr. in Le Corbusier,
101. Le Corbusier to William Ritter, [1915], R 3(18)386, FLC.
Lettres ases maftres, vol. 2, L ettres a Charles L'Ep/attenier, ed. M arie-Jeanne Dumont 102. Le Corbusier, "Architecture ou revolution," (1922), B2(15)153, FLC: " ii y a
(Paris: Editions du Linteau, 2006), 171. trop de q uartiers miserables, honteux, scandaleux dans les vieilles villes vermoulues et
89. Le Corbusier to Louis Bonnier, 19 March 1924, E1(9}11, FLC:
impossibles a desinfecter." A propaganda leaflet for L'Esprit nouveau printed after the
J'ai rassemble mes souvenirs. Le mot n'est pas employe en Suisse. Du moins, je ne issue 11-12 anno uncing the forthcoming publication of "Architecture ou revol ution "
l'y ai pas entendu. M ais, ayant passe quelques semaines sur l' acropole a Athenes, le reads as a warning: "the housing shortage will bring to revolutio n. Be alert to housing,"
sens de la modenature m'a frappe et c'est ace moment-la que je dois avoir recherche A1(1)182, FLC: "la crise des logements amenera a la revolution. Preoccupez-vous de
le mot correspondant a la chose. !'habitation."
67
66
Cohen I ntro du ctio n
103. Le Corbusier, typescript of "Architecture o u revolution," B2(15) 174, FLC: (Paris: Vincent et Freal, 1958), v: "Les maquettes de mes articles (alors reunis) provo-
"on peut eviter la revolution." quaient l'etonnement, !'indignation de l'imprimerie Arrault a Tours (notre imprimeur);
104. In th is arricle, Pavel Janak criticizes Otto Wagner's Moderne Architektur: ils disaient, eux parlant de moi: 'c'est un fou!' Deja! Ee a propos de typographie et de
"Od modern[ archirekrnry k architekture," Sty/ 2 (1910): 105-9. metier (typographie). Vers une architecture (1920- 21) temoigne d' un esprit propre."
105. Le Corbusier, " Introduction a la seconde edition," in idem, Vers une architec- 121. Le Corbusier, L'Esprit nouveau 2, no. 10 (1921): 1147n: "leur signification
ture (Paris: G. Cres, 1924 ), vi: "a l'em porte-piece." demeure ." This caption is absent from the book, although the image is still in the wrong
106. Franc;:oise Bradfer, Le travail d'ecriture chez l'architecte; /'invention de L e place. He would keep the images in place, despite his intention of correcting the misfit;
Corbusier ou l'accomplissement de la meinoire: Instrumentalisation et operationnalite see Le Cor busier, "Li vre; illustrations nouvelles;' handwritten note, B2(15)164, FLC.
de l'ecriture (Louvain-la-Neuve: Universite Catholique, 2002 ), 75-85. 122. Step hane Mallar me, "La Pipe," in idem, Oeuvres co111pletes, ed . Bertrand
107. Jean-Claude Garcias, " Paradoxes: la r hetorique de Le Cor busier, ou Jes para- Marchal, 2 vols. (Paris: Gallimard, Bibliotheque de la Pleiade, 1998), 1:419- 20.
doxes de l'autodidaxie," in Jacques Lucan, ed., Le Corbusier (1887-1965), une ency- 123. Le Corbusier to George Besson, 4 Ja nuary 1922, A2(11 )17, FLC. Le Corbusier
clopedie, exh. cat. (Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou, 1987), 289-91. would again use an illustration of a pipe (an English one this time) in the opening of the
108. Guillemette Morel Journel, "Rhetorique de Le Corbusier clans Vers une archi- chapter "Usurpation le folklore" in Le Corbusier, L'art decoratif d'au;ourd'hui (Paris:
tecture" (master's thesis, Universite de Paris 4, 1984); Guillemette Morel Jo urnel, "Le G. Cres, 1925), 27.
Corbusier, structure rhetorique et volonte litteraire," in Le Corbusier, ecritttres: Ren- 124. Lewis Mumford, Technics and Civilization (London: Routledge, 1934), 352.
contres des 18 et 19 iuin 1993 (Paris: Fondation Le Corbusier, 1993), 15-29. 125. Elie Faure, "La Ville radieuse," L'architecture d'aujourd'hui 6, no. 11 (193 5):
109. Vers une architecture (1923), 210: "coquet." 34:
110. Morel Journel, "Le Corbusier" (note 18), 33- 34, 97.
111 . Guillemette Morel Journel, " Le Corbusier's Binary Figures," Daidalos 64
Rappelez-vous cette presentation singuliere, chaocique a premiere vue, mais ordon-
nee avec rant de malice. Rappelez-vous ces illustrations originales par photogra-
(1997): 24-29.
phies imprevues, rancor belles, tantot cocasses, vues aeriennes, images de roues et de
112. Morel Journel, "Le Corbusier" (note 18), 7 0, has inventoried seventeen dis-
moteurs, de vaisselles perimees, de meubles "de style" , de pipes, de recepteurs rele-
tinct variants.
113. Morel Journel, "Rhetorique de Le Corbusier" (note 108 ), 161- 65.
p honiques, ou bien par croquis a la plume, cha rmants parfois, et soignes, d'autre
fois !aches de verve, mais s'attachant toujours a sollicicer la rigueur d 'un raison-
114. The Magasin pittoresque is mentioned in Catherine de Smet, "Le livre comme
nement qui fixe la pensee du lecteur comme avec un clou de fortune. II le secoue, le
synthese des arts; editions et design graphique chez Le Corbusier, 1945- 1965" (Ph.D.
chatouille, le sachant apathique et gourd. II le pince sans rire, et ainsi l'indigne apres
diss., Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales, Pa ris, 2002); and Catherine de Smet,
l'avoir epouvante.
Le Corbusier, Builder of Books (Baden: Lars M (iller, 2005). See also Marie-Victoire de
Vaubernier, "Le livre d'architecte: L'exemple de Le Corbusier " (D.E.A. d'histoire de In Elie Faure, L'esprit des formes (Paris: G. Cres, 1927), Faure reproduces an ocean
l'art, Universite de Paris 10, 1990); and idem, " Le Corbusier, ed iteur," in L e Corbusie1; liner (fig. 71), an airplane (fig. 168), and a Freyssiner hangar (fig. 215); he, too, took
ecritures: Rencontres des 18 et 19 ;uin 1993 (Paris: Fondation Le Corbusier, 1993), pride in inserting p hotographs of airplanes into his books, and he published one called
31- 45 . L'avion (Villefranche: J. Bonthoux, 1937).
115. Le Corbusier to Auguste Perret, [September 1916], IFA; repr. in Le Corb usier, 126. Paul Valery to Le Corbusier, Par is, n.d., T2(2 0)412, FLC (typed copy) :
Lettres ii ses maitres, vol. 1 (note 14), 182-84. See Jean-Louis Cohen, '"France ou "enchainement" ; " la purete ne peut meme pas commencer si vous ne l'introduisez par
Allemagne?' Un zigzag editorial de Charles-Edouard Jeanneret," in Bruno Maurer, ed., Jes exemples epars qu'on trouve clans le passe." Th is was proudly reproduced by Le
Festschrift fiir Stanislaus van Moos (Zurich: gta, 2005), 74- 92. Corbusier in the new edition of L'art decoratif d'au;ourd'hui (Paris: Vincent & Freal,
116. A very partial investigation of ch is point is found in Barbara Mazza, L e 1959), vi.
Corbusier e la fotografia: La verite blanche (Florence: Firenze Univ. Press, 2002); and 127. Paul Valery, "Les deux vercus d'un livre" [1926], in idem, Oeuvres, 2 vols.
Geoffrey Simmins, "New Lamps fo r Old " (note 8 ). (Paris: Gallimard , Bibliotheque de la Pleiade, 1960 ), 2:1246- 50; cited passage, 1249:
117. Vers une architecture (1923), 132; see the "Editor's and Translator's Notes." " une parfaite machine ii lire!'
118. Vers une architecture (1923) , 98, 139; see the "Editor's and Translator's 128. Advertisement in Amedee Ozenfant, Atnes le cubisme (Paris: Editions des
Notes." Commentaires, 1918), unpaginated; Amedee Ozenfa nt and Charles-Edouard Jeanneret,
119. Vers une architecture (1923), 129- 31; see the "Editor's and Tra nslator's "Les Idees d'esprit nouvea u dans Jes livres et la presse," L'Esprit nouveau 2, nos. 11- 12
Notes." Le Corbusier's sketch for this "Photoshop" manipulation ante literam is fou nd (1921 ): 1344.
in B2(15)87, FLC, 13 . 129. Le Corb usier tO his parents, 9 January 1919, Rl {6)49, FLC: "un nouveau livre
120. Le Corbusier, preface to the 1958 reprint of Ve rs une architecture, 3rd ed. de commande, qui s'appellera Vers une architecture qui sera une chose d'avant-garde."
68 69
I ntr oduc t i on
Co h en
130. Le Corbusier to Paul Laffitte, 17 February 1922, B2(7) 18, FLC. 151. Le Corbusier t o Amedee Ozenfant, 13 August 1924, E2(17) 490, FLC:
131. Le Corbusier to William Ritter, 7 April 1922, R3 (19)391, FLC: "'A rchitecture l"capitale."
et revolution'"; " suite des articles clans l'EN ." 152. Le Corbusier to Amedee Ozenfant, 11 March 1925, £2(17)496, FLC: "fis-
132. Jean Petit, Le Corbusier lui-meme (Geneva: R ousseau, 1970), 57. suree." In 1929, Le Corbusier claimed that Ozenfant's name had been " restored" to the
133. Le Corbusier to Georges Cres, 21 April 1922, A1 (4)10, FLC. guard page; Le Corbusier, 22 March 1929, E2(17)506, FLC.
134. Le Corbusier to George Besson, 4 January 1922, A2 (11 )17, FLC: "manuscrit 153. Amedee Ozenfant to Le Corbusier, 13 March 1926, £2(17)497, FLC:
definitif." Certes je ne l'ai pas redige, mais ce qu e vous y <lites est la traduction de ce que
135. Georges Cres to Le Corbusier, 21 December 1922, B2(15)10, FLC: "un vous et moi, vous autant que moi, c'est-a-dire nou s disions et pensions pend ant
ouvrage intitule '!'architecture nouvelle."' Jes longues annees ou nous collaborames: je n' ai jamais pretendu autre chose.
136. Invoice from L'Esprit nouveau to Georges Cres, 9 January 1923, A( l )lO, D 'ailleurs je n'attache aucune vanite d 'aureur a des idees qui ne sont ni de vous ni de
FLC. moi, mais de Loos et de Perret, ainsi que la lecture de "Ornement et crime" ... le
137. Le Corbusier to George Besson, 3 July 1923, B2(15)16, FLC. prouve; et pour ce qui est des machines, bien avant de vous connaitre nous en cau-
138. Georges Cresto Le Corbusier, 7 April 1924, Al (l3 )312, FLC. sions presque quotidiennement avec notre ancien maitre Auguste Perret et si je me
139. Le Corb usier, "Introduction a la seconde edition" (note 105), vi. See Josep suis si bien entendu avec vous, c'est que Perret (c'est Perret qui m'a fa ir vous con-
Quetglas, "With the Audience in Suspense," pamphlet accompanying the exhibition Le naitre)- Perret vous et moi avions des idees communes.
Corbusier at Princeton 14-16 November 1935 (Princeton: Princeton University School
of Architecture, 2001 ). 154. Le Corbusier to Amedee Ozenfant, caricature enclosed in letter, 8 July 1932,
140. Le Cor busier to Georges Cres, 6 December 1928, T1 (9)2, FLC. E2(17)510, FLC (copy; original in a private collection): "alors, Corbu s'etant bien gave,
141. Boesiger and Storonov, eds., Le Corbusier und Pierre Jeanneret (note 59 ). mordit le sein de sa nourrice!"
142. Prospectus for Vers une architecture, 1923, B2 (15 )17, FLC: "ce livre est impla- 155. Amedee Ozenfant to Le Corbusier, 7 December 1928, E2 (17)5 04, FLC: " il
cable. Il ne ressemble a aucun autre "; "outillage et esprit moderne sont au point limite n'est pas d 'usage qu'un des signataires de l'ouvrage dedie l'ouvrage a l'autre."
de fusion; une grande periode d'architecture s'ouvre. On va vers une architecture." 156. Le Corbusier to Christian Zervos, 6 July 1936, R 3(9 )87, FLC.
143. Prospectus for Vers une architecture (note 142): "clans leur interet, tenues 157. Ozenfa nt, Memoires 1886-1 962 (note 4 ), 142-43: "II voulait etre seul. Je
d 'exiger." me retirai .... Il fut do ue pour bien des choses, mais pas po ur la reconnaissance, voila
144. Paul Budry, "Vers une architecture, par Le Corbusier-Saugnier;' L'Esprit nou- tout ."
veau 4, no. 19 (1923): unpaginated: "[!es] pures carenes de paquebo rs ... recelent d'im- 158. Le Cor busier to Sigfried Giedion, 4 March 1927, 43K 1927 03-19, Giedion
mondes salons copies sur la gare d' Orsay"; "clans les Goliath, d ining et sleeping-cars, Archive, Institut fo r Geschichte u nd Theorie der Architektur, Eidgeni:issische Tech-
!es cuivres ont des formes de pavots" ; " [!es] Americains a si los achetent ... des basi- nische H ochschule Z iirich.
liques romanes a planter clans leurs jardins a l'anglaise." 159. Le Corbusier, "Temperature, a !'occasion de la troisieme edition," in idem,
145. Budry, "Vers une architecture" (note 14 4 ): " [!es Grecs avaient] leurs Tanagras Vers une architecture (Paris: G. Cres, 1928): x iv, xvi.
et leurs bicoques au pied du Parthenon" ; " [le propos du livre est] positif et merallique." 160. Ilya Ehrenb urg to Le Corbusier, Berlin, 31 October [1923], A1(4)20, FLC .
146. Budry, "Vers une architecture" (note 144) : "ce raisonnement sur [' auto Petit mentions this initiative; see Petit, L e Corbusier lui-meme (note 132), 57.
161. Ilya Ehrenburg to Le Corbusier, 12 M arch 1922, E2(1)52, FLC .
declassera la Priere sur l'Acropole."
147. Amedee O zenfa nt, "Vers une architecture," L'Esprit nouveau 4, no. 19 (1923: 162. Z ivot II, Sbornik nove krdsy (1922); and Karel Teige, " K nove architekrure,"
unpaginated: " [un] cours d 'architecture comme jamais o n n'en fit" ; "lumineuse Stavba 2 (1923): 179- 83; an English translation can be found in Karel Teige, M odern
demonstration"; "realiste mais aile"; "vieux murs melancoliques a casser !es bras" ; "de Architecture in Czechoslovakia and Other Writings, intro. Jean-Louis Cohen, trans.
nouvelles coq uilles dignes des erres vra iment no uveaux, c'est-a-dire lucides, poetes; Irena Zantovska Mur ray and David Britt (Lo s Angeles: Getty Research Institu te,
comp lets enfin "; " son art est digne des volontes puristes." 20 00 ), 309-15. Le Corbusier's views are also analyzed in Oldrich Star y, " Vyvoj k nove
148. Le Corbusier to Amedee Ozenfa nt, autograph dedication, 23 June 1923, pho - architekture," Stavba 3 (1924-25): 171-80, 187- 203 , 205-18 .
to copy of the false title page, £ 2(17)488, FLC: "ce livre vous est dedie en temoignage d e 163 . Karel Teige to Le Corbusier, 22 May 1925 , A1 (7 )459, FLC.
notre amitie et en vertu de notre travail cornmun." 164. The earliest of these publications is: Nakamura Junpei, " Furansu gendai
149. Le Corbusier to Amedee O zenfant, [June 1924], with annotation by Ozenfant tosh i kenkyojo n i tsuite" (Concerning the contemporary French city research center),
dated 24 June 1924, £ 2(17) 521, FLC: "Les preu ves avec la dedicace rayee." Kenchiku Shincho (New architectural currents) 5 (1924 ); other illustrated extracts
150. Le Corbusier to Amedee O zenfant, 8 August 1924, £ 2(17)489, FLC: "vous ap peared in Kokusai Kenchiku (International architecture) (May and June 1929), and
auriez voulu que le livre Architecture soit de vous aussi." an assessment of the translations was p ublished by the archit ect and critic Kurata
71
70
I nt r oduc tio n
Cohen
Chikatada in Kokusai Kenchiku 5 (1929). See the discussion in Sasaki Hiroshi, Kysho e 174. Le Corbusier to Hans H ildebrandt, [autumn 1924], E2(4 )526, FLC; and 22
no shokei: Re corubyujie ni miserareta nihon no ke11chik11ka tachi [Ringing the bell for November 1924 (no te 171).
the master: Japanese architects bewitched by Le Corbusier] (Tokyo: Sagami, 2000). 175. Le Corbusier to H ans Hil debrandt, 31 December 1924; E2(04 )528, FLC.
165. Le Corbusier, Kenchiku geijutse [Toward artistic architecture], trans. Miya- 17 6. Le Corbusier ro Hans Hildebrandt, 2 M arch 1925, E2 (04 )532, FLC; H ans
zaki Kanemitsu (Tokyo: Koseisha, 1929). Hildebrandt to Le Corbusier, 15 January 1925, E2(04 )589, FLC; Le Cor busier to Hans
166. Le Corbusier, Hacia una arquitectura, trans. Luis A. Romero (Buenos Aires: Hildebrandt, 26 February 1925 (note 171 ); and Le Corbusier to Hans Hildebrandt,
El Distribuidor Americana, 1939). postcard, 4 December 1926 (note 171 ).
167. Text preserved in the "Gebaudelehre Villen Wohnhauser, Notizen z. Vortrage 177. Le Corbusier to H ans Hildebrandt, 26 March 1925 (note 171):
Sommersemester 25" file, Moser Archive, Institut for Geschichte und Theorie der je trouve qu'il est indispensable que la typographie de l'ouvrage soit tout a fait sem-
Architektur, Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule Z urich. Moser states in his lecture blable a celle de ]'edition fra nc;aise et vous m'obligeriez en demandant a votre
of 27 July 1925: "Vers une architecture, welches so grosse Bedeutung gewonnen und so imprimeur de me soumettre un echantillon des caracteres qu'il emploiera; ii est tres
viel Klarheit in die Zeitausfassungen gebraucht hat." important que ce livre ait sa presentation typographique conforme a !'esprit du texte.
168. Le Corbusier to Alexander Dorner, 19 February 1924, F2(14)257, FLC. On 21
February, Le Corbusier asked Cres to send h im a copy; El{17)97, FLC. 17 8. Hans H ildebrandt to Le Corbusier, 6 N ovember 1925 (note 171), with auto~
169. Roger Ginsburger to Le Corbusier, 21 January 1924, £1 (17)99, FLC; 16 graph annotations by Le Corbusier on the original that he sent back to H ildebrandt:
February 1923, E2 (3)298, FLC; and 22 March 1923, E2(3)300, FLC. Le Corbusier "poison mondain."
to Roger Ginsbu rger, 12 February 1924, E2(3 )297, FLC; and 21 February 1924, 179. Le Corbusier to Hans H ildebrandt, 17 April 1926 (note 171): "Ozenfant se
E2(3 )299, FLC: "un livre qui trouverait l'interet le plus profond d ans Jes pays de langue persuade de jour en jour qu'il a pense et dit ce que j'ai ecrit, a un tel poim que j'avais ete
allemande et q ui aiderait a eliminer de la nouvelle architecture d e ces pays bien des ten- conduit a lui dedier V[ers] u[ne] Arch[itecture] afin d'oter ainsi toute vraisemblance a
dances vers le decoratif et l'artificiel." cette pretention."
170. Le Corbusier, Kommende Bauk unst, trans. and p reface Hans Hildebrandt 180. Le Corbusier to H ans Hildebrandt, .22 December 1936 (note 171 ): "de l'argot
(Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1926); and Walther Rathenau, Von kommenden d'atelier" ; contrary ro what an "ancien ami ... pratiquant le mensonge avec un tel sang-
Dingen (Berli n: S. Fischer, 1918 ). This link was suggested to me by Stanislaus von froid qu'il [Jui] a ete impossible de continuer a partager Jes soucis et les plaisirs d'une
Moos. entreprise avec Jui " had maintained.
171. List of subscri bers, A2(8)33 6, FLC; Le Corbusier to Hans Hildebrandt, 181. Muthesius, Stilarchitek tur und Baukunst (note 23).
[1923], Hans and Lily Hildebrandt Papers, 850676, box 41, fo lder 38, GRI. 182. Le Corbusier, Ausblick attf eine A rchitektur, rev. trans. Eva Gartner (Frank-
172. Hans H ildebrandt to Le Corbusier, 26 August 1924, E2(4 )522, FLC. fu rt: Ullstein, 1963). Includes Le Corbusier's preface to the 1958 edit ion.
173 . Le Corbusier to H ans Hildebrandt, 2 September 1924 (note 171): 183. H ans Hildebrandt to Le Corbusier, 6 November 1925 (note 171): " lemes en
bloc des titres ."
Wasmuth .. . avait repondu que ce livre n'apportait rien de neuf en Allemagne ou ces
184. Le Corbusier to H ans Hildebrandt, 24 July 1926 (note 171): " le dollar leur
idees sont deja connues depuis longtemps et ou elles om ere largement experimen- permet des conditions qui me consolent d e celles faites par Deutsch Verlag [sic]."
tees. Or telle n'est pas mon idee: depuis quarante ans l'Allemagne a reconstruit des 185. G. Cres to Le Corbusier, 8 February 1924, B1 (17)96, FLC.
villes; on a, a cette occasion, fait des theories et "recherche le moderne." M ais a
186. Amedee Ozenfant, Foundations of Modern Art, trans. John Rodker (London:
mon avis on n'est pas alle au fond des choses de !'architecture et !'on a travaille en
John Rodker, 1931); original ed., Art (Paris: Paul Budry, 1928). Rodker's name appears
surface: o n a fait des style modernes (Olbrich, Behrens, Fischer, Paul, etc.). Et l'on
on the list of subscribers to L'Esprit nouveau, A2(9)532, FLC, and he published " La lit-
continue aujourd'h ui, sur des for mules plus pres de la construction, mais la encore, teracure anglaise d'aujourd'hui," L'Esprit nouveau 2, no. 4 (1921): 476-77. On R odker
on est sentimental et !'on fair des demonstrations de style moderne, on fa it des (1894- 1955), see James Dun nett, "Words of Wisdom," Building D esign, no. 838
objets de parade moderne. En France evidemment mon livre au contraire devait
(1987): 18-19.
frapper plus violemment-et durement peut-etre -les professionels de ]'architec-
187. On Etchells (1886-1973), see the obituary by John Betjeman, The Architec-
ture; mais par ailleurs il touchait route une couche d e gens exerces a !'esprit mo- tural Review, no. 154 (1973): 271, 273; and Dinah Adams, "Frederick Etchells, Artist
derne par la pratique et le sens q u'ils avaient de la construction. Mais persuasion est and Architect" (diploma thesis, The Architectural Association, Lond on, 1977).
que ]'architecture moderne na:itra en France. Je ne voudrais pas avoir !'air exclusif, 188. "Crawford 's, nos. 2 32-34, High Holborn, London," Th e Architectural
mais la carriere d'u n Behrens est typique, celle de Poelzig est demonstrative, etc.
Review, no. 69 (1931): 51.
Cres later attempted to convince Wasmuth to publish a translation o f Urbanisme: 189. G. W. 0. Addleshaw and Frederick Etchells, The A rchitectural Setting of
Le Corbusier to Gertrud Grohman, 18 November 1925, B3(6)102, FLC. A nglican Worship (London: Faber & Faber, 1948 ).
72 73
Introduct ion
Cohen
190. Frederick Etchells, "Le Corbusier: A Pioneer of Modern European Architec- de !'effort"; "a substituer partout !'abstraction geometrique anthropocentriste a l'em-
ture," Studio, no. 96 (1928): 156-63. Even before the term was used by H itchcock, it pirisme climatique et ethnique."
figured in an article published the very same year: "Modern Architecture. II. The New 2 08. Elie Faure to Frantz Jourdain, n.d. , Elie Faure, Oeuvres completes, 3 vols.
Pioneers," The Architectural Record 63, no . 5 (1928), 452-60. (Paris: Pauvert, 1964), 3:1114-15: "bien plut6t comme un metaphysicien que comme un
191. Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture, trans. and intro Frederick Etchells architecte, un praticien"; "[ii] combat la marotte Lecorbusieresque (si je puis dire) du
(London: John Rodker, 1927), xvi, 16 n.l. trace regulateur" and "!'industrialisation excessive de !'architecture."
192. Mardges Bacon, Le Corbusier in America: Travels in the Land of the Timids 209. Marie Dormoy, L'architecture franr;aise (Boulogne: Editions de "!'Architec-
(Cambridge: MIT Press, 2001), 331. ture d'aujourd'hui," 1938), unpaginated: "violent requisitoire comre le pastiche, la
193. Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style: Archi- copie, l'inintelligence dans l'emploi des moyens techniques maintenant a notre disposi-
tecture since 1922 (New York: W. W. Norton, 1932), 40-49. tion"; "purifie l'air"; "dissimulation de la construction"; "place p reponderance."
194. Le Corbusier, Vers une architecture (1924 ), 196; Le Corbusier, Towards a 210. Adolf Behne, "Architekren," Fruhlicht 2 (1921-22): 57; Adolf Beirne, "Junge
New Architecture (note 191), 263. franzosische Architektur," Sozialistische Monatshefte 58, nos. 12-13 (1922): 512-17.
195. The fiftieth anniversary of its publication was commemorated by Phil 211. Paul Westheim, "Architektur in Frankreich, Le Corbusier-Saugnier," \Vas-
Windsor, "How Wrong Was Corbusier?" The Architect 7 (1977): 36- 37. muths Monatshefte fur Baukunst 7, nos. 3-4 (1923): 69-82: "einen entschlossenen
196. Le Corbusier to A. Yvonneau, 5 January 1923, R3(9)49, FLC. Yvonneau asks Kampf"; "schlagende Abbildungsbeispielen"; "Glorifizierung des technischen Denkens
him to design buildings in Blois. und des Ingenieurschaffens; "ri.ickhaltlosen Begeisterung"; "Ingenieursachlichkeit";
197. Henri Fruges to Le Corbusier, 3 November 1923, H1 (17) 1, FLC. "ist plastische Gestaltung, ist geistige Spekulation, ist hohere Mathematik."
198. Le Corbusier to Marcel Poete, 10 N ovember 1923, A2(15)19, FLC; and Le 212. Walter Gropius to Le Corbusier, 13 November 1923, R3(4 )381, FLC.
Corbusier to Eduard Benes, 21 October 1923, R (09) 151, FLC. 213. Walter Gropius to Le Corbusier, 17 March 1924, £2(11 )15, FLC: "Sie haben
199. Jacques-Emile Blanche to Le Corbusier, postcard, 1 August 1925, E1 (8)24, im Wesenrlichen gegen meine Bauhaus-Intentionen Stellung genommen. Ich habe noch
keinen Veroffentlichung gelesen, die im Grundkern dem so nahe kommt, was ich selbst
FLC.
200. Joseph Abram (untitled paper presented at the IFA, 24 November 2001). gedacht und geschrieben habe, als Ihr Buch."; Le Corbusier, "Curio site? Non: ano-
201. Guillaume Baderre, "M. Auguste Perret nous parle de l'architecture au Salon malie!" L'Esprit nouveau 2, no. 9 (1921): 1016-17; and Le Corbusier, "Pedagogie,"
d'automne," Paris-Journal, 7 December 1923 . This occasioned Le Corbusier's break L'Esprit nouveau 4, no. 19 (1923 ).
with his elder colleague; see Le Corbusier to Auguste Perret, 13 December 1923, 214. G. Rietveld, "Nieuwe Zakelijkheid in de Nederlandsche architectuur," De
E1 (11 )239, FLC; repr. in Le Corbusier, Lettres a ses maitres, vol. 1 (note 14), 212-15. Vrije Bladen 9, no. 7 (1932): 1- 27; repr. in Marijke Kiiper and Ida van Zijl, eds., Gerrit
On the conflict between the positions expressed in Vers une architecture and by Perret, Th[omas] Rietveld: The Complete Works (Utrecht: Centraal Museum, 1992), 33-39.
see Peter Collins, Concrete: The Vision of a New Architecture; A Study of Auguste On the Dutch reception of Le Corbusier, see Robert Mens, "Le Corbusier en de
Perret and His Precursors (London: Faber & Faber, 1959), 186, 213, 219. Nederlandse architectuur (1920- 1940)," in Paul Blom, ed., La France aux Pays-Bas:
202. Pol Abraham, '"Vers une architecture' par Le Corbusier-Saugnier," L'Archi- lnvloeden in het verleden (Vianen: Kwadraat, 1985), 241-77; Robert Mens, "Docu-
tecte 1, no. 2 (1924): 9-12. menten rondom Le Corbusier, 1920- 1965," in Robert Mens, Bart Loorsma, and Jos
203. Michel Roux-Spitz declared to Le Corbusier that he was a "reader of your Bosman, Le Corbusier en Nederland (Utrecht: Kwadraat, 1985), 9- 84.
book on architecture"; see Michel Roux-Spitz to Le Corbusier, 2 April 1924, 215. W. van Gelderen, "Le Corbusier: schilder, schrijver, architect en stedebouwer,"
Al(l0)289, FLC: " lecteur de votre ouvrage sur !'architecture." Bouw (1947): 32.
204. Andre Lur~at, Architecture (Paris: Au Sans Pareil, 1929), 164, 170: " la plus 216. Alfred Boeken, "Over d en architect Le Corbusier," Bouwkundig \Veekblad
subtile et la plus difficile, science de l'architecte." See Jean-Louis Cohen, Andre Lur(at Architectura 5, no. 15 (1930): 122; and Alfred Boeken, Architectuur (Amsterdam: Van
(1894- 1970), autocritique d'un moderne (Paris: lnstitut frani,:ais d'architecture, 1995), Holkema & Warendorf N .V., 1936). See also his cor respondence: Alfred Boeken to Le
94-103. Corbusier, postcard, 13 March 1924, £1(08)73, FLC; and Le Corbusier to Alfred
205. Miloutine Borissavlievitch, Les theories de /'architecture (Paris: Payot, 1926), Boeken, 18 March 1924, FLC, £1(08)74.
11: "Livre curieux, mais qui n'est pas une 'Esthetique."' 217. Nina Yavorskaia, "Cor busier-Saugnier, K voprosam architektury," Pechat i
206. Elie Faure, Histoire de /'art, vol. 4, L'art moderne, in idem, Oeuvres com- Revolyutsiia, no . 55 (1924): 296- 97. See Jean-Louis Cohen, Le Corbusier and the
pletes, 3 vols. (Paris: Pauvert, 1964), 2:15; original ed. (Paris: G. Cres, 1923), xvii: "la Mystique of the USSR (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1992), 22- 24.
machine, qui est architecture .. . est universelle"; " l'usine et la machine vont donner a la 218. Moisei Ginzburg, Stil' i epokha, prohblemy sovremennoi arkhitektury (Mos-
face de la planete la forme u nique de !'esprit." cow: Gosudarstvennoi Izdatelstvo, 1924); translated as Style and Epoch, ed. and trans.
207. Faure, L'esprit des formes (note 125), 98: "admirer la necessite bienfaisante Anatole Senkevitch Jr. (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1982).
74 75
Cohen Introduc ti on
219. See the copy of Moisei Ginzburg, Stil' i epokha, inscribed with a dedication to 238. Carlo Enrico Rava to Le Corbusier, 20 January 1927, £2 (20)156, FLC.
"Monsieur Le Corbusier-Saugnier": V 191, FLC. 239. Gruppo "7," "Architettura," La Rassegna italiana, no. 103 (1926): 849.
220. Theo van Doesburg and Corvan Eesteren, "Vers une construction collective," 240. Carla Sonego, "Carlo Scarpa, gli anni di formazione" (diploma thesis, Istituto
De Stijl 6, nos. 6-7 (1924): 89-92; Theo van Doesburg, "Tot een beeldende Archi- universitario di architettura di Venezia, 1995), 99.
tecruur, De Stijl 6, nos. 6-7 (1924): 78-83. 241. J. M. Richards, Memoirs of an Unjust Fella (London: Weidenfeld & Nichol-
221. On the relations between Le Corbusier and van Doesburg, see Yve-Alain Bois son, 1980), 43.
and Nancy Troy, "De Stijl et !'architecture a Paris," in Bruno Reichlin and Yve-Alain 242. Maxwell Fry, quoted in "Le Corbusier-His Impact on Four Generations,"
Bois, eds., De Stijl et !'architecture en France (Liege: Mardaga, 1985), 25-90. RIBA Journal 72, no. 10 (1965): 497.
222. J.J. P. Oud, '"Vers une architecture' van Le Corbusier-Saugnier," Bouwkundig 243. John Summerson, "This Age in Architecture," The Bookman 83, no. 493
Weekblad 45, no. 9 (1924): 90-94. (1932): 13- 14; John Summerson, "Modernity in Architecture: An Appeal for the New
223. Theo van Doesburg, "Alphabetische informatie," De Stijl 6, no. 8 (1924): Style," The Scotsman, 21 February 1930.
107-10. 244. Tange Kenz6, "Michelangelo sh6-Le Corbusier ron he no josetu toschite"
224. Frank Lloyd Wrighr, "In the Cause of Architecture: Purely Personal" (1928), [Homage to Michelangelo: Introduction to the Study of Le Corbusier], Gendai Ken-
in Bruce Brooks rfeiffer, ed., The Collected Writings of Frank Lloyd Wright, 5 vols. chiku (December 1939); unpublished translation by Benoit Jacquet.
(New York: Rizzoli in association with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, 1992), 245. Henry-Russell Hitchcock, "The Architect's Library: Towards a New Archi-
1:255-58. tecture," The Architectural Record 63, no. 1 (1928): 90- 91. Rhys Carpenter was a pro-
225. Frank Lloyd Wright, "Towards a New Architecture," World Unity 2, no. 6 fessor at Bryn Mawr College and an archaeologist who had published at that time; see
(1928 ): 393-95; published in Pfeiffer, ed., Collected Writings (note 224), 1:317-18. Rhys Carpenter, The Esthetic Basis of the Greek Art of the Fifth and Fourth Centuries
226. Frank Lloyd Wright, "Modern Architecture, Being the Kahn Lectures; 4: The B.C. (New York: Longmans, Greens, 1921).
Cardboard House," in Bruce Brooks rfeiffer, ed., T he Collected Writings of Frank 246. Max Abramovitz, interview with Mardges Bacon, 1987; quoted in Bacon, Le
Lloyd Wright, 5 vols. (New York: Rizzoli in association with the Frank Lloyd Wright Corbusier in America (note 192), 92.
Foundarion, 1992), 2:51-59. 247. " La position de Le Corbusier et Jeanneret dans !'evolution de !'architecture
227. Lewis Mumford, The Human Prospect (Boston: Beacon, 1955), 213. d'aujourd'hui, opinion de J. LI. Sert," L'architecture d'aujourd'hui 4, no. 10 (1933 ): 11:
228. Richard Buckminster Fuller, "Universal Archirecture," Shelter 2, no. 1 (1932): "devore"; "une revelation pour les jeunes qui travaillaient alors dans !es ecoles des
22-23; Richard Buckminster Fuller, Utopia or Oblivion, the Prospects for Huma nity Beaux-arts . . .. Tour d'un coup, quelqu'un qui parlair clairemenc, une ligne generale
(Toronto: Bantam, 1969), 408. bien precise se moncrair. Pen de phrases er quelques exemples phorographiques"; Jordi
229. Steen Eiler Rasmussen, "Le Corbusier, die kommende Baukunst? " Wasmuths Oliveras y Samitier, "Le Corbusier a Barcelona; Jes viatges de Le Corbusier a Barcelona
Monatshefte fiir Baukunst 10, no . 9 (1926): 381, 386. i els viatges per Espanya," in Fernando Marni, ed., Le Corbusier y Barcelona (Barce-
230. Alexei Shchusev, untitled article, Stroitelnnaia Promyshlennost 2, no. 12 lona: Fundaci6 Caixa de Catalunya, 1988), 19; J ohn Peter, The Oral History of
(1924): 760-62. Modern Architecture: Interviews with the Greatest Architects of the Twentieth Century
231. Alexander de Senger, Le Cheval de Troie du bolchvisme (Bienne: Editions du (New York: Abrams, 1994), 249.
Chandelier, 1931). 248. Josep Torres Clave, " La arquirecrura moderna" (lecture, Sala N iu d'Art,
232. Mario Manieri Elia, "La 'scuola romana' l'altro ieri e oggi," in Principi e Barcelona, 22 December 1929), published in Ra mon Torres C lave, Torres Clave
metodi della storia de/l'architettura e l'eredita de/la 'scuo/a romana' (Rome: Centro (Barcelona: UPC/Santa & Colle, 1994), 249.
Stampa Ateneo, 1995), 57. 249. Ugo Segawa, Arquiteturas no Brasil 1900-1990 (Sao Paulo: EDUSP, 1999),
233 . Marcello Piacemini, "Esthetiq ue de l'ingenieur. M aisons en serie. Articolo di 51- 52, 77- 78.
Le Corbusier-Saugnier in uno degli ulrimi numeri de L'Esprit nouveau," Architettitra e 250. See Anthony Vidler, "H istories of the Immediate Present: Inventing Archi-
arti decorative 2, no. 6 (1922-23): 220, 222-23. tectural Modernism, 1930-1975" (Ph.D. diss., Technische Universiteit, Delft, 2005), 47.
234. Paul-Philippe Cree, "The Architect as Collaborator with the Engineer," Archi- 25 1. Emil Kauffmann, Von L edoux bis Le Corbusier. Ursprung und Entwicklung
tectural Forum 49, no. 1 (1928): 101. der autonomen Architektur (Vienna: Rolf Passer, 1933), 63 .
235. A. S. G. Butler, "M. Le Corbusier's Book," RIBA Jo urnal 35, ser. 3, no. 8 252. Anthony Blunt, "Mannerism in Architecture," Journal of the RIBA 56, ser. 3,
(1928): 269. no. 5 (1949): 199; Vidler, "Histories of the Immediate Present" (note 250), 91.
236. Edwin Lutyens, "The Robotism of Architecture," The Observer, 29 January 253 . Colin Rowe, As I Was Saying: Recollections and i\tiiscellaneous Essays, vol. 1
1928. (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996), 137; Vidler, "Histories of the Immediate Present" (note
237. Julius Posener, Fast so alt wie das Jahrhundert (Berlin: Siedler, 1990), 196. 250 ), 89.
76 77
Cohen
254. Graham Whitham, "Chronology," in David Robbins, ed., The Independent

Group: Postwar Britain and the Aesthetics of Plenty (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990),
27.
255. Reyner Banham, Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies (London:
Penguin, 1971). Vidler, " Hisrories of the Immediate Present" (note 250 ), 151-57.
256. Le Corbusier co Helene Strassova , note, 5 February 1955, G2(18)132, FLC.
25 7. See de Smet, "Le livre comme synthese des arts" (note 114), 318-24.
258. Since 1990, translations have been published in Portuguese, H ungarian,
Finnish, Greek, Turkish, Norwegian, Czech, Korean, Hebrew, and Dutch.
78
COLLECTION DE '' l'ESPRIT NOUVEAU"
LE CORBUSIER
VERS UNE ARCHITECTURE

NOUVELLE EDITION REVUE El AUSMENTEE
LES EDITIONS G. CRES ET C'"

11, RUE DE SEVRES (YI•· J
PARIS
2' EOIHON
INTRODUCTION TO 'I1HE SECOND EDITION
When, less than a year ago , the first edition of this ·work
appeared, interest in architectural things was stirring everywhere.
Most of these chapters, published previously as articles in L'Esprit
nouveau, made for a sudden stocktaking: people talked, liked to
talk, wanted to be able to talk Architecture. The consequence of a
profound social movement. A general passion for architecture had
likewise arisen in the eighteenth century: bourgeois designed archi-
tecture, senior civil servants too, Blondel, Claude Perrault, the
Porte Saint-Denis, the Louvre colonnade. And the country was
completely covered with works attesting to this spirit.
The way the present book made an impact not only on profes-
sionals but also on the public confirms the advent of an architec-
tural cycle. A public indifferent to studio questions concerns itself
only with the idea of a new architecture that affords it a comfort
already glimp sed in different t erms (automotive tourism, ocean
cruises, etc.), but above all the satisfaction of a new feeling·. ·what
is this new feeling and where does it come from? It is the bursting
forth, after an extended germination, of the ar chitectural meaning
of the era. A new era - fallow spiritual t erritory - with a need to
build its house. A house that will be this human boundary that encloses
us and separates us from antagonistic natural phenomena, giving us, we
men, our human milieu. The need to fulfill an instinctive aspiration,
to r ealize a natural function. To do architecture! This is not just a
matter of the technical work of professionals . It is characteristic
changes of direction, impulsive movements of the shared idea, that
demonstrate in what mode it means to or ganize its acts .
Thus does ar chitecture become a mirror of the times.
The architecture of today concerns itself ·with t he house, with
the ordinary and common house for normal and common m~n. It
lets palaces alone. Here is a sign of the times.
To study the hou se for the common man, for "all and sundry,"
84 LE CO RB USIER
is to recover human foundations : the human scale, t he typical need,

the typical function, the typical emotion. Ther e you have it! 'I'hat 's
crucial, that's everything. A period of dignity comes into view, one
in which man has left pomp behind!
This book is written in bold strokes. How to talk about archi-

ARG U 1\!IEN11
t ecture ·with elegant detachment, about architecture as r esulting
from the spirit of an era, at a time when this spirit is still obscur ed
by the unbearable rags of a dying era?
,Vhy this ·way, of course: to pass beyond the leaden sheath that
crushes, by hurling darts that pier ce it, so many pickax blows that
make holes in the heavy sheath. By making holes. So, a hole here, a
hole there. Here are views! We have views beyond the stifling leaden
sheath. By offering views, by breaking through. A useful, efficient AESTHETI C OF THE E N GINEER
A R CHITECTURE
strategy. I h ave rallied to this tactic, all but inescapable anyway.
This book being printed a second time, it was still necessar y f~esthetic of the Enginee1; Architecture.- two things f irmly allied. sequential, the
to complete it, it was necessary to expand the t errain around the one m full flower, the other in painful regression.
breakthroughs already achieved. 'I'o do so in this new edition would
_The engine~,; inspired by the law of Economy and guided by calculations, puts
h ave amounted to making another book. So I have left t his one us m accord with unwersal laws. He attains harmony.
intact and I have made two other books that are like right and left
The architect. through the ordonnance of fo rms, realizes an order that is a
,vings. Simultaneously with the new edition of Vers une architecture,
pure cre~tion of. his mind; through f orms, he affects our senses intensely, provok-
t he same press will publish Urbanisme and L'art decoratif d'aujour- mg plastzc emotl?ns; through the relationships that he creates, he stirs in us deep
d 'hui, two cycles of ideas that , in the course of the past year, I cov- resonances, he gwes us the measure of an order that we sense to be in accord with
ered in L'Esprit nouveau, this r eview of contemporary act ivity that that of ~h~ world, he determines the diverse movem ents of our minds and our
puts the many faces of the modern event side by side and makes out hearts; zt zs then that we experience beauty.
of them a figure that is clear, concordant, convincing, a figure
whose firm male face calls fort h ou r sympathy, calls forth our sup- THR EE REMIN DERS TO A RCHITECTS
port and the efficient work of our hands and our minds.
Thus Vers une architecture, issued just last year, continues its VOL TI M E
journey this year flanked by two far-flung supports - on one side,

the urban ar chitectural phenomenon, whereby architecture sit u- Our eyes are made for seeing forms in light.
ates itself; on the other side, what has come to be called by the sad Primary forms are beautiful forms because they are clearly legible.
phrase "decorative art" - whereby we ought to find, at hand and
The architects of today no longer mak e simple f orms.
accompanying all our actions, the constant presence of an architec-
tural spirit keeping us as much under t he spell of t he senses as in a Relying on calculations, engineers use geometric f orms, satisfying· our ey es
through geometry and our minds through mathematics; their works are on the
stat e of virile dignity. way to great art.
November 1924
86 'l'OWARD AN ARCI-II'l ' ECTU RE ARGU )IE'.\TT 87
SU RF.AC E The "s tyles" are a lie. Style is a unity of princip le tha t animates all the works
of an era and results from a distinctive s tate of mind.
A volume is enveloped by a swface, a surface that is divided according to the Our era fixes its s tyle every day.
generators and the directing vectors of the volume, accentuating the individuality
of this volume. Our eyes. unfortunately, are not yet able to discern it.
Architects today are afraid of the geometric constituents of surfaces.
.AI R PL.AN E S
The great problems of modern construction will be solved through geometry.
Under strict obligation to an imperative program, engineers use the directing The airplane is a product of high selection.
vectors and accentuators of forms. They create limpid and impressive plastic facts. The lesson of the airplane is in the logic that governed the s tatement of the
problem and its realization.
P L .\N
The problem of the house has not been posed.
The plan is the generator.
Current architectural things do not answer to our needs.
Without a plan. there is disorder, arbitrariness.
Yet there are standards for the dwelling.
The plan carries within it the essence of the sensation.
The mechanical carries within it the economic factor that selects.
The great problems of tomorrow, dictated by collective needs, pose the ques-
The house is a machine for living in.
tion of the plan anew.
Modern life demands, awaits a new plan for the house and for the city.
AUT O:\-IOBILES
REGULATING LINES We must see to the establishment of standards so we can face up to the p rob-
lem of perfection.
Of the fateful birth of architecture.
The Parthenon is a product of selection app lied to a standard.
The obligation to order. The regulating line is a guarantee against arbitrari-
ness. It brings satisfaction to the mind. Architecture works on standards.
The regulating line is a means: it is not a formula . Its choices and its expres- S tandards are a matter of logic, of analysis, of scrupulous study: they are
sive modalities are integral parts of architectural creation. based on a problem well posed. Experimen tation fixes the standard definitively.
EYES THAT DO NOT SEE A RCHITECTUR E
LI NE R S THE L ES S OC\' OF R OME
A great era has just begun. Architecture is the use of raw materials to establish stirring relationships.
There exists a new spirit. Architecture go es beyond utilitarian things.
There exists a host of works in this new spirit, they are encountered above all Architecture is a plastic th ing.
in industrial production .
Spirit of order, unity of intention.
Architecture suffocates in routine.
The sense of relationships; architecture organizes quantities.
Passion can make drama out of inert stone.
88 TOWARD .AK A R C IIITECTTj R£ ARGU)fEKT 89
'l'HB JT,TXSJO:S: OF '!'TIE P LA:-S A state of mind for living in mass-production housing,
A state of mind for conceiving mass-production housing.
The plan proceeds from the inside out; the exterior is the result of an interio,:
If we wrest from our hearts and minds static conceptions of the house and
The elements of architecture are light and shadow, walls and space.
envision the question from a critical and objective point of view. we will come to
Ordonnance is the hierarchy of goals, the classification of intentions. the house-tool, the mass-production house that is healthy (morally, too) and beau-
tiful from the aesthetic of the work tools that go with our existence.
Man sees architectural things with eyes that ar e 1 meter 70 f rom the ground.
We can reckon only with goals accessible to the eye. with intentions that take the Beautiful too from all the life that the artistic sense can bring to strict and
elements of architecture into account. If we reckon with intentions that do not pure organs.
belong to the language of architecture, we end up with an illusory plan; we break
the rules of the plan through faulty conception or a penchant for vain things. ARCHITECTURE OR REVOLUTION
PllHE CRENL'IO:S: OP Tim M l :S:D In every domain of industry, new problems have been posed and tools capa-
ble of solving them have been created. If we set this fact against the past, there is
Contour modulation is the touchstone of the architect. revolution.
The latter reveals himself as artist or mere engineer In building, the facto ry production of standardized parts has begun; on the
basis of new economic necessities, part elements and ensemble elements have been
Contour modulation is free of all constraint. created; conclusive realizations have been achieved in parts and in ensembles. If
w~ set ourselves ~gainst the past, there is revolution in the methods and the mag-
It is no longer a question of routine, nor of traditions. nor of construction nitude of enterprzses.
methods, nor of adaptation to utilitarian needs.
Whereas the history of architecture evolves slowly over the centuries in terms
Contour modulation is a pure creation of the mind; it calls for the plastic
of structure and decor, in the last fifty years iron and cement have brought gains
artist.
that are the index of a great power to build and the index of an architecture whose
code is in upheaval. If we set ourselves against the past, we determine that the
MASS-PRODUCTIO N HOUSIN G "styles" no longer exist for us. that the style of an era has been elaborated; there
has been a revolution.
A great era has just begun.
There exists a new spirit.
Industry. invading like a river that rolls to its destiny, brings us new tools Consciously or unconsciously, minds have become aware of these events; con-
adapted to this new era animated by a new spirit. sciously or unconsciously. needs are born.
The law of Economy necessarily governs our actions and our conceptions. The social mechanism, deeply disturbed, oscillates between improvements of
historical importance and catastrophe.
The problem of the house is a problem of the era. Social equilibrium depends
on it today. The first obligation of architecture, in an era of renewal, is to bring It is the primal instinct of every living thing to secure a shelter. The various
about a revision of values, a revision of the constitutive elements of the house. working classes of society no longer have suitable shelter, neither laborers nor
intellectuals.
1Vlass production is based on analysis and experimentation.
It is a question of building that is key to the equilibrium upset today: archi-
Heavy industry should turn its attention to building and standardize the ele- tecture or revolution.
ments of the house.
We must create a mass-production state of mind,
A state of mind for building mass-production housing,
f.
i
Garabit Bridge (E iffe l, engineer)
AfSTHfTIC Of THf fNBINf fR

ARCHITf CTURf
A E S THET I C O P TI-IE E NGI KE I~R , A R C I-IITBCTURE 93
Aesthetic of the Enginee1; Architecture: two things firmly allied,

sequential, the one in full flower, the other in painful regression.
The enginee1; inspired by the law of Economy and guided by calcu-
lations, puts us in accord with universal laws. He attains harmony.
The architect, through the ordonnance of forms, realizes an order
that is a pure creation of his mind: through forms, he affects our senses
intensely, provoking plastic emotions; through the relationships that he
creates, he stirs in us deep resonances, he gives us the measure of an
order that we sense to be in accord with that of the world, he deter-
mines the diverse movements of our minds and our hearts; it is then
that we experience beauty.
Aesthetic of t he Engineer, Architectu re: two things firmly allied,

sequential, the one in full flower, the other in painful regr ession.
A question of mor ality. Lying is intoler able. We per ish by lying.

Architecture is one of the most u rg ent needs of m an, since
t he house has always been the indispensable and first tool that he
forged for himself. The t ools of man mar k t he stages of civilization,
the Stone Age, the Bron ze Age, t he Iron Age. Tools advance by suc-
cessive improvement s; t hey are the sum of the work of generations.
Tools are direct and immediate eA--pressions of p rogress; tools ar e
necessar y helpmates; t hey ar e liberator s, too. "\¥e thro,v old tools
ont o t he scrap heap: t he blunder buss, the culver in , the carriage,
and t he old locomotive . This gestu re is a manifesta tion of health, of
94 TOW.A.RD AK ARCHITE CTURE AESTHE TIC OF THE EK GIKEER, ARCHITEC TURE 95
moral health, also of morality; we do not have the right to produce ~ Nevertheless t here is ARCHITECTURE . An admirable t hing, the
badly because of bad tools; we do not have the right to use up our most beautiful. T he pr oduct of happy peoples and what happy peo-
str ength , our health and our courage because of bad tools; we throw ples p roduce .
out, we r eplace . Happy cities have architecture .
Architecture is in t he t elephone and in the P arthenon. How
comfortable it might be in our houses! Our houses make street s and
But men live in old houses and have not yet dreamed of build- streets make cities and cit ies , they'r e individuals who t ake on a
ing their own houses. The home is dear to their hearts, always has soul, who feel, suffer, and admir e. H ow well architecture might be
been. So much so that they established a sacr ed cult of the home . A in the street s and in the whole city!
roof! other household gods. Religions are built on dogmas, dogmas
do not change; civilizations change; r eligions crumble to dust. H ouses
have not changed. The religion of houses has remained identical for The diagnosis is clear.
centuries. The house will crumble. Engineers make architecture, since they use calculations that
issue from the laws of nature, and their works make us feel I-IAR-
MO:-.rY. So t here is an aesthetic of the engineer, because when doing
A man who practices a r eligion and does not believe in it is a calculations, it is necessary to qualify' cer tain ter ms of the equation ,
co,vard; he is unhappy. vVe are unhappy living in unworthy houses and what intervenes is taste. Now when one does calculations, one
because they ruin our health and our morale. vVe have become sed- is in a pure state of mind a nd, in that state of mind, taste follows
entary beings, that is our lot. The house eats away at u s in our r eliable paths.
immobility, like consumption. vVe will soon need t oo many sanato- Architects issuing from t he Schools, those hothou ses wher e
ria. vVe are unhappy. Our houses disgust us; we flee from them and they fabricate blue hydra ngeas and green chrysanthemums, where
frequent cafes and dance halls; or we gather glum and skulking in t hey cultivate unclean orchids, enter t he city with t he minds of
houses like sad animals. vVe become demoralized. milkmen who would sell their milk mixed with vitriol , with poison .
P eople still believe, her e and ther e, in architects, just as people
blindly believe in doctors. Houses have to stand up ! .A rt , according
Engineer s construct the tools of their time. Ever ything, except to Larousse, is t he application of knowledge to the r ealization of a
the houses and rotten boudoirs. conception. But today it is engineers who know how, who know how
to make things stand up, how to heat, how to ventilate, how t o illu-
minate. I sn't t hat so1
There is a great national school for architects and ther e are, in The diagnosis: to begin a t the beginning, t he engineer who
all countries, national, regional, municipal schools for architects proceeds from k1mwledge shows the way and grasps t he truth.
that muddle young minds and teach them the falsehood, fakery, Architecture, which is a t hing of plastic emotion , should, in its
obsequiousness of cou rtiers. National schools! domain , AL SO B E GI N AT THE B E GINNING, and US E ELEMENTS
Engineers are healthy and virile, active and useful , moral and CAPABLE OF STRIKING OU R SENSES, OF SAT ISFYI NG OUR VISUAL
j oyful. Architect s are disenchanted and idle, boastful or mor ose. DE S IRES ,and arrange them in such a way THAT THE SIGHT OF
That is because they will soon have nothing to do. We have no more THE M CL EARLY AFFECTS us t h rough finesse or bru tality, tu mult or
money to pile up historical keepsakes. Vve need to cleanse ourselves. serenity, indiffer ence or inter est. These elements are plastic ele-
Engineers are equipped for this and they will build. men ts, forms that our eyes see clearly, that our minds measure.
These forms, which are primary or subtle, supple or brutal, act on
96 T (}WAR D A l\ ARCI-II'rEC'l'URE AE S'l'I-IE 'l'TC OF T HE El\" GI !\"EER, ~,RCHI 'l'ECTURE 97
our senses physiologically (sphere, cone, cylinder, horizontal, vert i- ''All your energies ar e directed towar d the magnificent goal of forg-
cal, oblique, etc. ) and shake t hem up. B eing affected, vve are able to ing the t ools of an era a nd creat ing t hroughout the world t hat host
perceive beyond raw sensation; then certain r elations will come into of very beautiful things wher ein reigns the law of E conomy, mathe-
being that act on our consciousness and put u s in a state of bliss matical calculation combined wit h boldness and imagination. L ook
(consonance with the laws of t he universe that govern us and to at wha t you have done; it is, strictly speaking, beautiful."
which all of our acts are subj ect), in which man makes full use of 'rhese same industrialist s, bankers, and merchants, we have
his gifts of memory, of examination, of reasoning, of creation. seen t hem away fr om t heir businesses, in t heir homes, where every-
Architecture today no longer remembers what got it started. t hing seemed t o t hwart t heir being - walls too close together, clut-
Architects make styles or talk structur e to excessive length; t he ters of u seless and disparat e objects, and a r epulsive spirit that
client and t he public respond according to visual habit and r eason pr esided over so many falsehoods by way of Aubusson and the
on the basis of a n inad equate edu cation. Our exterior world has Salon d 'automne, in all manner of styles a nd ridiculou s trinkets.
been formidably transformed in its appearance and its u se owing to They seemed sheepish and diminished, like tigers in a cage; one
the machine. vVe have a new vision and a new social life, but we have sensed clea r ly that they wer e happier at the facto ry or their
not adapted the house accordingly. bank. I n t he name of the liner, the airplane, and the au tomobile, we
demanded logic, boldness, har mony, perfection.
Our meaning is clear. These ar e evident tru ths. It is no t r ifling
So there is reason to pose the problem of the house , t he street, matt er t o hasten the cleansing.
and the city and to compare the architect and the engineer. It will be agreeable finally to talk ARCHITECTURE after so many
For the architect, we wrote "T HREE RE MI NDERS": silos , fa ctor ies, machines, and skyscrapers. ARCH I'r ECTURE is
VOLUME, which is the element t hrough which our senses per- a n artisti c fact , an emot ional phenomenon that is ou tside questions
ceive and measure and are fully affect ed. of con struct ion , beyond t hem. Constr u ct ion: TI-IAT ' s F O R MAKING
SU RFACE , which is t he envelope of the volume and which can 'l'H I !\"GS H O L D 'l' OGE 'l'IIE R ; Architecture: 'l' I-IA'l' 'S FOR S'l'IRRI!\"G EM0 -
annihilate sensation or amplify it. '1'10 1\". Architectu ral emotion: that's when the work r esounds inside
PLA.1"\J, which is the generator of volume and surface a nd which u s in t u ne with a universe whose laws we ar e subject to, recognize,
irrevocably determines everything. and admire. ,i\TJ.1en cer tain r elationships are achieved, we are appre-
Then, still for t he architect, "REGULATI NG LINES," show- hended by the work. Ar chitecture is a matter of "r elat ionships," a
ing one of t he means whereby architecture achieves t hat sensory "pure creation of the mind ."
mathema tics that gives u s a beneficial p er ception of order. ,Ve
wan t ed to set out some facts her e that are wort h more than disser-
tat ions on the soul of stones. vVe remained within the physics of the 'lbday, painting has gotten ahead of the other arts.
work, within knowledge. It is t h e fir st t o become a ttun ed to t he er a (1) . Modern
We thought about the inhabitants of t he house and about the paint ing has left the wall, tapestr ies , and decorative urns to
crowds of the city. We know well that much of the current misfor- enclose itself wit hin a frame , nourished, filled with facts, far from
tune of architecture is due to the clien t, t o he who commissions, a figuration that distract s; it lends itself to meditation. Art no
chooses, correct s, and pays. For him, we wrote: "EYES THA'r DO
N OT SEE ."
(1) "\Ve have in mind the crucial advances brought abou t by cubism and
We know too many great industrialists, banker s, a nd mer - sub sequent CJqJeriment, not the la mentable decline that for two vears has
ch ants who say t o u s : "Sorry, I'm just a businessman , I live totally t aken hold of painters thr own into disarray by the slump and ind~ctrinated
outside the a rts, I'm a philistine. " ,Ve protest ed a nd said to t hem: by crit ics as ill informed as they are insensitive (1921).
98 LE CORBUSIER
longer tells stories, it prompts meditation; after labor, it is good to

meditate.
On the one hand, masses of people await decent dwelling places,
and this is among the most fiercely pressing questions of the clay.
On the oth er hand, the man of initiative, of action, of t hought,
the F OREMAN, demands that his meditat ion be sheltered in a space
that is serene and solid, a matter essential to the health of elites.
Painters and sculptors, champions of the ar t of today, you ,vho
have to endure so much mocker y and who suffer from so much
indifference, cleanse our houses, join together so that we might
rebuild the cities. Then your v,rorks will find their place within the
framework of t h e era a nd everywhere you will be accepted and
understood. Tell yourselves that ar chitectu re needs your attent ion .
Be mindful of architecture.
Grain silo.
THREE REMINDERS TO
ARCHITECTS
I
P ISA.
VOLUME
'l 'HREE REMI ND E RS, VOLUME 101
Our eyes are made for seeing forms in light.

Primary forms are beautiful forms because they are clearly legible.
The architects of today no longer make simple forms.
Relying on calculations, engineers use geometric forms, satisfying
our eyes through geometry and our minds through mathematics; their
works are on the way to great art.
Grain silo .
Architect ure has nothing to do wit h the "styles."

Louis Arv, XVI, XIV and Gothic ar e to architecture what feath-
er s are to a woman's hea d; they a r e pretty sometimes, but not
always, and nothing more .
.Aschitecture has graver ends; capable of sublimity, it touches
the most brutal instincts through its objectivity; it appeals to the
highest of t he facult ies, t hrough its very abstraction . .A.Tchitectural
abstr action has the distinctive and magnificen t quality that, while
being r ooted in brute fact, it spir itualizes this, because brute fact is
102 TOWARD AN ARCHI TECTU R E 'f I-IRE E RE MI XDERS, VO L UME 103
nothing other than the materialization, the symbol of a possible

idea. Brute fact is amenable to ideas only through an order that is
projected onto it. The emotions aroused by architecture emanate
from physical conditions that are ineluctable, irrefutable, forgotten
today.
Volume and surface are the elements through which architec-
ture manifests itself. Volume and su rface are determined by the
plan. It is the plan that is the generator. So much the worse for
t hose who lack imagination!
FIRST REMI N DER: VOLU ME
Architecture is the masterful, correct, and magnificent play of

volumes brought together in light. Our eyes were made for seeing
forms in light ; shadow and light reveal forms; cubes , cones,
spheres, cylinders, and pyramids are the great primary forms that
light r eveals well; the image is clear and tangible for us, wit hout
ambiguity. That is why these are beautiful forms, the most beautiful
forms. Everyone is in agreement about this: children, savages, and
metaphysicians. It is the very condition of the plastic arts.
E gyptian, Greek , and Roman architecture is an architecture
Grain silos and elevators in Canada .

THREE REMINDERS, VOLUME 105
104 TOWARD A:"J ARCHl TE C'l'URE
of prisms , cubes, and cylinders , of t rihedrons and spheres: t he

P yramids, t he Temple of Luxor, the P arthenon, the Colosseum,
Hadrian's Villa.
Gothic archit ecture is not, fundamentally, based on spheres,
cones, and cylinders. Only the naves express a simple form , bu t
with a complex, second-order geometry (intersecting rib vaults) .
That is ,vhy a cathedral is not very beautiful and why ·we seek in it
compensat ions of a subj ective order, ou tside the formal one . A
cathedral inter ests u s as an ingenious solution to a difficult prob-
lem, but one whose givens were badly for mulated because they do
not proceed from the great primary forms. The cathedral is not a
plastic work; it is a drama: the fight against gravity, sensation on the
order offeeling.
The P yramids , the Towers of Babylon, the Gates of Samar-
kand, the P a r thenon, the Colosseum, t he P antheon, the Pont du
Gard, H agia Sophia in Constantinople, the mosques of I stanbul ,
t he Tower of Pisa, the d omes of Brunelleschi and Michelangelo, the
P ont-Royal, the Invalides: these are ar chitectur e.
The train station on the quai d'Or say, t he Gra nd Palais: t hese
'
t... . are not ar chit ecture.
,..-........,.-4 The architects of t he present day, lost in the sterile "poches" of
Grain silos and elevators in the United States.

106 TOWARD AN ARCH I TECTURE
BRAl\IAN'l'E AND RAPHAEL
their plans, rinceaux, pilasters, and lead roofs, have not learned to
conceive primary volumes. They were never taught this at the Ecole
des Beaux-Arts.
Not pursuing an architectural idea, but simply guided by the results
of calculations (derived from the principles that govern our universe) and
the conception of A VI AB L E ORGAN, today 's ENGINE ERS make use of the
THRff RfMINOfRS TO
primary elements and, coordinating them according to rules, stir in us
architectural emotions, thus making the work of humanity resonate with
the universal order.
ARCHITf CTS
Here are American silos, magnificent FIRST FRUITS of the new age.
AMERICAN ENGI NEERS AKD THEIR CALCULATIONS CR USH AN EXPIR -
ING ARCHITE CTU RE .
II
SURFACE
THREE RE)IINDERS , SURI<' A CE 109
A volume is enveloped by a surface, a surface that is di vided

according to the generators and the directing vectors of the volume,
accentuating the individuality of this volume.
Architects today are afraid of the geometric constituents of surfaces.
The great problems of modern construction will be solved with
geometry.
Under strict obligation to an imperative program, engineers use
the directing vectors and accentuators of forms. They create limpid and
impressive plastic facts.
Architecture has nothing t o do with the "styles. "

Louis XV, XIV, XVI a nd Gothic ar e to architecture what feath-
ers are to a woman's head; they a r e pret ty sometimes, but not
always, and nothing more.
S E COND REi\il:-JD ER : S U RFACE
Architecture being t he masterful, correct, a nd magnificen t

play of volumes br ought toget her in light, it is the architect 's t ask
to bring t he surfaces that envelop these volu mes to life, ,vithou t
their becoming parasites that consume the volume and absorb it to
their profit: t he sad story of the presen t day.
To let a volume retain the splendor of its for m in ligh t but, on
the other hand, to appropriate its surface for tasks that are often
utilitarian: that is to find , in t he divisions imposed on the surface,
the accentuators, t he generators of t h e form. I n oth er words, an
a r chitecture is a house, temple, or factory. T he surface of the
temple or fact ory is, most of the time, a wall pier ced by holes t hat
llO T OWARD AN ARCHI'l'EC'l'URE THREE R EMINDERS, SURFACE l ll
are doors and windows ; t hese holes are often t he d estroyer s of

form; it is necessary to make them in to accentuators of for m. If
spheres , cones, and cylinders are t he essentials of architecture, the
generators and accentuators of these forms ar e based in pure geome-
try. But this geometry alar ms the architects of today. Architects
today don't dare make the P itti P al ace or the rue de R ivoli; t hey
make t he boulevard Raspail.
L et us sit uate t he presen t observations on the terrain of cur-
r ent need s: we need cities that a r e laid out in a useful way and
·whose volumes are beau tiful (urban plans). , Ve need st reets where
the cleanliness, t he suitability to housing needs, the ap plication of
the mass-production spirit t o construction, the grandeu r of int ention,
112 TOWARD .Al\ ARCHITECTURE THRE E RE M12'JDERS, SURF ACE 113
Such are factories, t he reassuring first fruits of t he new age.

The engineer s of today find themselves in accord with t he pr in-
ciples that B ramante and Raphael applied long ago.
NB - L et us heed the advice of .American engineers. But let

us fear .American architects. P roof:
the ser enity of the whole ravish the mind and make for the charm of
things felicitously born.
'l'o model the smooth surface of a simple primary form is auto-
matically t o make the competition from the volume itself spring t o
t he fore : contr adictory intent ions - boulevard Raspail.
To model t he surface of volumes that are complex and sym-
phonically related is to modulate and t o remain within the volume: a
r are problem - the Invalides by Mansart.
A problem of t he era and of contemporary aesthetics: everything
leads to the r einst a t ement of simple volumes : str eet s, factories,
department stores, all the problems that will be presented t omor-
row in syn t het ic forms , in gener al views su ch as no other era has
ever known. Surfaces, pier ced due to practical necessity, should fol-
low the accentuators and the gen er ators of these simple forms.
These accentuators are, in practice, the checkerboard or grid -
Am erican factories . But this geometry causes fear!
Not follo·wing an architectural idea but simply guided by the
need s of an imperative program, the engineers of today arrive at
the accentuators and generators of volumes: t hey show t he way and
cr eate fact s that ar e plastic, clear, and limpid, bringing calm to the
eyes and, to the mind, the joys of geometry.
H~
< 0~
THREE REMINDERS TO
ARCHITECTS
III
PLAN
THE ACROPOLI S IN AT H E NS. View of the Parthenon, the Erechtheum, and the Athena
Parthenos fro m the Propylaea . It mu st not be fo rgotten that the site of the Acropolis is
very uneven , with considerable differences of level that were used to constitute imposing
p linths for the buildings. The slightly canted angles produced rich and subtly effective
views; t he a symmetrical massing of the buildings creates an intense rhythm. The spectacle
is massive, elastic, charged, devastating in its acuity, dominating.
THREE R E MIND ERS, PLAK 117
Ar chitecture has nothing to do with the "st yles. "

It appeals t o t he most elevated of the faculties through its very
abstraction. Architectural abstraction has the distinctive and mag-
nificent quality t hat, while being rooted in brute fact , it spiritual-
izes it . Brut e fact is amenable t o ideas only thr ough t he order that
is proj ected onto it.
Volume and surface ar e the elements t hrough which architec-
ture manifest s itself. Volume and surface are determined by the
The plan is the generator. plan. It is the plan t hat is the gener ator. So mu ch the worse for
Without a plan, there is disorder, arbitrariness. those who lack imaginat ion!
The plan carries within it the essence of the sensation.
The great problems of tomorrow, dictated by collective needs, pose
'l'HIRD RE:\II N D ER : P L AN
the question of the plan anew.
Modern life demands, awaits a new plan for the house and fo r the The plan is the generator.
city. 'l'he eye of t he spectator moves t hrough a site made up of
street s a nd houses. It r eceives the impact of the volumes that rise
up around it. If these volumes are distinct and n ot debased b y
TYPE OF TI-IE HIKDU T EMPLE. The towers create a rhythm in space.
untimely modification s , if t he orclonnance t hat gr ou ps t hem ex-

presses a clear r hythm and not an incoherent agglomeration, if the
volumetric and spat ial relat ionships are r ightly propor t ioned, the
eye t r a n smits coordina t ed sensations t o t he br ain and the min d
derives from them satisfactions of a high order : it is archit ecture.
118 TOWARD A~ ARCHITE C T U RE THREE RE.MINDER S , PLAN 119
The eye observes , in the lar ge hall, the multiple surfaces of t he

walls and vaults: the domes determine the spaces; the vault s deploy
the surfaces; the piers and walls fit together with intelligible logic.
The entire structure rises from the base and develops according t o
a rule t hat is -written on the gr ound in the plan: beautiful forms,
variety of forms, unity of geometric principle. A profound transmis-
sion of harmony: it is architecture.
TE}IPL E OF THEBES. The plan is organized around the axis of approach: avenue of
sphinxes, pylons, peristyle court , sanctuary.
like the face of a Madonna; it is an au st ere abst raction; it is j ust an

algebrization t hat's dry to the eye. Al l t he same, the wor k of the
mathematicia n remains one of the highest activities of the h uma n
}IA.GIA SOFL<\_ IN CONSTAl'JTINOPLE . The plan is active throughout the st ructure: its mind.
geometric laws and their modnlar combinations u nfo ld through a ll its parts. Ordonnance is a per cep tible rhyth m t h at acts upon every
human being, in t he same way.
The plan carries -within it a determined primary rhythm: the
The plan is the basis . -without a plan, ther e is neither gr andeur build ing develop s in extent and heigh t accor ding to it s pr escrip-
of intent ion and expression nor rhythm, nor volume, nor coherence . tions, wit h consequences ext ending fr om the simplest to the most
Vlithout a plan ther e's that sensation, unbearable to man , of form- com plex on t he same law. Unity of law is the law of the good plan : a
lessness, of something mean, disordered, arbitrary. simple law that is infinitely modulable.
A plan d emands the most active imagination. It also demands Rhyth m is a state of equilibrium ar ising fr om simple or com-
the most sever e discipline. The plan determines everything; it is plex symmetries or from skillful compensations . Rhyth m is an
the decisive moment. A plan is not something that' s nice t o draw equation: equalizat ion (symmetry, repetition ; Egyptian and Hindu
120 TOWARD AN ARC I-Il'l'E C TURE THREE R EJHI.'.'i'DE R S , PLAN 121
temples); compensation (play of contraries; Acropolis in A t hens);

modulation (development of an initial plastic invention; Hagia
Sophia). So many fundamentally different reactions on t he indi-
vidual, despite the unity of aim that is the rhythm, that is a state of
equilibrium. Hence the astonishing diversity of the great periods, a
diversity that comes from their architectural principle and not from
their ornamental modalities.
PALACE I N AMMAN (Syria) .
TIIE ACROP OL IS I N ATHENS. The seeming disorder of the plan will fool only the pro-
fane. The equilibrium is not small-minded. It is determined by the fa mous landscape that
The plan carries within it the very essence of the sensation. extends from Peiraeus to Mou nt Pentelikon. The plan is conceived for distant .;ews: the
But we lost the sense of the plan a hundred years ago. The axes line np ";th t he valley and t he slightly canted angles are the skilled interventions of a
great stage direct or. The Acropolis on its rock and its suppo1ting walls is seen from afar, as
great problems of tomorrow, dictated by collective needs, based on one block. Its buildings are massed together through the incidence of their multiple planes.
statistics, and solved with calculations, pose the question of the
plan anew. vVhen we have understood the indispensable grandeur of
view that must be brought to city plans, we ·wi ll head int o a period "Industrial City." It is an a t tempt to inst ill order and a conj ugation
such as no era has yet known. Cities should be conceived a nd of u tilitaria n solutions with plastic solu tions. A unitary code dis-
planned throughout like the temples of the East and like the t ributes the same set of essen tial volumes thr ough all parts of t he
Invalides and Versailles of Louis XIV city and det ermines the spaces in ways consist en t with needs of a
The technological capacities of this era - financing t echniques pract ical order a nd wit h t he promp tings of a poetic sense that is t he
and construction techniques - are ready to carry out this t ask. ar chitect 's own. R eserving all judgment about the coordination of
'f ony Garnier, backed by Herriot in Lyon , has laid out an the zones of this industr ial city, ,ve ar e here subj ect to t he beneficial
122 T O WARD AN AlWIII'r E C T U RE
consequences of order. Where order reigns, well-being is born.

Through the happy invention of a system of lot division, even t he
quarters of workers' housing take on high architectural signifi-
cance. Such are the consequences of a plan.
In the present waiting state (for modern urbanism is not yet
born) the most beautiful quarters of our cities should be the factory
-·-·- ··- ·-
-~ ~ :--~~; .,
-· - ~-· -· .....__- - · _ _.,.-..;........,...~!..~ - -,<·:~~
TONY GARNIER. Walkways between various residences in a residential quar ter.
TONY GARN I ER. Residential quarter t aken from Une Cite industrielle. In his remarkable
study of a n industrial city, Tony Garnier presupposed certain advances in the social order
that would fa cilitate the normal ex pansion of cities: society would be free to dispose of the
land as it saw fit . A house fo r every family; half of the surface area occupied by bu ildings,
the other half public proper ty, it is planted with t rees; there are no fences. It is now pos-
sible to traverse the city in any direction, independently of the street s , which the pedes-
trian no longer need follow. And the sur face of the city is like a large pa rk . (One can
criticize Garnier for one thing: placing such low-density quarters in the heart of the city.)
quarters, wher e the cause of grand eu r a nd style - geometry -

results from the problem itself. A plan has been lacking, is lacking
still. An admirable order indeed r eigns within the halls and work-
shops, has dict ated t he structure of the machines and guides their
movements, conditions every gesture of t heir crews. B ut filt h pol-
lutes the surroundings and incoherence r a n r ampant when string
and 'l' squares fi.xed the placement of the buildings, rendering t heir
e},._rpansion point less, e},._rpensive, and dangerous.
A plan would have sufficed . A plan will suffice. 'l'he excess of
evils will lead to one.
One day August e P erret coined the p hrase "'l'ower-Cit ies." A
sparkling epithet that struck t he poet in u s. A word t hat r ang out
T ONY GAR NIE R. Street in a residential qua rter.
124 TOWAR D AN ARC HITECTURE THR EE RE~IINDERS, P LAK 125
L .-C . 1920. TOWER-CITI E S. Land subdivision proposal. S ixty fl oors, height 220 meters;
distance between the towers 250 to 300 m (eq uivalent to tl ,e width of the 'l \1ileries L.- C. 1920. 'l'OWER- CI TIE S . The towers are amidst gardens and playing fi elds (sports,
Gardens) . Width of the towers, 150 to 200 meters. Despite the large area of the parks, tennis, soccer). T he ma in arteries, with their elevated highway, distribute circulation into
normal urban density is increased 5 to 10 times. It seems that such constructions should slow, fast, super-fast.
be devoted exclusively to business (offices) and thus er ected in the center of large cities
whose arter ies ,rnuld be relieved of congestion; fam ily life would not adap t well to the
astoundin g machinery of elevators . The figures are stunn in g and pit iless, magnificent: if
every employee were allotted a surface of 10 m2 , a skyscraper 200 m wide would accom- great city is a rising tide. It is t ime to repudiate the present layou t
modate 40,000 people . I-Iaussman n, instead of making narrow thoroughfares in Paris,
" ·ould have demolished enti re neighborhoods and condensed them vertically; then he would
of our cit ies in which apartment buildings pile u p, all crammed
have planted parks more beautiful than those of the Grand Roy. together, and narrow streets interweave , full of noise, gasoline
stench, a nd dust, and wher e the floors are completely open to inhal-
ing t his filth . Large cities have become too dense for t he safety of
t heir inhabitants and yet t hey are not dense enough to answer t o
t he new realities of "bu siness."
Starting from the crucial const ructional event t h at is t he
Am erican skyscraper, it will suffice t o bring this great density of
population together at a few isolated points and to raise there
immense structur es 60 stories high. Reinforced concr ete and steel
ORDIN...,c,.,,RY CIT1!.S TOWE R - C.IT lf:_S
make such boldness possible and lend t hemselves above all to a par-
A· DOST ZONE.S
ticular development of t he facade thanks to which all the windows
will give onto open sky; in this way, courtyards will henceforth be
TO"WER- CI TIE S. This cross section shows at left t he suffocati ng dust , stench, and noise of
present-day cities. The towers, on the other hand, a re far apart, in healthy air, among eliminat ed. B eginning wit h the four teenth flo or, there is absolute
greenery. The whole city is covered with greenery. calm, ther e is pure air.
In these towers, which will hou se the work previously smoth-
n one too soon becau se the fact is imminen t! Unknown to u s, the ered in dense neighborhoods and congested str eets, all services, in
"gr eat city" incubates a plan. This plan can be gigantic because t he accordance with the happy American experience, will be gather ed
126 TOWARD A~ ARC HITE C TURE THREE R EM IKDERS , P L A~ 127
together, bringing efficiency, time and energy savings , and t hereby would support the ground floors of t he apa rt men t buildings an d, on
an indispensable calm. These towers, rising up at great distances corbel supports, the slabs of sidewalks and roadways.
one from another, provide vertically what has until now been spr ead In t he space t hus gained, 4 t o 6 met ers high, heavy trucks, the
over the ground; they leave vast open spaces that cast the axial metros replacing cu mbersome str eetcar s, etc. would circulate, wit h
streets, full of noise and faster-flowi.ng traffic, far away from them. direct access to the basement s of t he apartmen t buildings . A com-
At the foot of the to,vers, parks unroll; greenery extends over the plete circulation network, independent of t hat of the st reets meant
entire city. The towers are aligned in imposing avenues; t his is t ruly for pedestrians and rapid vehicular traffic, would be gained, having
an architecture worthy of the times. its mvn geography independent of t he overcr owding of the r esiden-
Auguste Perret formulated the principle of the Tower-City; he t ial b uildings : an order ed forest of pillars within which t he cit y
did not design it (1). On the other hand, he gave an interview to a
r eporter from L'Jntransigeant and let himself be carried awav V)
extending his conception beyond reasonable limits. Thus did he

throw a veil of dangerous futurism over a sound idea. The reporter
noted that immense bridges link the towers to one another; for
what purpose? The traffic arteries are far from the houses, and the
population taking its pleasure in t he parks, under the trees arrayed
L .-C. 1915 . PIL OTIS-CI T IE S . The ground level of the city is raised 4 to 5 meters on pilo-
in quincunxes on the lawns and playing fields , wouldn't have cared t is, which serve as foundations fo r the houses. The city flo or is a kind of foundation grid ,
less about crossing vertiginous pedestrian bridges where there was the st,·eets and their sidewalks bridges of a kind. Under this slab and directly accessible
nothing at all to do. The reporter also maintained that this city arc all the organs tha t up to now have been buried in the ground a nd inaccessible: water,
gas, electricity, telephone, pneumatic t ubes, sewers, neighborhood heat ing, ete.(1) .
would be built on countless pilotis of reinforced concrete support-
ing, at a height of 20 meters (six floors, if you please), the level of
the streets and linking the towers to one another. These pilotis could t rade its commodities, provision itself, tend t o all t he slow
would h ave left an immense area underneath the city that could and cumber some tasks that now j a m circulation.
quite comfortably accommodate water, gas, and drain pipes, the Cafes, places of relaxation , et c. wer e no longer a fung1is ea.t ing
viscera of the city. A plan had not been drawn up and the idea went into t he sidewalk: they wer e shifted on t o r oof t erraces along with
no further without a plan. luxury shops (isn't it wholly illogical for a large pa rt of t he city's
I put forward t his pilotis conception to Auguste Perret long surface to be left unused and r eser ved for face-t o-face encounters
ago; it was a conception of an order much less magnificent, but one between slate roofs and the stars ?) . Shor t pedestrian bridges over
that might answer a real need. It applied to the current city, such conventional streets established the circulation of t hese new recu -
as the Paris of today. Instead of excavating deep foundations ·with perated quarters devoted to rest a.midst flower beds and greener y.
heavy walls, instead of eternally digging and redigging t he road- 'f his conception did not hing less t ha n t riple the cir culation
ways in order to lay pipes (a Sisyphean task) for water and gas, for areas of the cit y; it was realizable, corresponded to a need, cost less,
sewers and underground transit and repairing t hem endlessly, we
could build new neighborhood s at ground level whose foundations (1) L'fntransigeant. 25 Kovembcr 1924: b oulevard H aussmann extended. And t here's not hing but t he
metr o and t he double row of ponder ous apar tment bu ildings, t here are those galleries in t he E nglis h
would be replaced by a logical number of concrete posts; the latter manner that arc to b e b uried under each sidewalk t o accommodate pipes of all kinds. 'rhey " ill be suf-
fici en t ly high and wide for employees of t he electric, compressed air, post al companies, etc. to circu -
late con1fortably1 and the ones containing pipes for gas lighting will be coYered with remoVable slabs,
(1) Making these sketches in 1920, I thought I was transcribing t h e such t hat th e smallest prob lem, leak, or break in t h e vascu lar or nervous syst em of th is privileged
ideas of Auguste Perret. But the publication of his own de signs in t he quarter will not necessarily entail those gigantic laparotomies that occasion half the roadway's being
Augu st 1922 issue of L'lllustration revealed a different conception. blocked for eight days wi th the entrails of the sidewalk. J .L.
128 TOWARD AN ARCI-IITEC'l'URE T HR EE RE:\ll~DERS , PLAN 129
and was sounder than the aberrations of today. It was sound within the
present framework of our cit ies, j ust as the conception of to·wer-
cities ,vill be sou nd in the cities of t omorrow.
H ere again, a layout of streets entailing a complete r enewal of
the terms of lot division a nd anticipating a radical reform of the
rental house; this imminent reform motivated by the t ransforma-
t ion of domestic use calls for new housing plans, and an entirely
new organization of the services answering to life in the big city.
H ere again, t he plan is t he generator, without which it's the reign
of mean ness, disorder, arbitrariness (1).
Instead of laying out cities in large quadrangular blocks with
narrow cha nn els of streets constricted by seven-stor y apar tment
buildings that dr op right down to the pavemen t and wrap around
t he unhealt hy wells of airless and sunless cou r tyar ds, Vi'e will lay
out (in the same surface area and with the same population den-
L.-C . 1920. STRE ETS WITH Ic'/DE N TS . Vast spaces with sun and air onto which all sity) apartment blocks wit h successive indents snaking along axial
apartments open. Gar dens and playgrounds at the foot of the houses . Smooth facades with aven ues . No more courtyards, but a partments opening on every
immense openings. A play of shadow is produced by the successive p rojections of the plan. side t o air and light, and overlooking not t he sickly t rees of today's
Richness is provided by the breadth of the layout and by the play of vegetation over the
"eometric canvas of the facades. It goes without sa~' ing t hat what is in question here, as boulevards but lawns, playgrounds, and hu..-uriant vegetation.
~•ith the tower-cit ies, are companies with sufficient financial backing to build entire neigh- The prows of these blocks would pu nctuate the long avenues at
borhoods. Sim ilar small-scale consortiums already existed before the war. A single arch i-
tect would lay ont an entire street: un ity, grandeur, dignity, economy.
regular intervals. The ind en ts would occasion a play of shadow
favorable to architectur al expression.
Construction with reinforced concrete has caused a revolution
in t he aesthetics of building. By eliminating the pitched r oof and
r eplacing it with terraces, reinfor ced concret e leads to a new, hit h-
er to unknown aesthet ic of t he plan. The indents and r ecessions that
are henceforth possible bring about plays of half-ligh t a nd shadow
moving no longer from top to bottom but laterally, from left to
.
Eb:ID'
- ~ll.:.J
..
right .
This is a crucial change in t he aesthetic of t he plan ; it has yet
to make itself felt; it will be useful to think abou t it now in projects
t o expand cities (2).
*
* *
,Ne are in a period of construction and of readjustment to new
social and economic conditions. vVe are rounding a cape and the
(1) See below: "Mass-Product ion Housing."

L.-C. 1920 . Streets with indents. (2 ) 1' his qu estion will be st udied in a book in preparation: Urbanisme.
130 TOWARD AN ARCHIT E CTURE
new horizons will r ecover the great line of traditions only thr ough
the complete revision of means that is underway, only t hrough the
deter mination of new constructional foundat ions based on logic .
In architecture, the old constructional foundations are dead .
Ther e will be no r ediscovery of t he truths of architect ure unt il new
foundations have become the logical support for all architectural
manifestations . 'l' he next twenty years will be taken up with creat-
ing these foundations. A period of great problems, a period of
analysis and experimentation, also a period of great aesthetic
upheavals, a period of the elaboration of a new aesthetic .
It is the plan that must be studied, the key to this evolution.
P owr ~; S AI N T- D E N IS (Blonde!).
L.-C. and P IERRE JEA:--NERL,T . Garden on the roof terrace of a private h ouse in Auteuil.
RfGUlATING llNfS
Illustration nos . 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 in t his chapter are from Choisy, Histoire
de !'architecture, Baran ger, publisher. Nos. 7, 8, 9 are taken from: Un e cite
industrielle by Tony Garnier, Vincent, publisher.
R EGL"LATI~G LINE S 133
Primitive man has dr awn up his wagon, he decides that her e

,vill be his ground . H e chooses a clearing, he cuts clown t he trees
that are too close , he levels the surrounding t err ain; he opens a
path that will connect him to the river or t o the members of his
Of the fateful birth of architecture. tribe, which he has just left; he dr ives the stakes that will hold clown
The obligation to order. The regulating line is a guarantee against his tent. H e surrounds this wit h a palisade in which he set s up a
gate. The path is as straight as his tools, his arms, and his t ime
arbitrariness. It brings satisfaction to the mind.
allow. The stakes of his tent describe a rectangle, a hexagon, or an
The regulating line is a means; it is not a formula. Its choices and
octagon. The palisade forms a rectangle whose four corners are
its expressive modalities are integral parts of architectural creation. equal, ar e right angles . The door of the hut opens on the axis of the
enclosure and the door of the enclosure is directly opposit e the door
of the hut .
1'he men of the t ribe have decided to shelter their god. T hey
place it within a duly arranged space; they shelter it u nder a solid
hut and drive t he stakes of t he hut, in a square, a hexagon, an octa-
gon. They pr ot ect the hut with a sturdy palisade and dr ive stakes
wher e the ropes of the high posts of the barrier will be secured.
They decid e on an area to be r eserved for the priests and set up an
alt ar and sacrifi cial vases. T hey open a gate in the palisade and
place it on axis with the door of the sanctuary.
In a n archaeology book, take a look at a diagram of this hut, a
diagram of this sanctuary: it is the plan of a house, it is t he plan of
a t emple. It is t his same spir it that we find again in the houses at
Pompeii. It is the same spirit of the temple at Luxor.
Ther e is no primitive man; there are primitive means. 'f he idea
is a constant, potential from the star t .
Notice in these plans how a primary mathematics governs them .
Ther e are measur ements here . In order to build well and distribu te
t he labor properly, so as t o assure th e solidity and utility of t he
work, measurements condit ion the whole. The builder has taken as
his measur e what was easiest for him, most consistent, t he tool that
he was least likely to lose: his pace, his foot, his for earm, his finger.
134 TOWARD A '.'< ARCHITEC'l'URE R E GU L ATING L IKES 135
I ! I I I I
I J l
PRDIITIVE TE:c\IPLE
A. ent ry;
B. portico;
C. peristyle;
D. sanct uary;
E. inst ruments of worship;
F. vase for libations;
G. altar.
r -'-1--..1 A ...........
-----J<-............. 1 _._I~ .__
I I PRIMI T IVE T E MP L E
while it would otherwise be cha.nee, anomaly, arbitrariness. Geomet ry

is the language of man.
But when determining t he respective distances of objects, he
To build well and distribute his labor, to guarantee t he solidity invented r hythms, rhythms sensible t o the eye, clear in their rela -
and utility of the work, he took measurements , he introduced a tionships . And these rhythms are a t the root of h u man activity.
module, he regulated his labor, he introduced order. For all around They r esound in man through an orga nic inevit abilit y, the same
him the fore st is in disorder, its vines, bushes , and tree trunks inevit ability t hat inscribes the golden section in children, in t he
obstruct him and forestall his efforts. elderly, in savages, in t he educated.
He established order by measuring. In order to measure he A module measures and unifies; a r egulating line const ructs
took his pace, his foot, his forearm, or his finger. By imposing the a nd satisfies .
order of his foot or his arm, he creat ed a module that r egulates t he
entire work; and this work is to his scale, for his convenience, for
his comfort, to his measure. It is to t he human scale. It harmonizes H aven't most a r chitect s t oday for gotten t ha t great ar chitec-
·with him: that's the main thing. tu re is at the very origins of humanity and that it is a direct func-
But ·when deciding on the shape of the enclosure, on t he shape tion of human inst incts~
of the hut, on the placement of the altar and its accessories, he ,,Then we see the little houses in t he su bu rbs of Paris, t he villas
went instinctively for right angles, axes, recta ngles, circles . F or in the dunes of Normandy, modern boulevar ds , and inter national
otherwise he couldn't crea t e anything that would give him t he expositions, a r en't we convinced t h at ar chitects a r e inh u man
impression that he created. For axes, circles , right angles a.re geo- beings, outsid e of order, far from our own being and who perhaps
metric t ruths and are effects that our eye measures and recognizes; do their work for another planet~
regulating lines t o make his task easier. 'l'he Greeks, the E gyptians,
136 TOWAHD AK .-\RCHITECTURE J.\1 ichelangelo, and Blondel u sed r egulating lines for correctness in
their buildings and t he satisfaction of t heir artistic sense and their
rrhat is because they have been taught a bizarre craft that con- mathematical thought. The man of today u ses nothing at all and
sists in making other s - masons, carpenters, and joiners - achieve makes the boulevard Raspail. But he proclaims t hat he is a liber -
miracles of per severance, care, and skill by erecting and sticking ated poet and that his instincts suffice; but these express them-
together elements (roofs, walls, windmvs, doors, etc.) that no longer selves only through the artificial means learned in the schools. A
have anything in common with one another and no longer have as lyric poet set loose wit h shackles round his neck, someone who
their real goal, their real result, the serving of some useful purpose. knows things, but things t h at he has neither invented nor even
mastered, who in the course of his education has lost that candid
and essent ial energy of the child who keeps asking: "vVhy?"
***
For now, there is unanimity in seeing dangerous writers, idlers, * **
incompetents, dullards , and stuffed-shirts in t he few individuals
who, having understood the lesson of primitive man in his clearing, A regulat ing line is a guarantee ag·ainst arbitrar iness: it is the
maintain t hat r egulating lines exist: ""\\Tith your regulating lines, verifying operation t hat ratifies all work created with en thusiasm:
you will kill the imagination , you will enthrone formula." t he schoolboy's casting out nines, the mathematician's QED .
"But all previous eras have used this necessary tool. The r egulating line is a satisfaction of a spiritual order that
- T hat's not t rue, it's you who invented it , for you ar e an leads to a search for ingenious relationships and for har monious
intellectual maniac! relationships. It imbues the work with eurythmy.
- But the past has left us proof: iconographic documents, steles, The r eg11lating line brings forth the sensory mathematics that
slabs, incised stones, parchments, manuscripts, printed matter." produces a beneficent perception of order. The choice of a regulat-
ing line fixes t he fundamental geometry of the work; it determines
one of the fundamental impressions. The choice of a r eg11lating line
* **
is one of t he decisive moments of inspiration, it is one of the crucial
Architecture is the first manifestation of man creating his uni- operations of architecture.
verse, creating it in the image of nature, subscribing to the laws of * **
nature, to the laws that govern our nature, ou r universe. The lmvs
of gravity, statics, and dynamics impose t hemselves through a H ere are some regulating lines that served t o make some very
reductio ad absurdum.- st and up or fall clown . beautiful things and a re t he cause whereby these things ar e very
A sovereign determinism clarifies natural creation for our eyes beautiful:
and gives us the certainty of something balanced and reasonably made, COPY OF A "\-!ARBLE SLAB FROM PEIRAEUS ,
of something infinitely modulated, evolving, varied, and unitary. 5
'l'he primordial physical laws ar e simple and fow. The laws of
morality a re simple and few.
The man of today planes a board to perfection ·w ith a planer, in

a few seconds. 'l'he man of yesterday planed a bo ard rather well
with a hand plane. Very primitive man clicl a poor job of squaring a
board with a flint or a knife. Very primitive man used a module and
Facade of the Arsenal in Pciracus.
138 TOWARD AN ARCHITE C T URE REGUL A TING L I N E S 139
The facade of the Arsenal in Peiraeus was determined by sev-

eral simple divisions that make the base proportional to the height,
that determine the position and dimensions of the door in close
coordination with the proportions of the facade.
EXTRAC'r FROM A BOOK BY DIEULAFOY:
Notre-Dame de P a1·is.
JIEASURED ON NOTRE -DAME DE PARIS:
The det ermining surface of the cat hedr al is regulated by t he

squar e a nd the circle (1).
Schematic drawings of Achaemenid domes. DRAWN ON A PH OTOGRAP H OF T HE CAPITOL :
The right a ngle helped Michelangelo t o hon e his inten tions,

The great Achaemenid domes are among the subtlest applica- makin g the same principle t hat determines the la rge divisions of
tions of geometry. Once the conception of the dome h ad been estab- the pavilions an d t he central block con t rol the detailing of t he pavil-
lished according to the lyrical needs of this race and t his era and ions, the slope of the st airways, t he posit ion of the windows, t he
according to the given st atics of the applied building principles, a height of t he basement , etc.
r egulating line was used to rectify, to correct, to perfect, to make all The work, conceived in its sit e, a nd whose enveloping mass has
the parts resonate ·with a single unifying principle, that of a 3-4-5
triangle, which develops its effect s from the por tal to the su mmit of (1 ) Regar ding Notre-Dame and t he Port e Saint -Denis , be wary of cha nges in ground
the vault. level intr oduced lat er by the city m agistrate s.
140 TOWARD A ~ ARC llIT½CT U RE REGUL A T I N G LINES 141
The Petit Trianon , Versailles.
Placement of t he right angle.
CONSTR UCTIOK OF A VILLA (19 16) :
The main block of t he facades, front as well as back, is gov-

er ned by the same a ngle (A) that determines a diagonal whose
The Capitol in Rome. many parallels and perpendicula rs will pr ovide corrective measure-
men ts for t he secondary elements , doors, windows, panels, et c.,
down to t he smallest details.
been coordinated with t he surrounding volume and space, collects, This villa of small dimensions, in t he midst of other buildings
concentrates, and unifies itself, expresses the same law th roughout,
becomes compact.
EXTRACT FRmI BL ONDEL' S OWK CO}li\IE"l'rS OK THE POR'l' E SAJK'l'-DEKI S

(See heading of this chapter ):
The principal mass is fixed, the opening of the ar ch is sketched

in. Imper at ive r egulat ing lines, on a module of 3, divide t he w·hole
of t he gat e, divide the parts of the ,vork vertically and horizon tally,
reg·ulat e ever,ything according t o the same unifying number.
TUE P E 'l 'l'l' TRIAKO"I

L. C. 1916 VILLA . Facade.
142 'l 'OWARD A r--- ARCHITE CT URE
er ected without such r egulation, seems more monumen t al, of

another order (1) .
I
I
/
/ /A
/
I
i I II ,n:f I l I ,I
/
I
!I
I
I
\
~ 1111 1111 11111 11H
·~
II
Le Corbusier an d P ierre J eanneret, 1923. H ouse of ?IL Ozenfant.
(1) I apologize for citing examples by myself here: but despite my inves-
tigat ions, I have not yet h ad t h e pleasure of en countering contemporary
ar chitects who have concerned themselves with this matter; r e t his subject, I
have only prompted astonishment or encounter ed opposition an d skept icism.
L . C. 1916. VIL LA . Rear facade .
144 TO\VARD AN ARCHITECT URE
I ~i
197,
/
// '
[S] 1, i ,' ( ',,
f[!\·.
I, ~-
.c. ..
The liner Plandre. Cie 'l'ransatlantique.
~.,;r
EYES THAT DO NOT SEE ...
.· Gl IJ ft] -
---~
Ill!' I JJ1-
I- (::.:., . ·_ : _;:-..,::_ ·---· ~
. ·-
I
- . ·-
I
L. C. and P. J . 1924.
Two prh·ate mansions in Auteuil.
llNf HS
E Y E S THAT DO ~OT SEE ... 147
Th ere is a n ew spirit: it is a spir it of construction and sy11thesis guided by

a clear con cept ion .
Whatever on e m akes of this, it animates today the greater part of human
A great era has just begun. act ivity.
There exists a new spirit. A GREAT ERA HAS JUST BEGUN
There exists a host of works in this new spirit, they are encoun- Program of L'Espr it n ouveau, no. I, October 1920.
tered above all in industrial production.
No one today denies the aesthetic that is emerging from t he creations of
Architecture suffocates in routine. modern indu stry. Mor e a nd more, constructions and machines arise with pro-
The "styles" are a lie. por tion s, with a play of volu mes a nd materials, such that many among them
Sty le is a unity of principle that animate_s all the works of an era are t rue works of a rt, for they entail number, which is to say order. Now the
elite individuals who make up the world of indu stry and business and who live,
and that results from a distinctive state of mind. consequ ently, in this vi rile atmosphere in which undeniably beautiful wor ks
Our era fixes its style every day. are created, imagine themselves t o be far indeed from all aesthetic act ivity.
Our eyes, unfortunately, are not yet able to discern it. They are wr ong, for they are among the most active creators of the contemporary
aesthetic. Neither the artists nor th e industrialists are aware of this. It is in
gen eral pr oduction that the style of an era is found and not, as is too often
thou ght, in a few productions whose encl is ornamental, mere redundancies
coming t o encumber a mental system that alone provides t he elements of a
style. Rocaille is n ot L ouis XV style, t he lotus is not Egyptian style, etc., etc.
Leaflet issued by L'Esprit nouveau.
The "decorative arts" flourish! After thirty years of silen t labor

t hey are at their height . Ent husiastic commen tator s talk of a regen -
era tion of French art! L et u s r et ain from this adven t u re (which
will end badly) t hat something other t han a regeneration of decor
was born: a new er a is r eplacing an era t hat is dying. Mecha-
nization , a n ew fa ct in human hi story, has called for th a new
spirit . .An er a creat es its own architecture, which is the clear image
of a syst em of t hought. In t he confusion of this period of cr isis, pre-
ceding the adven t of a new age with ideas that are worked out,
lu cid , r esolu tely clear, t h e decor ative ar ts were like reeds we
t hought we could grab on t o while the stor m raged. Illusory salva-
tion. L et u s r etain from t he advent u re that the decorative arts were
TOWARD AK A R CI-llTE C 'l'URE
EYES T HAT D O N OT SEE .. . 149
148
an opportune occasion to drive out the past and try to fe el our way
toward the spirit of architecture. 'rhe spirit of architecture can
result only from a state of things and from a state of 1nind. It would
seem that events have followed one another with sufficient speed
The liner Aquitania, Cunard Line, carries :3 ,600 persons.
o?e~n liners .. The rest of u s landsmen, we lack t he means of appre-

ciation, and 1t would be a good t hing if, to t each us to tip our hats
P At:L V1~RA: tailpiece (La Renaissance) . t o t hese wor ks of "regener ation," we had occasion t o take the kilo-
meters-long walk that's involved in a visit to a liner.
for t he era's state of mind to assert itself and for a spirit of archi-
"'
*'*
tecture to formulate itself. If the decorative arts are a t that per-
ilous height preceding a fall, we can say t hat minds, uplifted by
Architects live within t he na rrow confines of what they lear ned
them, t ook cognizance of what they aspired to . \ 1-..Te can t hink that
in scho?l, in ignorance of t he new rules of building, a nd t hey readily
architecture's time has come . let t he1r conceptions stop at kissing doves . But the builders of
The Gteeks, the Romans, the Grand Siecle, P ascal and Descartes,
liner s, bold and masterful, r ealize palaces besid e ·which cathedrals
mistakenly called to testify in favor of the decorative arts, have
enlightened our judgment, and now we find ourselves in archit ~c- are t iny things : and t hey cast them onto t he waters!
Architecture suffocates in rou tine.
ture, architecture that is everything, but t hat is not the decoratrve
Use of the t hick walls t hat were once a necessity has persisted
arts . even though t hin membr anes of glass or brick can enclose a ground
'Tuilpieces, lamps, and garlands, exquisite ovals wh ere triangu-
floor surmou nted by fifty st ories.
lar doves kiss and kiss again, boudoirs decorat ed with "pumpkin"
cu shions in black and gold velvet a re no longer anything but the In a city like Prag11e, for example, an obsolete regulation im-
poses a wall thickness of 45 cent imeters at the t op of the "house"
insufferable witnesses to a dea d spirit. These sanctums smother ed
and 15 addit ional centimeters for each lower story, which leads to
in coke and soppy "peasant" idiocies ar e offensive to us.
We have developed a taste for free air and bright light . walls as thick as 1 m 50 on the ground floor. Today, t he composition
of facades u sing large blocks of soft stone has the paradoxical
result that windows meant t o introduce light are cont ained wi.thin
*** deep embrasures that categorically t hwart t he in tention.
Anonymous en gineers, greasy m echanics in workshops and On the valuable ground of large cities, we st ill see enormous
piles of masonry spring for t h from building foundations, even
forges have conceived and built t hose formidable things that are
150 T OWAR D AN AR CH I TE CTURE EYE S THAT DO NO T S EE .. 151
The Aquilania. Cunard L ine. The Lamoriciere. Cie Transatlantique.

To architects: a beauty more technical. Oh Gare d'Orsay!
An aesthetic closer to its real causes!
t hough simple concr ete piles ·would be just as efficien t. Roofs,
wr et ched r oofs continue to r eign, an inexcu sable par ad ox. B ase-
ments r emain d amp and cluttered, and the service mains of cities ewer s as house-furnitu re, and dishes by B ernar d Palissy that ·w on't
are still buried under stone slabs like dead organs, even though a hold three h azelnuts!
logical conception that is now viable ·would provide a solu t ion. The "styles" are still with us !
The "styles" - for one must do something - int ervene as the
great contribut ion of the ar chitect. They interv~n e in the decora- ***
t ion of facades a nd of salon s; t hey a r e corrupt ions of the styles,
r emnants of a past age; t hey ar e a respectful an d servile ?all .to A house is a machine for living in. Baths, sun, hot water, cold
"Atten t ion!" before t h e past: an unner vin g t imidity. A h e, for water, contr olled temper ature, food conservation , hygiene, beauty
in the great d ays facades were smooth, pier ced a t r eg1~lar inter- t h rough pr oport ion. An armchair is a machine for sitting in, etc.:
vals, and of fin e huma n proportion s . "\Valls wer e as tlun as pos- lVIaple has shown t he way. E wers are machines for washing oneself:
sible. P alaces1 They were fine for the grand dukes back then. Does Twyford has created them.
the well-b r ed gentleman copy t oday's gr and dukes? Compiegne, Our modern life, that of all our activities except taking cha mo-
Chantilly, Ver sailles ar e just fine from a certain point of view, but . . . mile or linden tea, has created objects: its suits, its p ens, its
t here's much t o be said about t his . E ver sharp pencils, its typewriters, its t elephon es, its admirable
Houses like t abernacles, tabernacles like h_ouses, furnitur~ like office furniture, Saint -Gobain mirrors and "I nnovation" t runks,
palaces (with pediments, st atues, columns spiral and not spiral) , the Gillette r azor and t he E nglish pipe, t he bowler hat and t he lim-
ousine, t he liner a nd the airplane.
"· EYE S THAT DO 1'0'1' SEE . .. 153
The Aquitania. Cunard Line.

The same aesthetic as that of your English pipe, you r offi ce fu rniture, your limousine .
f
i
The Aquitania. Cu nard L ine. The liner France built by the Saint -Nazaire yards.
For architects: a wall that's all windows, a room tloodecl with light. What a contrast with t he Of proportions. - Look at these and dream of the palaces in Vichy, Zennatt, or Biaritz, a nd
windows of our houses, which pier ce the wall and create patches of shadow on either side, also of the new streets in Passy.
rendering the room drab and makin g the light so bright that curtains are indispensable to
fil ter a nd soften it .
The Aquitania. Cunard Line.
'l'o Arch itects: A villa on the dunes of Normandy conceived like these liners would be more apt
than the large "Norman roofs" that arc so old, so old! But it migh t be claimed that this
isn't the maritime style at all!
The Lamoriciere. Cie Transatlantique.

To architects: New architectural for ms, elements on a human scale that are vast and intimate,
liberation fro m the su ffocating styles, co11trast between solids and voids, between strong
masses and slender elements.
T he Aquitania. Cunard Li11e.

'lb a rchitects: The value of a lon g promenade, a volume that's satisfying and interesti ng;
unity of materials, beautiful arrangement of the structural elements, soundly set out and
combined into a nnity.
156 T O"WARD _A)! ARCH I TECT U R E E Y ES THAT DO )!OT SEE . 157
r-,_ -
' t ,
Empress of France. Canadian Pacifi c.

An arch it ecture that is pure, crisp , clea r, clea n, souncl. - Contrast the carpet s, cushions, Empress of Asia. Canadian Pacific.
canopies, damasked wallpaper, gilded and carved fu rnitme, musty and Ballets Rnsses col-
"Ar chitecture is the masterful, correct, and magnificent play of volumes brought
ors: t he d reary dullness of our Western bazaa r.
together in light. "
Our era fi.."X:es its style every clay. It is right before our eyes.
E yes that do not see . rest. "\¥hole cities must be built or rebuilt in view of a minimu m of
comfor t , t he pr olonged lack of which might unset tle t he social equi-
*** libr iu m . Society is unstable, cracking u nd er a st at e of t hings up-
There's a misu nder standing that must be clear ed up : we a r e ended by fifty year s of advances t hat have changed t he face of t he
rotten from a rt confused with respect for decor. Displacement of world more than t he six preceding centu r ies .
the feeling for art, coupled with a trivi al-mindedness reprehensible It is t ime for construction, not for idle talk.
in all things, in favor of the t heories and campaigns led by decora- The art of ou r er a is in it s r ightful place ·when it addresses
t ors who don't know their er a. itself to elites . Ar t is not a popular t hing, st ill less a deluxe whor e.
Art is an aust er e thing that has its sacr ed hours . They ar e pro- Art is a necessar y foodst uff only for elites that must ret1ect so as to
faned. Frivolou s, a rt winces at a world that needs orga nization , be able t o lead. Art is in its essence elevat ed.
t ools , means; that strains painfully toward t he stabilization of a
new order. A society lives first of all on food, on sun, on necessary * "'' *
comforts. E ver ything r emains to be clone! An immense t ask! And it
is so pressing, so urgent, that t he whole world is absorbed in this In t he painful childbir th of t his era in format ion , a need for
imperious necessity. Machines will lead t o a new order of labor and har mony assert s itself.
158 T(}WARD AN ARCHITECTU RE
May our eyes see: this harmony is there, a function of labor

governed by economy and conditioned by the inevitability of physics .
This harmony has reasons; it is not at all the effect of caprice but
that of construction that is logical and congruous with the ambient
world. In the bold transposition of human labors, nature is present,
and all the more rigorously insofar as the problem ·was difficult.
The creations of machine technology are organisms tending to,vard
purity and subject to the same evolutionary rules as are nat ural
objects that arouse our admiration. There is harmony in the works
that come from the workshop and the factory. This is not Art, this
is not the Sistine Chapel, nor the Erechtheum; these are the every-
day works of a whole universe that labors with awareness, intelli-
gence, and precision, with imagination, daring, and rigor.
*
* *
Photo Draeger.
If we forget for a moment that a liner is a transport tool and
look at it with new eyes, we will sense that we stand before an
important manifestation of temerity, discipline, and harmony, a
beauty that is calm, vigorous, and strong .
.A serious architect who looks as an architect (a creator of
organisms) will find in the liner a liberation from cursed enslave-
m ent to the past.
To an indolent r espect for tradition, h e will prefer r espect for
EYES THAT DO NOT SEE ...
the forces of nature; to the pettiness of middling conceptions, t he
majesty of solutions following from a problem ·well posed, a nd
r equired by this century of great endeavors that has just taken a
gia nt st ep fo1"vard.
The land-dweller's house is t he expression of an outdated world
of small dimen sions. The liner is the first s tage in the realizat ion of
a world organized in a ccordance with the new spirit.
II
AIRPLANES
EYE S THAT D O NO 'l' S EE ... 161
T h ere is a new spirit : it is a spirit of construction and of syn thesis guided

by a. clear conception.
\;"\Tlmtever one makes of thi s, it an imates today t he greater part of human
activity.
A. GREAT ERA. H A.S J UST BEGUN
Program of L 'Esprit nouveau, no. 1, October 1920.
The airplane is a product of high selection.
The lesson of the airplane is in the logic that governed the state-
ment of the problem and its realization.
Current architectural things do not answer to our needs.
Yet there are standards for the dwelling. There is one trade and one only, architecture, where pr ogress is
The mechanical carries within it the economic factor that selects. not obligatory, ·w here indolence reigns, where t he point of r efer ence
The house is a machine for living in. is yesterday.
Everywher e else , worry abou t tomorrow leads to a solu tion: if
you don't move forward, you go bankrupt.
But in archit ecture, no one ever goes bankrupt . A privileged
t r ade. Alas !
,.
* '*
In modern industry, the airplane is certainly one of t he prod-
ucts of highest selection .
The vVar was the insatiable client, never satisfied, always demand-
ing better. The order s wer e t o succeed and death implacably followed
er ror. So we can say that the airplane mobilized invention, in telli-
gence, and daring: imagination and cool reason. The same spirit built
t he Parthenon.
***
I look a t t hings from the point of view of architectur e, in t he

state of mind of t he inventor of airplanes.
The lesson of t he airplane is not so much in the forms created,
and one must first of all learn not t o see in an airplane a bir d or a
dr agonfly, but a machine for flying; the lesson of the air plane is in
the logic tha t governed the statement of the problem and that led to
162 TOWARD AK ARCHITECTURE EYE S THAT DO NO 'l ' SEE . . . 163
the success of its realization. ViThen a problem is posed to our era, it

inevitably finds t he solution.
***
A commonplace among architects (the young ones): It is neces-
sary to emphasize construction.
Another commonplace among them: When something answers a
need, it is beautiful.
Sorry! Emphasizing construction is fine for students at the
Arts et metiers who ·w ant to show what they're worth. The good L ord
indeed emphasized wrists and ankles, but then there's all t he rest.
Vlhen something answer s a need, it is not beautiful, it satisfies
one whole part of our minds, the first part, that without which no
later satisfactions are possible. Let us reestablish this chronology.
Architecture has another sense a nd other ends than empha-
sizing construction and answering needs (needs understood in the
sense, implicit here, of utility, of comfort, of practical design).
ARCHI'rEC'l'URE is the art par excellence, one that attains a
state of Platonic grandeur, mathematical order, speculation, per-

ception of harmony through stirring formal r elationships . These are
the ENDS of architectur e.
*
*' *
But let's get back to chronology.
If we feel the need for another architecture, an organism that
is clear and purified, that is because in the cur rent state of affairs,
sensations of a mat hemat ical or der cannot r each us because the
things do not answer a need, because there is no longer any construc-
t ion in architecture. An extreme confusion reigns: curren t architec-
"Arn ExPR ESS. " ture is no longer solving t he modern quest ion of t he dwelling and
164 TOWARD AC\ ARCHI TE C T U RE EYE S THAT DO NOT SEE ... 165
BLERIO'I' SPAD 33, passenger plane . I-Ierbemont, engineer.
does not understand the structure of things . It does not fulfill t he CAPR0:>;1 Tr icellular H ydroplane, 3,000 horsepower, carries 100 passengers.
primordial conditions and it is not possible for the higher factor of
harmony a nd beauty to intervene. 'fhe airplane shows us t hat when a problem is well posed its
The architecture of today does not satisfy the necessary and solution is found. ·w anting t o fly like a bird, that was to pose the
sufficient conditions of the problem. pr oblem bad ly, and Ader's "Bat" did not get off t he ground. To
That is because the problem has not been posed for architec- invent a machine for flying withou t paying the slight est a tten tion
ture. There has been no useful war as was the case for t he airplane. t o what's alien to pure mechanics, in other words, to look for a way
Yes indeed, peace sets the problem now: to rebuild the north. of achieving lift and a means of pr opulsion, that was to pose the
But that's just it: we are totally disarmed, vve do not know how problem well : in less t han ten years the whole world could fly.
t o build modern - materials, structur al systems, CO NCE P T ION OF
THE D W ELLING. Engineer s h ave been busy wit h dams, bridges,
* "''*
transatlantic liners, mines, railroads. Architects have been asleep .
The north has not been rebuilt in the last two years. Only r e- LET US PO SE THE PROBLEM .
cently, in the large companies, h ave engineers taken up the problem Let us close our eyes to wha t exists.
of the house, the structural part (mate.rials and structural syst ems) A house: a shelter against heat, cold, rain, thieves, the inquisi-
(1). 1T RE MAINS TO DE F I NE THE CONCEPTIO N OF THE D WELL ING . t ive . A r eceptacle for lig·ht a nd sun. A certain nu mber of compart -
(1) 1924. But the e ngineers wer e blackballed. Public op in ion was ments intended for cooking, for work, for private life .
against them. Their solution s weren't wanted. Routine prevailed. They built A room: a n area for moving about freely, a bed for r eclining, a
a s befor e, nothing wa s changed. The North did not want to be the wondrous chair for relaxing and working, a table for working, storage units
r evelat ion of the postwar moment. for keeping everything in the "right place."
166 T OWARD AN A RCI-II TEC'l'URE EYE S T H AT DO NOT SEE . . . 167
"Arn E XPRE SS," Paris-London in two hours.
And all that cost you 50 ,0 00 francs.

Vlhy don't you r equir e of your landlord:
0APR01' I Triplane, 2,000 hor sepower, carries 30 passengers. 1° Storage units for underwear and clot hing in you r bedr oom ,
all the same depth, at the heigh t of a hu ma n being and as practical
as an "Innovation" trunk.
How many rooms: one for cooking and one for eat ing. One for 2° I n your d ining room, st orage units for dishes, silver, and
working, one for washing oneself, and one for sleeping. glass·ware t hat close pr operly and have enough drawer s to make for
Such are the standar ds for t he dwelling. a handy "clea nu p, " ·with ever ything built in so that you have room
Wh y t hen , on the pretty villas all ar ound, t hese big u seless to circulate easily around you r table and chairs and you have a feel-
roofs? vVhy these scan t windows with small panes, why these large ing of space tha t brings t he calm needed for good digestion.
houses with so many locked rooms? Vlhy the mirrored ar moires, t he 3° In your big room , storage units to protect your books from dust
washstands, the chest s of drawer s? And why t hese bookcases deco- as well as your collection of paintings and works of art, a nd in su ch
r at ed with acanth us , t hese consoles, t hese vitrines , t hese china fashion t ha t the walls of you r room ar e bare. Then you could t ake
cabinets, these dressers, t hese sideboards? vVhy t h ese enormou s ou t of the pict u r e cabinet and hang on the wall the Ingres (or a
chandelier s? ,v hy these mantelpieces? Wh y t hese draped curtains? p hot o of it if you 're poor ) t hat a colu mn in the evening paper r e-
Why t his wallpaper full of color s, of damask, of motley vignettes? minded you abou t .
Ther e's n o light in your hou ses. You r windows a r e h ard t o You r china cabinet s, your mir rored armoires, your silver cabi-
open . Ther e ar e no vent ilators like those in a ny dining car. Your nets, you 'll sell t hose to somebody from one of these you ng nations
chandeliers hurt my eyes. Your stuccos a nd your colored wallpa per t hat' s j u st appea r ed on t he m ap a nd where, p r ecisely, Progress
are as impudent as valet s, a nd I'll take home t he pictu re by P icasso reigns su p reme and wher e t hey're for saking the t raditional house
that I came t o give you, for no one will see it in the bazaar of your (wit h its st orage units, et c.) to live in p r ogressive "E u r opean"
interior. houses wit h st uccos a nd ma nt elpieces .
168 TOWARD A N ARCHITECTURE EYE S THAT D O NOT SEE ... 169
Photo Branger. The FAR)I.-1.:,;, Moustique. B LERIOT SPAD Xlll: B echneau, engineer.
Let us repeat the fundamental axioms:

a) Chairs are made for sitting in. There are church chairs with ventilate a little, a lot, or not at all ; t here' s t he Saint -Gobain plate
rush seats for 5 francs, Maple armchairs for 1,000 francs, and glass that has replaced bottle bottoms and stained glass; there are
adjustable Morris reclining chairs with portable reading t rays, cof-
fee trays, foot extensions, adjustable backs with handles for setting
the most perfect positions from napping to working, hygienically,
comfortably, and correctly. Your Louis XV bergeres and love seats
with Aubusson upholstery, your Salon d'Automne pieces with
"pumpkin" pillows, are they machines for sitting in1 Between us,
you are more comfortable at your club, your bank, or your office.
b) Electricity provides light. Ther e is concealed lighting, a nd
there are also diffusers and proj ectors. You see as clearly as in
bright daylight and never have sore eyes.
A 100-candlepower bulb weighs 50 grams, but you have 100-
kilogram chandeliers with curlicues on them, made of bronze or
wood and so big that they take up the whole center of the room and
whose maintenance is awful because of the flies that make caca on
them. They're al so very bad for your eyes in the evening.
c) Windows are for admitting light - a little, a lot, or none at all -
and for looking outside. There are the windows in sleeping cars that
close hermetically or open at will; there are the great windows of
modern cafes that close hermetically but can be opened completely
thanks to a crank that lowers them into the ground; there are the
windows of dining cars that have small glass louvers that open t o
"AIH E XPRESS, " two hundred kilometers per hour.
170 TOWARD AK ARCHI'l'ECTURE EYE S THAT D O NO T S EE ... 171
"Am EXPRESS," the Farman Goliath.
F.allMA'.\' Goliath, for bombi ng.

about in the warren of their furniture , which takes u p all the space
and is all their fortune and all their pride.
The plans of houses cast man out and are devised for furniture
roll shutters that can be lowered gradually and block the light as storage. This conception is favorable t o commerce on the Faubourg
one likes depending on the opening between their slats. But archi- Saint -Antoine but harmful to society. It kills the spirit of the family,
tects only use ·windows from Versailles or Compiegne, Louis X, Y, or of t he hearth; t here's no hearth here, no family and no children,
Z that shut badly, have tiny lit tle panes, are difficult to open, and since it makes for living that's t oo uncomfortable.
have external shutter s; if it rains at night, you get drenched closing
them.
cl) Paintings are made for meditation. Raphaels and Ingres and
Picassos are made for meditation. If Raphael, Ingr es, and Picasso
cost too much, photographic reproductions are cheap . I n ord er to
meditate in front of a painting, it must be presented in t he right
place and in a calm atmo sphere. The r eal collector organizes his
paintings in a storage unit and hangs up the painting he wants to
look at; but your walls are like stamp collections wit h lots of wor th-
less stamps.
e) A house is made to be lived in. - Not possible! - But yes! -
You are a utopian!
To t ell t he truth, t he modern man is bored to death at home; he
goes to his club . The moder n woman is bored ou tside her boudoir;
she goes to five o'clock tea. The modern man and woman are bored
at home; t hey go d ancing. But humbler folk who have no club settle
down in the evenings under the ceiling lamp and are afraid to move
172 TOWARD AK .ARCHITECTURE
The t emperance societies and the league for repopulation

should make an urgent appeal to architects; they should print a
I-IousrNG i\LA:\'UAL, distribute it to mothers of families, and demand
the resignation of the professors at the E cole des Bemu-..c-'\..rts.
HOUSING M1lNUAL
Demand a bathroom in full sunlight, one of the largest rooms in the apartment,
the old drawing room for example. One wall that's all windows, opening if possible
onto a terrace for sunbathing: porcelain sinks. bathtub, shower, exercise equipment.
Adjoining room: walk-in closet where you will dress and undress. Don't undress 0
.S
in your bedroom. It's untidy and creates a tiresome disorder. In the walk-in closet
(1), require cabinets for linen and clothing, not more than 1 m 50 in height, with
drawers, hangers, etc.
Demand one large room instead of all those drawing rooms.
Demand bare walls in your bedroom, in your large room, in your dining room.
Built-in storage units will replace furniture that 's expensive, consumes space, and
has to be maintained.
Demand the elimination of the stuccos and the doors with beveled panels that
involve a dishonest style.
If you can, put the kitchen directly under the roof to avoid smells.
:::
To compensate for the stuccos and tapestries, demand that your landlord
install electric lighting that's concealed or diffused.
Demand a vacuum cleane,:
Buy only practical furniture and never decorative furniture. If you want to see
the bad taste of the great kings, go to old chateaus.
Put only a few paintings on the walls and only works of quality. Lacking paint-
ings, buy photographs of these paintings.
Put your collections in drawers or in storage units. Have deep respect fo r true
works of art.
The gramophone or the Pianola will give you accurate interpretations of Bach
fugues and will spare you the concert hall. and colds, and the frenzies of virtuosos.
Demand ventilating panes in the windows of all your rooms.
Teach your children that a house is habitable only when there's abundant light,
only when the floors and walls are clean. To keep your wooden floors in good repair,
do without furniture and oriental carpets.
Demand of your landlord one car, bicycle, or motorcycle garage per apartment.
Demand a maid ·s room on the main floo1: Don't· cram your servants under the
eaves.
Rent an apartment half the size of the one to which your parents accustomed
you. Think about the economy of your gestures, your orders, and your thoughts.
(1) I don't know why in modern French a toilet is called a closet; the
clays of t h e clyster pipe are long gon e.
176 TOWARD AK ARCH I TE CT URE
Conclusion. Every modern man has a mechanical side: a feeling

for the mechanical spurred by everyday activity. This feeling for
the mechanical is one of r espect , of gr atitude, of esteem.
The mecha nical carries wit hin it the economic factor t hat
selects . In the fe eling fo r t he mechanical, t her e is something of
mor al feeling.
The man who is intelligent , coolheaded, and calm has acquired
·w mgs.
Men who are intelligent , coolheaded, a nd calm: t hey a re what's
needed t o build the house, to plan the city.
l\Iss. Loucheur and Bonnevay Ii.ave int roduced a law whose object is t he construction over 10
years (1921 to 1930) of 500,000 economical and h ealthy housing u nits.
The financial projections are based on an anticipated cost of 15,000 francs (1) per house.
Presently, the smallest houses, bu ilt a ccording to t he givens of traditionalist architects,
cost no less than 25,000 to 30,000 fra ncs.
To realize the Loucheur program, we must completely transform the cu rrent routine of arch i-
tects, sift t he past and all its memories through the mesh of reason, pose t he problem as the
m~ation engineers posed it for themselves, and build mass-production machines for living in.
(1) 1921. 'l'oday it would be as high as 28 or 40,000 francs .
DELAGE F RON 'l"- W l·!BEL BRAKE .

T h is precis ion, this clarity of execut ion , does not j ust grat ify a ne\\·born feeling for t he
mechanical. P heidias felt t h is way; the entablatur e of t he Parth enon bears witness.
Likewise the Egyptians when they polished the Py ram ids. This was in an age when Euclid
and P ythagoras dictated t he conduct of their contemporar ies.
fYfS THAT 00 NOT Sf f...

III
AUTOMOBILES
180 TOWARD AN ARCHI TECT URE
EYE S THAT D O NOT S E E . . . 181
PAESTmI, 600- 550 ll .C.

Photo Albert Morance. P.\RTI-IE:s!O:< , 447-434 B.C.
The Parthenon is a product of selection applied to an estab- t han your adver sary in all the parts, in the general lines and in all
lished standar d. Already for a century, the Greek temple had been t he details. Then there is intense study of the parts. P rogress.
organized in all its elements . The standard is a necessity for order brough t to bear on human
·wh en a standard has been established, direct and fierce com- labor.
petition comes into play. It's a "mat ch"; to win, you must do better The st andard is est ablished on sur e foundations, not arbitrarily,
Photo from La Vie automobile. lI UMBER'l', 1907.

D EL,\GE Grand-Sport, 1921.
184 TOWARD A N ARCHITE CT U RE EYE S THAT DO KOT S EE . .. 185
P hoto Albert Morane6. T rrn PAK"rHEKOK .

Photo Albert Morance. Ttrn P.1 RTHEKON . Each part is decisive, scores the maximum in precision and e:qn·ession; proportion here
Litt le by little, the temple is formul ated, passes from con struction to architecture. rends as categorical.
A hundred years later the Parthenon ,till fix the culminating point of the ascent.
Everyone exclaims with conviction and enthusiasm: " The lim-
culture. Cultur e is the outcome of an effort of selection. Selection ousine sets the style of our er a!" while Breton beds are still sold
means discarding, pruning, cleansing; making the Essential stand and still made for "antique" dealer s.
out anew stripped and clear. So let us put the Parthenon and t h e automobile on show to
Fl'om the primitivism of the Romanesque chapel, we have moved make it clear that it's a question here, in different domains, of two
on to I otre-Dame de Paris, to the Invalides, to the Concorde. vVe have products of selection , the one having reached its outcome, the other
purified, refined the sensation, set aside decoration, and conqu er ed still progressing. This ennobles the automobile. And t hen? vVell, it
proportion and measure; we have advanced; we have passed from remains to compare our houses and our palaces with automobiles.
primary satisfactions (decor) to higher satisfactions (mathematics). H er e's wher e we get stuck, where everything gets stuck. H ere 's
If there are still Breton cupboards in Brittany, t hat is because where we don't have our Parthenons.
the Bretons have st ayed in Brittany, quite remote, quite st able, still
occupied with fishing and animal husbandry. It is unbecoming for "'
*'*
gentlemen of good standing to sleep in Breton beds in their Paris-
ian townhouses; it is unbecoming· for gentlemen who o,vn limou- The standard for t he house is of a practical order, a structural
sines to sleep in Breton beds, etc. One need only take stock and order. I tried to articulate it in t he preceding chapter on airplanes.
draw the logical conclusions. To own a limousine and a Breton bed The Loucheur program, which calls for 500,000 housing units
is, alas, a frequent occurrence. to be built over ten years, will doubtless fix one for worker's housing.
186 'l' OWARD .AN AR CHIT E CT UR E E YES T HAT D O K OT SEE ... 187
CArRo:--1 Tricellular Hydroplane.

Th is image shows how plastic organisms are created at the sole instigation
of a proble m well posed.
C APR 0:-11- EXPLO RAT IO:S.
The standard for furniture is well along the way of experiment Poetry is not only of the word. Stronger still is the poetry of facts. Obj ects that signify
at the manufacturer s of office furniture and trunks, clockmakers, something and a re ana nged with tact and talent create a poetic fact .
etc. vVe must continue down that path: the engineer 's task. 11.nd all
t he nonsense about the unique object, about art furniture, rings paints frescoes . The civilized man wears English suits and owns
false and shows a regrett able incomprehension of the needs of the easel paintings and books.
present hour: a chair is by no means a work of art; a chair has no Decoration is t he necessary superfluity or quantum of the
soul; it is a t ool for sitting. peasant, and proportion is the necessary superfluity or quantum of
Art, in a land of high cu lture, finds its means of e},,_rpression the cultivat ed man.
in true works of art, concentrated and rid of all utilitarian ends : In archit ecture, the quantum of int erest is achieved through
paintings, books, mu sic. the grouping and proportion of rooms and furniture: the architect's
All human manifestations require a certain quantum of inter- task. And beauty? That is an imponderable that can act only
est , and especially in the aesthetic domain; this inter est is of a sen- through the formal presence of primordial foundations : rational
sory order and an intellectual order. Decoration is of a sensory and satisfaction of the mind (utility, economy) ; t h en cubes, spheres ,
primary order like color, and it suits simple peoples, peasants, and cylinder s, cones, etc. (sensory). Then ... the imponderable, rela-
savages . Harmony and proportion appeal to the intellect and make tionships that create the imponderable: that's geniu s, inventive
the cultivated man take notice. The peasant likes ornament and genius, plastic genius, mathematical genius, the capacity to make
I - THIii! PLANE PE~ENDICULAR
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The cone of mmdmum penetration determined through e.xperiment a11d calculation bears out
natural creations: fish, birds, etc. E ::qJerimental applications: the dirigible, the racing car.
*
* *
But we must first see to the establishment of standards so we
can face up to the problem of perfection.
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Phot o .Alber t Mora nee. T HE PARTH EKO'>.

Pheidias, in building t he Parthenon, did not do the work of a builder, an engineer, a drafter
of plans. All the element s existed. He made a work of perfection, of high spir ituality.
In search of a standard.
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I L IDIUAN's ''ILLA, near Tivoli, ,\. D . 130.
ARCHITfCTURf
THf lf SSON Of ROMf

ARCH ITE CT U R E , T H E L ESSON OF ROME 195
You work with ston e, with woo d, ,vith concrete; you make them into
houses and palaces; this is construction . Ingen uity is at wor k.
But suddenly you tou ch my heart, you do me good, I am happy, I say: "It
is b eau tiful." This is a rchitecture. Ar t is p resent.
My h ouse is practical. Thank you, as I thank the engineers of t he r ailroad
and the telephone company. You have not touched my h eart.
Architecture is the use of raw materials to establish stirring rela- But the walls rise against the sky in a n order such that I am moved. I
tionships. sense your int entions . You were gentle, b rutal, charming, or dignified. Your
Architecture goes beyond utilitarian things. stones tell me so. You rivet me to this spot and my eyes look. My eyes look at
something t hat states a thought . A thought that clarifies itself without words
Architecture is a plastic thing. or sounds, but only throu gh prisms t ha t have relationships with one another.
Spirit of order, unity of intention, a sense of relationships; archi- These prisms ar e such t hat the light reveals t hem clearly. These r elationships
tecture organizes quantities. don't necessarily have anything to do with what is practical or descriptive.
They a re a ma thematical creation of your mind. They are the language of
Passion can make drama out of inert stone. architecture. ·w ith inert materials, based on a more or less utilitarian pro-
gram tha t you go beyond, you have established relationship s that moved me. It
is architecture.
Rome is a picturesque landscape. The light there is so beau tiful

t hat it ratifies everything . Rome is a b azaar ,vh er e everyth ing is
sold. All t h e implements of the life of a p eop le h ave r emained t h ere,
children's toys, warriors' arms, old altar rags, the B orgias' bidets,
a nd adventurers' panach es . I n Rome, monstrosities are legion.
If we con sider t he Greeks, we t hin k t he Romans had bad taste:
the Roman-roman s, Julius II and Victor-E mm a nuel.
Ancient Rome was squeezed inside walls that wer e always t oo
tight; a city that is crammed together is n ot b eautiful. Renaissance
Rome had a pompous fervor, disseminated t o the four corners of the
city. T he Rome of Victor-Emmanuel collects, labels, pr eserves, and
installs its modern life in t h e corr idors of t h is mu seum, an d pro-
claims itself "Roman" thr ough t h e monument commemorating
Victor-Emma nuel I , in the center of t he city, between t he Capitol
and the forum . .. forty years' work, som ething bigger than ·every -
thing else, and in white m arble!
'Without a doubt, everything is too cram med together in Rome.
196 TO"-ARD AK ARCHITE C'lTRE ARCI-IITECT U RE , TH E LESSO!\ OF R OME 197
1
:
THE COLOSSEU:.'11, A.D. SO .
THE PYHA..vIID OF CESTIUS, 12 B. c.
ANCIENT ROME
Rome kept itself busy conquering the universe and administer-

ing it.
Str ategy, provisioning, legislation: a spirit of order. 'ro manage
a large business firm , one adopts principles that are basic, simple ,
indisput able. Roman order is an order that is simple, categorical. If
it is brutal, so much t he bett er or so much the wor se.
They had an immense desire for domination a nd organization.
In architectural Rome, there was nothing to be done, t he city walls
were too tight, the houses stacked their f1o or s ten levels u p, old sky-
scr apers . The Forum must have been ugly, a bit like the hodgepodge of
the sacred city of Delphi. Urbanism, grand plans? Nothing to be done. ARCH OF CO.:-JSTAK'l'I.:-JE , ,LD. 12.
198 TOWARD AN .ARCHIT ECTURE ARCHIT E CTURE , THE LESSO'.\' OF RO~IE 199
I:\'TERIOR OF THE PAN'l'HEO:\', A.O . 120.
THE PANTHEO K, A .O. 120.
One must go and see Pompeii, which is moving in its r ectitude. walk about Hadrian's Villa and say t o oneself that t h e modern
They had conquered Greece and, like good barbarians, they found power of organization t hat is "Roman" has yet to do anything: what
the Corinthian more beautiful than the Doric, because more florid. torment for a man who feels himself party and accomplice to t his
Bring on t he acanthus capitals, the entablatures decor ated without confounding mess!
much moderation or taste! But underneath was something Roman The problem here was not devastated reg'ions but fitting out
that we'r e going to take a look at. In sum, they built superb chassis conquered lands : much the same thing. So they invented construc-
but design ed dreadful coachwork like the landaus of L ouis XIV tion methods and used them t o make impressive "Roman" things.
Outside of Rome, where ther e was air, they built Hadrian's Villa. The word means something. Unity of method, strength of intention,
There you meditate on Roman grandeur. There they imposed order. classification of elements. 'rhe immense domes, the drums t hat sup-
It is the fir st grand ordonnance of the West. If you measure Greece port them, the imposing barrel vaults, all this holds together with
against t his gauge, you say: " The Gr eek was a sculptor, nothing Roman cement and r emains an object of admiration. These wer e
more." But careful, architectur e is not just ordonnance. Ordon - great entrepr eneurs.
nance is one of t he fundamental prerogatives of ar chit ecture. To Strength of intention and classification of elements, that is
200 TOWAR D AK ARCI-II 'l 'E C T U RE
proof of a t urn of mind: str ategy, legislation. The architecture is

responsive to t hese intentions, it renders. The li ght caresses the
pure forms: it renders. The simple volumes unfold vast surfaces that
express themselves with a characteristic variety depending on their
being domes, barrel vaults, cylinders, rectangular prisms, or pyra-
mids. The surface decoration (openings) is of the same geometric
class. The Pantheon, the Colosseum, the aqueducts , t he P yramid of
Cestius, triumphal arches, the Basilica of Constantine, the Bat hs
of Caracalla.
No verbosity; ordonnance, a single idea, boldness and unity of
construction, the use of elementary forms. Sound mor ality.
Let us retain from t he Romans the bricks and Roman cement
and travertine stone, and let's sell Roman marble to the million-
aires . The Romans knew nothing about marble.
IKTE RIOR OF SANTA MAR.IA I N COSME DIN
II
BYZANTINE ROME
Another jolt from Gr eece, by way of Byzantium. This t ime, it 's
not a simpleton's amazemen t before a florid t angle of acant h us :
na tive Greeks came t o build Santa Ma ria in Cosmedin. A Greece far
removed from Pheidias but having r et ained it s seed, which is t o say
t he sense of r elat ionships, t he mathematics t hanks to which per fec-
t ion becomes attainable. This t iny little chu r ch of Santa Maria , a
church for poor people, pr oclaims, in lou dly luxuriou s Rome, t he
signal splendor of mathematics , the unbeat able power of p ropor -
tion, t he sovereign eloqu ence of relationships. The t heme is j u st a
basilica, ·which is t o say t he ar chitectural for m from which barns
and hangar s ar e made. The walls are of r ough lime plaster. T her e is
but one color, white: a for ce t hat is cer t ain because it is absolute.
This minuscule church transfixes you with r espect. " Oh!" you gasp,
you who came from Saint P eter 's or from the P alat ine or from the
Colosseum. Ar t istic sensu alist s and artistic hedonist s will be made
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uncomfortable by Santa Maria in Cosmedin. To think that t his with figurat ion, with any elements per taining to the face of man,
church existed in Rome when the great Renaissance reigned supreme t his architecture t hat or ganizes quantities. Th ese qua n t ities a r e
with its gilded palaces and its horrors! piles of mater ials ready to be put t o work; measured, plugged into
Greece by way of Byzantium, a pure creation of the mind. the equation , t hey cr eat e rhythms , they spea k of numbers, they
Architectur e is not just ordonnance and beautiful forms in ligh t . It speak of relationships, they speak of mind.
is a thing that ravishes us, it is measure. To measure. To divide up In t he silent equilibrium of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, t h e
into quantities that are rhythmic, animated by a like breath, to oblique handrail of a pulpit rises, t he stone book of a lectern.inclines
imbue everything ·with unifying and subtle r elationships, to bal- in silen t conjugation like a gestu r e of assent. These t wo humble
ance, to solve the equation. For if t his expr ession is forced when one obliqu es conjugated in the perfect movement of a spir itual mecha-
talks painting, it suits architecture, which doesn't concern itself nism : this is t he pure and simple beauty of archit ecture.
204 TOWA RD AK ARCIII'l' E C'l' l;RE AR CH I TE C T U RE , THE LE SSOK OF R O .:IIE 205
THE APSES OF SAI:\TT PETER' S TI-IE APSE S OF SAI NT P ETE R 'S
III were poignant . 'fo give off emanations, st orms, gen t le br eezes on
plain and sea, to r aise up lofty alps ·w ith stones like those in the walls
of a man's house: t hat is to make successful concerted relationships.
MICHELANGELO Like man, like dra ma, like ar chitecture. Not t o assert with too
much confidence that the masses give rise to their man. A man is an
Intelligence and passion. There is no art ·without emotion, no exceptional phenomenon t hat r epeat s at lengthy intervals, perhaps
emotion wit hout passion. Stones in quarries are inert, dormant, but by cha nce, perhaps according to a cosmographic r hythm yet to be
the apses of Saint Peter 's make drama. Drama is all around t he det ermined.
decisive works of humanity. Architectural drama = man of t he uni- Michelangelo is t he man of ou r last thou sand year s as P heiclias
verse and in the universe. The Pa rthenon is poignant; the Egy ptian was the man of t he preceding millen nium. 'f he Renaissa nce did not
pyramids, their granite formerly polished and gleaming like steel, make Michelangelo, it made a fine bunch of fellows ·who had talen t.
ENTABLAT U RE 01'~ THE APSE S OF SAI NT PE TE R' S (executed by Michelangelo) .
The work of Michelangelo is a creation, not a revival, a creation

that towers over stylistic categories. The apses of Saint Peter 's are m ents retained; t he Bath s of Caracalla and t h e Basiiica of
in the Corinthian style. Imagine! See them a nd think of the Made- Constantine showed him what limits it might be well to surpass
leine. The Colosseum was seen by him and its felicitous measure- t hrough recourse to an elevated intention . Thence the domes, the
Plan of Saint Peter's, p1·esent state, the nave was e:s..1:endcd t hroughout the hatched area.
Michela ngelo ,n1nted to say something, it was all wrecked .
0
Saint Peter's. Design by ..\Iiehelangclo (1547- 1564). The dimensions are considerable. Building
such a dome of stone was a tou r de force that few dared risk. Saint Peter's covers 15,000
m2 and Xotre-Dame de Paris, 5,955; H agia Sophia in Constantinople 6,900 nfl. The dome
is 132 m high, the diameter at the crossing 150 m. 'l 'he ordonnance of the apses and of the
attic is related to that of the Colosseum; t he heights are the same. The design had total
u nity; it grouped together the ,nost beautiful and most opulent elements: the portico, the
cylinders, the square forms, the drum , the dome. The use of moldings is as passionate as
can be, fierce and f1.1Il of pathos. Everything rose a s a block , single and whole . The eye
grasped it at once. Michela ngelo completed the apses and the drum of the dome . Then the
rest fell into barbaric hands, cver_yi hing was annihilated. Humanity lost one of the cruci al
works of in telligence. If yon think about Michelangelo sensing the d isaster, a terrifying
drama comes to light .
Saint Peter's Square, present state; empty wrbosity, 1n.isplaced words. The colonnade by Berni ni
is beautiful in itself. The facade is beau tifol in itself but has nothing to do with the dome.
POHTA P L\ BY ~nctrnL.1.:wrn1,0
The whole point ,rns the dome; it ,rns hidden! The dome went with the apses; they were hid-
den ! 'l 'he por tico was highly ,·0Iun1etric; it was rnade into facade cladding.
210 'l 'OWARD A:-S ARCHI T E CTU R E AR CHIT ECT U RE, THE LESSON OF ROME 211
setbacks, the canted walls, the clrum of the dome, the hypostyle Medici Chapel, in F lor ence, allows us to gauge what this ·work, so
portico, a gigantic geometry of concordant r elat ionships. T hen a car efully worked out in advance, might have been . But r ash and
r enewal of the rhythms t h roug·h stylobat es, pilasters, entablatures t houghtless popes dismissed Michelangelo; wretches ruined Saint
with profiles t hat are complet ely new. 'I'hen windows and niches P eter's inside and ou t; it stupidly became the Saint Peter's of t oday,
that take up the rhythm yet again. The whole mass ma kes for a t hat of a very rich and en t erprising cardinal, withou t ... everything.
gripping novelty in t he dict ionary of architecture; it is good t o An immense loss. A passion, an intelligence beyond norms, it was an
pause and reflect for a moment on this post-quatt rocento coup de affirmation ; it has very sadly become a "perhaps, " an "apparently,"
t heatre. an "it might be," an "I doubt it. " A miserable failure.
Finally, ther e was t o have been an interior that would have Since this chapter is entitled Architecture, it was permissible to
been the monumental climax of a Santa Maria in Cosmedin; the talk here about one ma n's passion.
IV
ROME AND US
Rome is a pictu r esque open-air bazaar. It has all the horrors
THE ROME OF HORRORS

1. Re naissance Rome, Castel Sant'Angelo. 1. Modern Rome. Palace of Just ice.
\YI NDOW IN 'l'H E APSES OF SAIKT P ETER'S 2. Renaissance Rome, Colonna Gallery. 2. Renaissance Rome, Bar berini Palace.
212 TO\VARD AN ARCHITECTURE
(see the four grouped reproductions) and bad taste of the Roman
Renaissance. , ¥e judge t his Ren aissance with our modern taste,
which separates us from it by four great centuries of effort: t he
17th, t he 18th, the 19th, the 20th.
vVe reap the benefits of this effort, we judge harshly, but with a
justified clear- sightedness. This is lacking in Rome, asleep these
four centuries after Michelangelo. Setting foot in Paris again, we
r egain consciousness of the gauge.
'l'he lesson of Rome is for t he ,vise, for those who know and can
appreciate, for those who can resist, who can verify. Rome is the
perdition of those who don't kno,v much. 'l'o put architecture stu-
dents in Rome is to wound them for life. The Prix de Rome and the
Plan of the city of Karlsruhe.
Villa Medici ar e the cancer of French architecture .
ARCHITECTURE
II
THE lllUSION Of THE PlAN

You work with st one, with wood, with concrete; you make them into
houses and palaces; this is construction. Ingenuity is at work.
But suddenly you t ou ch my h eart, you do me good, I am happy, I say: "It
is beautiful." This is architecture. Art is present.
My house is practical. Thank you, as I thank the engineers of t he railroad
a nd the teleph one company. You have not touched my heart.
But the walls r ise against t he sky in an order such that I am moved. I sense
your intention s. You were gentle, brutal, charming, or dignified. Your stones tell
me so . You rivet me to this spot and my eyes look. Iviy eyes look at something
that stat es a t hough t. A thou ght that clarifies itself without ,vords or sounds,
but on ly through prisms t hat have relationships with one anot her. These
pr isms ar e such that t he light reveals them clearly. These relationships don' t
necessarily h ave anythin g t o do with what is practical or descriptive. They are
a mathemat ical creation of your mind. They a re the language of architecture.
With iner t materials, based on a more or less utilitarian program that you go
The plan proceeds from the inside out; the exterior is the result of beyond, you have established relationships that moved me. It is a rchitecture.
an interior.
The elements of architecture are light and shadow, walls and
space. 'lb make a plan is t o clarify, to fix ideas.
Ordonnance is the hierarchy of goals, the classification of inten- It is to have had ideas.
tions. It is order ing t hese ideas su ch that they become intelligible ,
Man sees architectural things with eyes that are 1 m 70 f rom the feasible, and transmissible . So it is necessary to manifest a clear
ground. We can reckon only with goals accessible to the eye, with inten- int ention, t o have had ideas t hat made it possible to set oneself an
tions that take the elements of architecture into account. If we reckon intent ion. A plan is in some sense a concentrate like an analytic
with intentions that do not belong to the language of architecture, we table of content s. In a form so concentrated that it seems like a
end up with an illusory plan, we break the rules of th e plan through crystal, like a geometric bluepr int, it contains an enormou s quan-
t ity of ideas and a driving intention.
faulty conception or through a penchant for vain things.
In a great pu blic instit u tion, the E cole des B eau x-.Arts, t he
pr inciples of t he good plan have been studied, then , over the year s,
dogmas, formulas, and t ricks have become fixed . An education t hat
was u seful at first has become a perilous practice. The inner idea
has been made into a few hallowed ext erior signs and appearances.
The pla n, a clust er of ideas a nd an intention integral to that cluster
of ideas, has become a sheet of paper on which black marks tha t are
walls a nd lines that ar e axes play at being mosaics and decor ative
panels , make diagrams with dazzling stars, create optical illusions.
The most beau t iful star becomes the P rix de Rome. But the plan is
the gen er at or, "t he plan d et er mines ever ything; it is an austere
abstraction, an algebrization dry to the eye." It is a plan of battle.
The battle ensues, and t hat is the gr eat moment. The batt le con-
sists of the clash of volumes in space and the mor ale of the troops is
the bundle of preexisting ideas and t he dr iving in tention. Without a
good plan nothing exist s , everyt hing is fragile and does not last,
everything is poor even u nder a clu tter of opulence.
From the outset, the plan implies the methods of construction;
the architect is first of all an engineer. But let us confine ourselves
to the question of architecture, this thing that endures over time.
Looking at things from this point of vie,v exclusively, I will begin by
drmving attention to this crucial fact: a plan proceeds from the
inside out, for a house or a palace is an organism similar to any liv-
ing creature. I will speak of the architectural elements of the inte-
rior. I will then turn to ordonnance. Considering the impact of a
work of architecture on its site, I will show that here again the out-
side is always an inside. With a few basic statements clarified by
illustrations , I will be able to show the illusion of the plan, t his illu-
sion that kills architecture, leads minds astray, and creates dishon- i
I
. i
esty in architecture through the transgression of irrefutable tr uths,
the consequence of false conceptions or the fruit of vanity.
A PLAN PRO CEEDS FROM THE INSIDE OU T

F m. 2. - Plan of the Green Mosque in Bursa.
A building is like a soap bubble. This bubble is perfect a nd har-

monious if the air is evenly distributed and properly ordered from light. B eyond is a second space that is similar and of like dimen-
the inside. The exterior is the result of an interior. sions, filled with half-light and raised sever al st eps (a repeat in the
In Bursa in Asia Minor, at the GREEN MOSQUE, you enter minor key) ; on either side, two smaller spaces still in half-light; you
through a small doorway to human scale; a very small vestibule turn around, two very small spaces in shadow. From bright light t o
works on you the change of scale that's necessary to appreciate, shadow: a rhythm. Tiny doors and immense openings. You are cap-
after the dimensions of the street and the place you've just come tivated, you have lost all sense of u sual scale. You are overcome by a
from, the dimension s that are meant to impress you. Then you sensory r hythm (light and volume) and by skilled measurements, in
experience the grandeur of the mosque a nd your eyes t ake its mea- a world unto itself t hat t ells you what it meant to tell you. What
sure. You are in a large space white wit h marble, inundated with emotion! ·what fait h! There, that's the driving int ention. The bundle
of ideas is the mean s that has been used (fig. 2) . Consequences: in
Bursa, as in Hagia Sophia in Constant inople and in t he Great Mosque
of Suleiman in I stanbul, an exterior results (figs . 1 and 2a ).
F IG. 1. - Great Mosque of Sulernaniye in I sta nbul. FIG . 2a. - Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
wit ness to potent means; but to t he r ear, t he sparkle of a garden
seen t hrough a peristyle that spr eads t his light with a grand ges-
ture, distributes it and draws attent ion t o it, st retching it far to left
and r ight, creating a large space. B etween the two, a t ablium nar-
r owing this vision like the vie·wfinder of a camera. Right and left,
t wo spaces t hat are shadowy, small. From the bustling street, a
whole world of picturesque accident open t o all, you have ent er ed
the house of a Roman. Magister ial grandeu r, order, magnificent
breadth: you are in t he house of a Roman. H ovv were t hese r ooms
used7 That is beside t he point. After twen ty centu ries, wit hout his-
torical allusions , you feel t he archit ecture, a nd all t his in what is
really a very small house (figs. 3 and 4 ).
F IG. 3. - Case de! Noce, the Cavaedium, Pompeii.
ARCHITE C'l'U R A L E LEMEN T S OF T H E I N TE R IOR
CASA DEL N OCE , in Pompeii. Again a small vestibule that At our disposit ion ar e st raight walls, a floor tha t ext ends, holes
clears the str eet from your mind. And suddenly you are in the that are passages for man or for light : doors and windows. T he
cavaedium (atrium); four columns in the center (four cylinders) rise holes brighten or darken: make cheerful or sad. The walls are
in one go toward the shadow of the roof, a sensation of strength and sparkling with light or in half-light or shadow: make cheer ful ,
FIG . 4. - Casa del Noce. F IG. 5. - Hadrian's Villa, Rome.

220 TOWARD AN ARCH IT ECTU R E ARC HIT E CTURE , T H E IL LUSIOK OF THE P L AN 221
serene, or sad. Your symphony is prepared ..Architectur e has as its

go al to make u s cheerful or serene. Have respect for walls . The
Pompeian does not put holes in his walls; he has devotion for walls,
a love for light. Light is inten se if it is between walls that r eflect
it. T he man of antiquity made walls, walls that extend an d j oin
together to make for still lar ger walls. Thus did he create volu mes, ORDON:\TAN C E
the foundat ion of ar chitectural sensation, of sensory sensation. The
light explodes with definite in t ent at one end and illuminates the The axis is perha ps t he fir st human manifestation ; it is t he
walls. The impression of light eA'iends beyond through cylinder s (I means of ever y human act. 'l'he toddling infant tends toward an
a::...'ls, t he man struggling through life's tempest describes an axis.
T he axis is ar chitectu re's order-maker. To make order is to begin a
work. Archit ecture is based on axes . The axes of the E cole des
B eatu-Arts are the calamity of ar chitecture. 'l'he axis is a line of
conduct toward a goal. In a rchitecture, a n axis must have a goal. At
the E cole this has been for gotten and axes cr isscr oss to make star s,
all leading t owar d infinity, the undefined, the unknown, nothing-
ness: withou t a goal. The axis of the Ecole is a formula, a trick (1).
Or donna nce is the hier archy of axes, thus the hierarchy of
FIG. 6. - H adrian's Villa, Rome. goal s and the classification of in tentions.
So the ar chitect assigns goals to his a."'l::es. These goals are a wall
(a solid; sensory sensat ion) or light and space (sensory sensation).
don' t like t o say colum ns, t he word has been spoiled ), perist yles, or In reality, axes ar e not perceived in the bird's-eye views shown
pillars. The f1oor ext ends wherever it can , uniform, wit hou t irregu- in plans on t he dr awing boar d, bu t from t he ground , by a ma n
la rit ies. Sometimes, t o add another impression, the f1oor r ises a step . standing erect a nd looking before him. The eye sees far and, an
Ther e are no other archit ectural elements of the int erior: light and impertu rbable lens, sees all, even beyond ·w hat was intended and
the walls that r eflect it in great sheets and t he flo or t hat is a hori- willed. The axis of t he Acropolis goes from Peiraeu s to Pentelikon,
zon tal wall. To make well-lit walls is to constitute the architect u ral from sea to moun t ain. F rom t he P ropylaea perpendicular to the ax is
elements of the interior. There remains proport ion (figs . 5, 6, and 7). to the far horizon, to the sea: a hor izon tal perpendicular to the direc-
tion t hat the architecture has imprinted on you wher e you stand, an
orthogonal perception that tells. From t he P ropylaea facing the
other direction, the colossal statue of Athena on axis and Mou n t
Pen telikon in the dist a nce. That tells. And because they are outside
this driving axis , t he Parthenon at r ight and t he E r echtheum a t
left, you have the good for tune to see them in three-quarter view, in
their whole physiognomy. D on't pu t all architectural things on axis,
for t hey will be like so many people talking at once (fig. 8) .
(1) So much a trick is it that t hey're drawn on paper so as to make stars, as a pea-
Fm. 7. - Pompeii. cock spreads its tail.
.ARCH I'l' E CT URE, TH E I L LUSION OF T I-IE PLA~ 223
many axes, but it would never win third prize at the Beaux-.A.Tts; it
would be rejected, it doesn't make a star! It brings joy to the mind
t o look at such a pla n, t o walk thr ough t he forum (fig . 9) .
And here I N 'I'HE HOUSE OF THE TRAGI C POET the
subtleties of a consummate art. E verything r elates t o an axis but
C tu
R: HI/
@ E
D4t)
'l q·n ' I<.
~f
F IG. 8. - The Acropolis in Athens.
FORUM I N POMPEII: Ordonnance is the hierarchy of goals ,

the classification of intentions. The plan of the Forum contains
F IG. 10. - H ouse of the 'l'ragic Poet, Pompeii.
you'd have a hard t ime drawing a straight line t hrough it. The axis
is in the intentions, a nd t he splendor given by the a."l:is extends to
t he humble things that t he latter affects with a skillful gesture (the
corridors, t he main passage , etc. ), through optical illusions . T he
axis here is not a dry t heor etical thing; it links the crucial volu mes
yet spells them out and differ en tiates them from one a nother. , Vhen
you visit the House of t he Tragic P oet, you see that everything is in
order. But t he sensation is rich . Then you obser ve some artful
shifts from the axis t hat give the volu mes in tensity: the cent r al
motif in t he paving is pushed back behind the room 's center; the
well at the entrance is to the side of the pool. The fountain to t he
F IG . 9. - Fomm in Pompeii. r ear is in the corner of the garden. An obj ect placed in t he center of
224 TOWARD AN ARC HITEC T URE _i\.RC HITE CTURE, THE I L L USIO N OF '£ HE PLAN 225
a room often ruins t he room since it prevents your placing yourself

in t he center of the room and having the axial vie,v; a monument in
t he center of a square often ruins the square and the buildings
around it - often, but not always; every such case has its own logic.
Ordonnance is the hierarchy of axes, thus the hierarchy of
goals and the classificat ion of intentions (fig. 10).
THE OUTSIDE IS ALWAYS AN I NSIDE
vVhen, at the E cole, they draw axes t hat make stars, they imag-
ine that the spectator arriving in front of the building senses only
this building and t hat his eye goes to it infallibly and stays riveted
solely to the cent er of gravity that t hese axes have determined. The
human eye, in its investigations, is always turning and man also
turns to the right, to the left, clear round. H e takes in everything
and is drawn toward the center of gravity of the site as a whole . F IG. 11. - Propylaea and Temple of the Wingless Victory.
Suddenly the problem spreads to the surroundings. The neighbor-
ing houses, the near or distant mountain, the low or high horizon
are formidable masses whose cubic volumes make a powerful effect.
The apparent cubic volume and the r eal cubic volume a r e gauged (fig. 11) . The sea that makes a composit ion wit h the a r chitraves
instantaneously, anticipat ed by t he intelligence. The cubic sensa- (fig. 12), et c. This is to compose wit h the infinit e r esources of an
tion is immediate, primordial; your building cubes 100,000 cubic art full of perilous r iches t hat produce beau ty only when t hey ar e
meters, but what is around it cubes millions of cubic met er s, which brought into order:
tells. Then comes the density sensation: a boulder, a tree, a hill are
less strong, of lesser density than a geometric arrang·ement of forms.
Marble is denser to the eye and the mind than wood and so forth.
Always hierarchy.
To su m things up, in ar chitectural spectacles, t he elements of
the site intervene by virtue of their cubic volu me, their density, the
quality of their materials, the bearers of sensations that ar e quite
distinct and quite different (wood, marble, tree, lawn, blue hori-
zons, near or distant sea, sky) . The elements of the site r ise up like
walls rigged out to the power of their "cubic" coefficient, strat ifica-
tion, material, etc ., like the walls of a large room. , ¥alls a nd light,
shadow and light, sad, cheerful, or ser ene , et c. It is necessary to
compose with these element s:
On t he ACROPOLIS IN ATHENS, the t emples that incline
toward one another to shape a bosom that the eye readily embraces Frn . 12. - The P ropylaea.
226 'l'OWA RD A N ARCHI'l'E CT U RE
A R CHITE C T URE , T I-IE I LL USI ON OF TI-IE P LAN 227
: ·_'f
\
F IG . 13. - Hadrian's Villa, Rome.
F IG . 15 . - Formn at Pompeii.
At HADRIAN'S VILLA: the floors set at levels concordant

with the Roman plain (fig. 13); the mountains that close off the
At t he FORUM I N P01\1IPEII: views from every building onto
composition, which indeed is based on them (fig. 14).
the complex as a whole, ont o various details, onto gr oupings tha t
constantly r enew their inter est (figs. 9 and 15).
Etc. Etc.
T R A NS GRESSION
In the examples I now offer, t hey did not take int o account that
a plan works from t he inside out, t hey did not compose with vol-
umes animated b y a single well-r egulated br ea t h, in conformit y
with a goal t hat was the driving inten t ion of t he work, a goal t hat
anyone can t hen observe with his own eyes . T hey did not r eckon
with the archit ectural elements of the inter ior th at are the surfaces
t hat come t oget her t o receive ligh t and t o emphasize volu mes. T hey
did not think in spatial terms but made stars on paper, drew axes
that crisscrossed. They reckoned ,vith in tent ions t hat do not belong
t o the language of archit ecture. T hey tr ansgressed the rules of t he
plan through an error in conception or t h rough a t endency towar d
Fm . 14. - Hadr ian's Villa, Rome.
vain things.
228 TOWARD AN ARCHITECTURE ARCHI'l' E C'l'U RE , 'l'HE I LLUSION OF THE PLAN 229
F3 J
=
I-Iagia Sophia
in Constan tinople.
F IG. 17. - Versailles, after a drawing from t he period.
VERSAILLES: Louis XIV is no longer just t he successor of

Louis XIII. H e is t he SUN KING. Immense vanity. At the foot of
the throne , his architects bring him bird's-eye plans that seem like
F IG . 16. Saint Peter's in Rome. a n astral chart; immense axes, stars. The Sun King swells with
'rhe line through t he t hird bay of the basilica indicates where Michelan gelo planned h is
facade (see Michelangelo' s conception in the preceding chapter ).
pride; t he gigant ic works ar e carried ou t . B ut a man has only two
eyes that are 1 met er 70 from t he ground, and that fix on j ust one
p oint at a time . The arms of the star s are visible only one after
SAINT PE TER'S IN ROME: Michelangelo made a n enor- another and a re straight lines under foliage. A str aight line is not a
mou s dome surpassing everything that had previously been seen; st ar; the stars fall apart . And so does everything else: the large pool,
having crossed the portico , you were under the immense dome. But the embr oidery parterres that are e},,_'ter nal to a vision of the whole,
the popes added three bays in front and a large vestibule. The idea t he buildings that can be seen only in fragments and by moving
is destroyed. One must now pass through a tunnel 100 met ers long about. It' s trickery, illusion. L ouis XIV deceived himself at his own
before r eaching the dome; two equivalent volumes fight it out; the instigation. He transgressed the truths of architecture because he
benefit of architecture is lost (the initial error is disproportionately did not proceed with t he objective element s of architecture (fig. 17) .
magnified by a decor of coar se vanity, and Saint P et er's remains an And t he little prince of a grand duchy, one who, like so many
enigma for architects) . Hagia Sophia in Constantinople t riumphs oth er s, paid court to the Sun King 's glory, laid out t h e city of
with a surface a r ea of 7, 000 square met ers, while Saint P eter's KARLSRUHE , which is the most lamen t able failure of an inten-
encloses 15,000 (fig. 16). t ion, a perfect "knockout ." The star r emains stuck on paper: slight
230 TOWARD AN A R CHITECTURE
consolation. An illusion. The illusion of the beautiful plan. From

every corner of the city only three windows of the chateau are visi-
ble and they always seem to be the same ones; the humblest apart-
ment building would be just as effective. From the chateau, it's
always the same street you'r e going down, and all the streets in
any little town make a similar effect. Vanity of vanities. "\Ve must
not forget, when laying out a plan, that it is the human eye that
observes its effects (see fig. at the head of this chapter).
vVhen we pass from construction to architecture it is because
we have an elevated intention. vVe must shun vanity. Vanity is what
causes the vanities of architecture.
P ARTHEKOK.
ARCHITf CTURf
III
PURf CRfATION Of THf MIND

A R CH I TECT U RE, PURE CREATIO~ OF TI-IE 1VIIND 233
You work with st on e, with wood, with concrete ; you ma ke them into
houses and palaces; this is con struction. Ingenuity is at work.
B ut suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good, I am happy, I say: "It
is beaut iful. " This is arch itecture. A.rt is present.
My hou se is prnctical. Thank you, as I thank t he engineers of the railroad
and t he t elephone company. You h ave n ot touched my heart .
But the walls r ise again st t h e sky in an order such that I am moved. I
Contour modulation is the touchstone of the architect. The latter sen se your intentions. You wer e gentle, brut al, charming, or dignified. Your
st ones tell me so. You r ivet me to this spot and my eyes look . My eyes look at
reveals himself as artist or mere enginee,: something t h at st ates a thou ght. A thought that clarifies itself without words
Contour modulation is f ree of all constraint. or sounds, bu t only t hrough prisms that have rela tionships with one another.
It is no longer a question of routine, nor of traditions, nor of con- These pr ism s ar e such that the light details them clearly. These relationships
don't n ecessarily h ave a nything t o do with what is p ractical or descrip t ive.
struction methods, nor of adaptation to utilitarian needs. They are a mathematical creation of you r mind. They are the language of
Contour modulation is a pure creation of the mind; it calls f or the architecture. ·w ith inert materials, based on a more or less utilitarian pro-
plastic artist. gram that you go beyond. you have established relationships that moved me. It
is archit ect ure.
"\i\Th at dist inguishes a beau t iful face is the quality of the fea-
t ures and t he quite distinctive value of their unifying relationships.
E very individual has a facial type: nose, mouth, for ehead, etc., as
well as a p roportional mean among these elemen ts. Ther e are mil-
lions of faces built on these essen tial types, yet all are differ ent:
t her e is variation in t he qu ality of the featur es an d va riation in
t heir unifying relationships. "\Ve say th at a face is beautiful when
t he precision of the modeling and the disposit ion of the features
r eveal proportions that we sense as harmonious because a t our core,
beyond our senses, t hey give rise to a reson ance, t o a kind of sound-
ing boar d t hat is set vibrat ing. The trace of a n indefinable absolu te
preexisting at t he core of our being.
This sounding boar d t hat vibrates ,vithin us is ou r cr iterion of
harmony. This mu st be the axis along which man is organized, in
perfect accor d wit h nature and, probably, wit h the universe:_an axis
of organization that must be t he same as the one along which all
phenomen a and all objects of nature align . T his axis leads us to
suppose a unifying managemen t in t he univer se, t o assume a single
PAR'l'HEKON. - Temples were raised on the Acropolis that are of one mind and that swept
up the desolate landscape and made it serve the composition. So from all along the hori-
zon's rim, the thou ght is one. That is why no other works of architecture with this grandeu r
exist. We can speak of "Doric" when man, having raised his sights and completely sacri-
ficed the accidental, has attained the uppermost region of the mind: austerity.
I.)
IJ
I nner porch of the Propylaea. The plastic system declares itself in unity. P ROPYLAEA. - ·w here does the emotion come from? From a certain relationship between
categorical elements : cylinders, polished floor, polished walls . From an accord with the
things of the site. From a plastic system whose effects encompass every element of the
co mposition . From a unity of idea extending from unity of materials to unity of contour
modulat ion.
P ROPYLAE A . - The emotion comes from a unity of intention. Fl·om an unbending det ermi-
nation t hat dressed t he ma rble with a will to the purest, the clearest, the most economical. E RECH THEUl!. - T here was a moment of compassion and t he I onic was born; but t he
Th ey sacrificed a nd stripped away unt il the moment when it was imperative to remove Parthenon dictated the forms of the Caryatids.
nothing more, to leave only t hose concise a nd violent things, sou nding clear and tragic like
bronze tru mpets.
238 TOWARD A N A R CHITE CT URE A R CI-II 'fE CT U RE , P U RE CREATIO N OF T H E MI)ID 239
PAR1'HENO X. - Poet-e.xegetes have declared that the Doric column was inspired by a tree PARTH ENOK. - We must get it into our heads that D oric did not spring up in the fiel ds
that shot up from the ground without a base, etc. etc. , proof that all beautiful artistic with the asphodels, and that it is a pure creation of the mind. Its plastic system is so pure
forms are drawn from nature. Th is is utterly false, because trees "ith straight t runks a re that one has the sensation of something natural. But careful, it is a complete work of man,
unknown in Greece, where only stunted pines and twisted olives grow. The Greeks created one that gives u s full percept ion of a profound harmony. Its forms are so distinct from the
a plastic system that activates our senses directly and powerfully: columns, column flu ting, look of nature (and how superior to the E!n1Jtian and the Gothic), they a.re so alert to the
entablatures complicated a nd heavy with inten tion, steps that contrast and join with the logic of light a nd materials, that they seem linked to the sky, linked to the ground, natu-
horizon. They implemented the most learned distortions, impeccably adapting the contour rally. T his creates a fact as natu ral to our underst anding as the fact "sea" or the fact
modulation to the laws of optics. "mount ain." What works of man have attained this level1
will at the origin. The laws of physics would follow from this a.."Tis,
and if we acknowledge (and love) science and its works, t h at is is because t hey are align ed with t he axis. H ence a possible defini-
because the one and the other leave u s to assume that they wer e tion of harmony: a moment of accord wit h the axis that lies wit hin
prescribed by this firs t ·wilL If the r esults of calculation s seem t o u s man , and thus with t he laws of the universe - a r etur n to the gen -
satisfying and harmonious, that is b ecause they come from the axis. eral order. This would provide an explanation for our satisfaction
If, through calculations, the airplan e takes on t he appear ance of a on seeing certain objects, a sat isfaction that commands at every
fish, of a natural obj ect, that is becau se it r ecovers the axis. If t h e moment an effective unanimity.
dugout can oe, th e musical instrument, and t h e turbine, the r esults
of experiment and calculation, seem to us like "organized" ph e - If we stop in front of the Parthen on , t h at is because the sight
nomena, which is to say as t hough imbued with a certain life, t hat of it m akes the in n er chord sound; t he axis is tou ched. vVe do n ot
240 T OWARD A K A R CH I TE CT U RE ARCH I TE CT U RE , P U R E CREAT IOK OF THE MIX D 241
P AH.'l' I IENOX .
- A machine fo r st irrin g emotion. 1Vc enter into t he implacabilit_v of the
mechanical. There are no symbols attached to these fo rms; these forms give rise to cate-
gorical sensations ; no longer any need for a key to understand. Bmt ality, intcns_ity, great
gentleness, e..,treme delicacy, e::>.-treme strength. And who hit upon the composition of these
clements? An inventor of genius. T hese stones were inert in the quarries of Pentelikon,
unfor med. 'lb group them in this wa:v, one did not have to be a n engineer; one had to be a
PARTHENOi'i . - Plast ic system. great sculptor.
242 TOWARD AN ARCHI'l'ECTURE ARCII I 'l'ECTURE, PURE CREATION OF T HE MI ND 243
. -.. ..,
~.,..i.
' \
PROPYLAEA. - Things become more precise, the moldings tighten, relationships are _e stab- P ,\RTIIE XOI\ . - Fl·actions of a millimeter come into play. 1'he curve of the echinus is as
lished between the annulets of the capital, the abacus, and the bands of the arclntrave. rational as that of a large ar tillery shell. T he annulets are fifteen meters from the grou nd,
but th ey tell much more than the baskets of acanthus of t he Corinthian order. The
Corinthian state of mind or the Doric st ate of mind: two different things. A moral event
creates a n abyss between them.
stop in front of pediments (the same primary elements), because
beyond raw sensation, t he Madeleine is not going t o touch our axis;
we do not feel the profound harmony, we are not riveted to the spot one and all, a fundamental attitude that is characteristic of t hem.
by this r ecognition. I repeat: the work of art must have a character of its own.
Natural objects and works based on calculations are clearly
formed; their organization is without ambiguity. It is because we To formulate the work clearly and animate it with unity, to give
see well that we can read, kno-w, and feel t he accord. I repeat: the it a basic a ttitude or character: pure creation of the mind.
work of art must be clearly formulated. This is generally accepted when it comes to painting a nd
If the obj ects of nature live, and if works based on calculations music, but architecture is reduced to its u tilitarian causes: bou-
turn and provide jobs, that is because a unity of driving intention doirs, water closets, radiators, r einforced concrete, barrel vaults or
animates them. I repeat: the work of art must have a driving unity. pointed arches, etc. etc . 'I'hese pertain to const ruction, which.is not
If natural objects and works of mathematical calculation com- architecture. Architecture is when there is poetic emotion. Archi-
mand our attention and stir our interest, that is because t hey have, tecture is a plastic thing. Plasticity is what we see and what we
244 'rOWARD A"'.\' ARCHITECTURE ARCHITEC'l' URE , P URE CREATIO N OF TI-IE M I N D 245
measure with our eyes. It goes without saying that if t he r oof reason to confuse the two. It is clear that the architect ought to
leaked, if the heating didn't work, if the walls cracked, the joys of have mastered his construct ion at least as precisely as t he thinker
architecture would be greatly hindered, like a gentleman listening has master ed his grammar. But construction being, in other
to a symphony while sitting on a pincushion or in a draft blowing r espects, a science more difficult and complex than grammar, the
through the door.
Almost all periods of architecture have been linked to structural
P AHTIIEKON. - Fractions of a millimeter come into play. There are many molding elements,
but everyt h ing is organized to benefit strength. Astonishing manipulations: str ing courses
curve inward or t ilt forward the better to present themselves t o the eye. Incised lines
underscore background shadows that otherwise would be indecisive.
This is a magnificent full -scale cast in the E cole des Beau..x-Arts. The influence of the teach- efforts of the archit ect long remain t ied up with it; he ought not to
ers is such, on the quai Voltaire, that the students prefer the Grand Palais. be brought t o a standstill by it.
investigations. The conclusion has often been drawn: architectu r e The plan of the house, its cubic volu me, and its surfaces have
is construction. Archit ects may well have largely channeled their been determined partly by the utilitar ian givens of the problem and
efforts into the constructional problems of the day, but t his is no part ly by imaginat ion and plastic creation . .Already in his plan , and
246 TOWA RD AN ARCHITE CTURE ARClII TEC'l' U RE , P U RE CRE ATIO N OF THE .MIND 247
consequently in everything that rises in the space, the architect has masterful, correct, and magnificent play of volumes in light. Con-
been a plastic artist; he has disciplined utilit arian demands in tour modulation leaves t he practical man, the bold man, the inge-
virtue of a plastic goal that he pursued; he has made a composition. niou s man behind; it calls for the plastic art ist .
Then came the moment when the lines of the fac e had to be Greece, and in Greece the Parthenon, ma rked the pinnacle of
incised. He made plays of light and shadow that reinforce wha t he t his pure cr eation of t he mind: contour modulation .
.....,..__....._J4/t- ... - ·
...
PARTHE:s:o:-.-. The whole of this pl astic mechanics is realized in marble with the r igor that
we have learned to apply in mach ines . The impression is one of cut and polished steel.
P ARTl!E:S:Oc('. ~ Austere profiles . D oric morality.
wanted to say. Contour modulation intervened. And contour modu-
lation is free of all constraint; it is a total invention that makes a vVe sen se t hat it is no longer a question of r ou tine, nor of tra-
face radiant or ,vithers it. \Vith contour modulation, one acknowl- ditions, nor of construction methods. It is a question of pu re inven-
edges t he plastic artist; the engineer steps aside and the sculptor t ion, so personal t hat we can speak of a man ; Pheidias made
works . Contour modulation is the touchstone of the a r chitect; it the P a rt henon , for Ikt inos and Kallik rates , the official architects
puts him up against the wall: to be or not to be a plastic artist. of the Parthenon, built other D oric temples t ha t seem to ~us cold
Architecture is the masterful , correct, and magnificent play of and of middling interest. Passion, generosity, gr andeur of sou l: so
volumes in light; contour modulation is still and exclusively the many virtues t hat are inscribed in t he geometries of the con tour
248 TOWARD AN ARCHITECTURE ARCHITE CTU RE, P URE CREATION OF TI-IE ~IIKD 249
modulation , quantities manipulated into precise relationships . It spectator so violently, the Parthenon brings certainties: superior
is Pheidias who made the Parthenon, Pheidias the great sculpt or. emotion, mathematical order. Art is poetry : emotion of the senses,
There is nothing like it in the architecture of all the world and the joy of a mind that measures and appreciates, the recognit ion of
all time. It is the moment of utmost acuity when a man, moved by an axial principle that affects the core of our being. Art is this pu re
P,\RTHENOK . The courage of squared moldings.
the noblest thoughts, crystallized them in a plastique of light and

sh adow. The contour modulation of the P arthenon is infallible,
implacable. Its rigor surpasses our habits and the normal possibili- PARTHENON. - T he courage of squared moldings, austerity, elevated mind.
ties of man. Here we find fi.··md the purest witness to the physiology
of sensations and to the mathematical speculation that can be tied crea tion of the mind t hat shows us, at certain heights, the height of
to this; our senses are riveted, our minds are ravished; we touch t he creation to which man can attain. iilld man experiences great happi-
axis of harmony. There is no question of r eligious dogma, of sym- ness on f eeling himself create.
bolic description, of natural figuration: these are pure forms in pre-
cise r elationships, to the exclusion of all else. NOTA. ~ The ph ot ographs that illustrate this ch apter come from the
For two thousand years, those who have seen the P arthenon book Le Parthenon by Collignon , published by E ditions Albert Morance, 30
have felt: t his was a decisive moment for architecture. and 32 rue de F leur us, Paris, and from t he book L'Acropole available now
from t h e same publisher. These two magnificent books, genuinely-accurate
We stand before a decisive moment. A.t the present t ime when
documents of t he Part hen on and the Acr opolis , wer e made possible thanks to
the arts are feeling their way a nd when painting, for example, find- the skill of t he photographer Frederic B oissonnas, whose perseverance,
ing litt le by little the formulas for a robust expression, j ars the enterprise, and qualities as a plastic a rt ist have revealed to us the most
importa nt Greek wor ks of the great period.
() ARCHI T E CT U RE , P U RE CREATION OF 'l' I-IE MIND 251
'
/
4]~ ,
i .~
u~
. .
.
_,
~f,t
'·1
-!
t.,\ PAR'l'IIEcsO:-i . - The tympanum of t he pediment is bare. The profile of the cornice is taut
~1
like the line of an engineer.
- t , J.
• ·;_¼I'
l
Photo I-Iostache.
MASS-PRODUCTION HOUSING
MASS-PROD UCT ION H OUSI KG 255
A great era has just begun.

There exists a new spirit.
Industry, invading like a river that rolls to its destiny, brings us
new tools adapted to this new era animated by a new spirit.
The law of Economy necessarily governs our actions; only through
it are our conceptions viable. The program has just been established. MM. Loucheu r an d
The problem of the house is a problem of the era. Social equilib- B onnevay ask t he Chamber for a law decreeing the construction of
500,000 low-cost housing units. This is an exceptional oppor tunity
rium depends on it today. The first obligation of architecture, in an era
in the annals of construction, an opport unity that r equires equally
of renewal, is to bring about a revision of values, a revision of the con- exceptional means.
stitutive elements of the house. But everything remains to be done; nothing is r eady for the
Mass production is based on analysis and experimentation. realization of this immense program. The state of mind does not exist.
Heavy industry should turn its attention to building and standard- 'l'he state of mind for bu ilding mass-pr oduction housing·, the
ize the elements of the house. state of mind for living in mass-production housing, t he state of
We must create a mass-production state of mind: mind for conceiving mass-production housing.
A state of mind for building mass-production housing, Everything remains to be done; nothing is r eady. Specialization
has scarcely been broached in the realm of building. Neither the
A state of mind for living in mass-production housing,
factories nor the specialized technicians exist.
A state of mind for conceiving mass-production housing.
But in the blink of an eye, if a mass-production state of mind
If we wrest from our hearts and minds static conceptions of the ca me into being, everything would soon be u ndenvay. I n effect, in
house and consider the question from a critical and objective point of all the branches of building, industry, as powerful as a natural
view, we will come to the house-tool, the mass-production house that is force, invading like a river t hat rolls t o its d estiny, tends more and
healthy (morally, too) and beautiful from the aesthetic of the work too ls more to transform raw natural materials and to pr oduce what ar e
that accompany our existence. called "new materials." 'l'hese are legion: cements and limes, steel
Beautiful too from all the life that the artistic sense can bring to beams , ceramics, insula ting materials , pipes, hardware, water -
these strict and pure organs. proofing composit ions, etc. etc. For the momen t, all this arr ives at
buildings under construction in bulk , is fitted together haph az-
ardly, entails enormous costs in labor, provides hybrid solu t ions.
That is because t he various objects of construction have not been
mass produced. That is becau se the state of mind being absent, no
one has under t aken a rational study of the objects , much less a
r ational study of construction itself; the mass-production state of
mind is hateful to architects and to inhabitants (thr ough contagion
a nd per suasion) . I magine: we've j ust gotten as far, all breathless,
as r-e-g-i-o-n-a-1-i-s-m! Phew! And the funniest t hing is the devas-
tation of the invaded lands along the way. Faced with t he immense
task of rebuilding ever ything, people go t o their lit tle bags, take ou t
,.. ..
~
- ------ ----::::::::
L . C. , 1915. Cluste1· of mass-production houses with "Domino" frames . In 191 5, the price boards, and windows, all of wh ich were to the same module. Contrary to nor mal practice,
of steel a nd cement made possible the significant use of reinforced concr ete. Formed the factory-pr oduced woodwork ,n, s installed before the walls, aut omatically dictating the
fra mes were delivered by a contractor onto six blocks previously set up on a level sur- alignment of the latter as well as of the interior partitions; the walls and partitions were
fa ce, above grou nd. The walls and part itions were only light in-fill construction and built up round the woodwork a nd t he house could be erected in its entirety by a single
could be built , without specialized labor, out of adobe, bricks, or cinder blocks. T he corps of craftsmen : masons . Tha t left onl}; the pipes t o be installed. (One day soon, we will
height between two slabs ,ms coordinated wit h th at of the doors and imposts, cup- be able to use wi ndows that are much more refined than the ones presently available to us.)
L. C., 1920. H ouses made of poured concrete. 'l 'hey are poured from above, as one would methods; people don't believe in houses built in thr ee days; a year is necessary, and pitched
fill a bot tle, " ~th liquid cement. The house is built in thr ee days . It emerges from the roofs, and dormers, and mansards.
fon mvork like a piece of cast metal. But people revolt in the face of su ch "offliand"
258 TOWARD AK ARCHI TE CTURE MASS- P R ODUC'I'ION HOUSING 259
their pipes of Pan, and play them: play them in committees and membranes; t her e are huge loads in this building. Thin walls to
commissions. 1'hen they vote resolutions. This one, for example, protect against temper ature differences and partitions 11 centime-
which is ·worth mentioning: to put pressure on the Compagnie des ters thick despite the h uge loads. Things certainly have changed!
Chemins de fer du Nord to build thirty st ations in different styles T he t ransport crisis was at its height; people not iced that
along the Paris-Di eppe line, because each of the thir ty stations houses represented a consider able tonnage. vVh at if ·we r educed t his
bypassed by express trains has a hill and such and such an apple tonnage by four-fifths ? Now there's a modern state of mind.
tree that sets it apart and are its character, its soul et c. F at eful The war shook us up; t here was talk of Taylorism; it was imple-
pipes of Pan! mented. Contract or s bought machines that were ingenious, stead-
The first effects of the industrial evolution in "building" mani- fast, and agile. Will construction sites soon be factories? There is
fest themselves in this primordial stage: the replacement of natural talk of houses t hat are poured from above with liquid concr ete in a
materials by artificial m aterials, of heterogenous and unreliable single day, as one might fill a bottle.
materials by materials that are homogenous and laboratory t ested .And one t hing leads to another. After having manufactured so
and produced with standar dized elements. Standardized materials many canons, airplanes, t rucks, and railway cars, we ask ourselves:
should replace natural materials, which are infinit ely variable. "Can we not manufacture houses?" No·w there's a state of mind
Furt h ermore , the law of E conomy comes into its own: steel wholly of our era. Nothing is ready, but ever ything can be done.
beams and, more r ecently, r einforced concrete are pur e manifesta - Within twenty years, industry will have bulk standardized materi-
tions of calculations, of using materials completely and precisely; als like those of metallurgy. Technical advances will take heating,
whereas the old timber beam perhaps harbors some traitorous knot lig·hting, a nd r ational construction methods far beyond anything we
and its squaring off leads to a considerable loss of material. know. Construction sites will no longer be places of erratic bir th
Finally, in certain domains the technicians have spoken. w ·ater throes where all problems are complicated by their being crammed
and lighting utilities are evolving rapidly; central heating has taken t ogether. Financial and social organization ,vill successfully address
into account the structure of walls and windows - cooling surfaces t he housing problem t hrough concer ted and powerful methods, and
- and consequently stone, t he good natural stone in walls a meter construction sites will be immense, managed a nd operated like
thick has been outdone by light double skins made of cinder block, administrative bodies. Urban and suburban site plans will be vast
and so forth. Some en t ities, virtual demigods, have fallen: the roofs a nd orthogonal and no longer horribly misshapen; they will allow
that no longer need be pitched to repel water, the big and so beauti- for the use of mass-produced parts and t he industrialization of the
ful ·window embrasures that irritate us becau se they immure a nd construction site. P erh aps we will finally stop building "to mea-
deprive u s of light; t he massive pieces of wood t hat are as t hick as sure." .An inevitable social evolution will have transformed the rela-
can be, solid for et ernity, but no, that pop and split in front of a tionship between tenant and landlord, will have changed our
radiator, whereas plywood 3 millimeters thick remains intact, etc. conception of housing, and cities will be or dered instead of chaotic.
In the good old days (and t h ey contin ue , alas) you saw big 'l'he house will no longer be a squat thing that pretends to defy t he
horses bring enormous stones to construction sites, and lots of men centuries a nd t hat is an opulent object manifesting wealth; it will
for unloading them, cu tting them, dressing them, lift ing them onto be a tool like the automobile is becoming a tool. The hou se will no
scaffolding, and fitting them by verifying their six faces ca refully, longer be an archaic entity heavily rooted in the ground by deep
measure in hand; it took two years to build a house like that; today foundat ions, built "solid," a nd t o which the cult of family, bloodline
we build apartment buildings in a few mon t hs; t he Paris-Orleans etc. has so long been devoted.
Railway has just completed its immense cold stor age building If we wrest from our hearts and minds static conceptions ·of the
at Tolbiac. Only sand granules and clinker s, no bigger than hazel- hou se and consider t he question from a critical and objective point
nuts, were brou gh t to t he construction site; the walls are as thin as of view, we will come to t he house-tool, the mass-production house
L. C., 1915. "Domino" house. 'l'he const ruction method is here a pplied to a mansion ous and rhythmic and make it possible to pr oduce true architecture. It is here that the
realized at the same rate per cubic meter as a simple worker's dwelling. 'l'he archi- principle of the mass-production house shows its moral value: a definite connection
tectural resources of the construction method permit arrangements t hat are gen er- between housing for the rich and that for the poor, decency in housing for the rich.
accessible to all , healt hy, incompar ably mor e so t ha n t he old one

(morally too) and beautiful from t he aest hetic of th e work tools I t will be beautiful t oo from all the animation t hat an artistic
t hat accompany our existence. sense can bring to its strict and pu re or gans.
262 TOWARD A N ARCHITECTURE MASS -PRODUCTIOK HO USING 263
"Domino" housing development.
But we must create the state of mind for living in mass-production

housing.
Everyone rightly dreams of the safety and security of a home of
his own. Since this is impossible in our present state, this dream, L. C., 1915. I nterior of a "Domino" house . Mass-produced windows , mass-produced doors,
considered unrealizable, induces a veritable sentimental hysteria; mass-produced cabinets; combinations of two, four, twelve window elements; one door with
building one's house is a bit like making one's will. ... Vilhen I build one impost, or two doors with t wo imposts, or two doors ,~; thont impost s, etc., cupboards
with glazed upper portions and lower ones with drawers, serving as bookshelves, chest s of
my house ... I will put my st atue in the foyer and my little dog Ketty drawers, service buffets, etc ..All t hese elements, which are to be provided by major indus-
·will have his sitting room . ·when I have a roof over my head, etc. A try, arc to a common module; they fit together perfectly. The frame of the house having
been cast, they are placed side by side in the empty shell and provisionally secured ,vith
bat tens: the voids are filled in with plast er, bricks, or lath work. Things are done counter
to routine methods and months are gained. 1ilso gained is an arch itectural unity of crucial
impor tance and, ,vith the module, proportion enters into the house of itself.
subj ect for the neu rological specialist. vVh en the time for building
t his house has come, it is not the hou r of the mason or of t he techni-
cian , it is the hour when every man fashions at least one poem in
his life. So we have, for t he last forty years, in the cities and their
periphery, not houses but poems, poems of Indian summer, for a
house is t he crowning momen t of a career ... t he p recise moment
when one is so old and worn out by existence as to be prone t o
rheumatism and death .. . and wacky ideas.
"Domino" house. Residence and worksh op. No bearing walls; t he windows go r ight round
the house.
L . C. , 1922. Mass-production workers' housing. A well-designed housing development, the
L . C. , 1922 . House of an artist; reinforced concrete frame and cavity "cement-gun" walls,
same house presents itself fro m various angles. Four concret e posts; "cement-gun" walls.
each skin 4 centimeters thick. Formulat ing the problem clearly; determining the tJ1)ical
I s it aesthet ic¥ .Architectur e is a matter of plastique, not of romanticism.
needs of a dwelling; resolving the question as railroad cars, tools, etc. are resolved .
L. C., 1919. H ouses made of coar se concrete. The terra in consisted of gravel beds. A quar ry process. T he sound economic management of modern building sites requires the exclusiYe
was opened OJ) the site; lime a nd gravel were rnc.xed and poured to make a platform 40 cen- use of straight lines, the straight line is the g1·and acquisition of modern architecture, and
timeters thick; reinforced concrete floors. A special aesthetic is born directly from the it is a good thing. '\Ye must clear our minds of romantic cobwebs.
MASS-PROD U CTIO N H OUSI NG 267
L.C., 1921. "Citrohan" (not to say Citroen) mass-product ion house . In other words, a house
like an aut omobile, conceived and built like a bus or a ship's cabin . Present housing neces-
sities can be identified and require solutions . We must work against the old house that mis-
used space. We must (present necessity: low net cost) look upon the house as a machine
for living in or as a tool. \Vhen you create an industry, you buy the equipment; when you
set up house, at present you rent a stupid apart ment. U ntil now we made houses into
barely coherent groupi ngs of many large rooms; in the rooms there was always too much
space and not enough space. Today, fortunately, we no longer have enough money to per -
petuate this routine and si nce we don't want to consider the problem in its true light
(machines for living in) we cannot build in the cities and a disastrous crisis is the result;
with budgets, we could build apartment buildings that are admirably laid out, on the con-
dit ion, of course, that tenants change their mindset; besides, they will confor m a nyway
un der pressure of necessity. Windows and doors should have their dimensions rectified; pletely cha nge our state of mind. Beauty1 It is always presen t when the intention and
railway cars and limousines have proven to u s that man can pass through small openings the means that are proportion exist ; proportion doesn't cost the owner a nything, j ust
and that we can calcula te space to the square centimeter; it is criminal to build four- the architect. 'l' he heart will be touched only if reason is satisfied and it can be when
square-meter bathrooms. Building costs having quadrupled, we must reduce old architec- things are calculated. \Ye must not be ashamed to live i n houses without pitched roofs,
tural pretensions by half and the square fo otage of houses by at least ha lf; this is to own wall s as thin as sheet metal a nd windows similar to factory chassis. Bu t what
henceforth a problem fo r the technician; we ca ll u pon the discoveries of industry ; we com- we can be proud of is having a house as practical as our typewriter.
R AI S ED BA SE ME N T FIR ST FLOOR M EZZANINE U PPER Fl.OOR
L .C., 192 1. A " Citr ohan" house . Frame on concr ete supports poured on-site and 1:aised with
winches. Cavity walls wit h 20-cent imeter voids enclosed by 3-centimeter skins made of
. ;: .. . .'
cement sprayed on to str et ched sheet metal; floor slabs to the same module; strips of fac-
L. C., 1922 . Mass-production vi.Ila, 72 m 2• Concrete a nd cement-gun frame. One large room, tory window frames ,,ith p ractica l openings to the same module. Spat ial arra ngements con-
9 x 5 m; kitchen and ma id's room; bedroom with bathroom a nd boudoir; two bedr ooms and sisten t wit h domestic use; abun dan t light consist ent with the purpose of the r ooms;
a solar ium. hygienic needs met and servants treated with respect.
------··.. -·-- · -----~-.,,0 :-:----- ---~ ---1~---------------------------------------;
\ ,,
L . C., 1919 . "Mono]" House. Transport crisis: the ordinary house weighs too much: lation ratio; the ceilings and floors are of arched corrugated sheet metal (very
br icks, " ·oodwork, concrete, f1ooring, ti les, and wood frames mean fo rmidable con- shallow arch ) made of asbestos cement that forms a shutter supporting a co11-
voys of railroad cars rolling through the French countryside. crcte screed several centimeters thick. The arched sheet metal remains in place
The problem of the factory-produced house is posed. Construction principle: asbestos and forms a permanent insulation barrier. vVoodwork , windows, and doors a re
cement blocks \\ith walls 7 millimeters thick that form foundations 1 meter high fitted at the same time as the asbestos cement blocks. The house is completed
filled with rough materials found on-site (rocks, gravel, rubble etc.), bound by a si11gle p rofessional cor ps of craftsmen and the only transpor t needed is
together loosely Thith lime but leaving gaps that give the walls a significant insu- that of a double skin of asbestos cernent 7 millimeters thick.
~
J;! ~
L . C., "Mono]" House. \Vhen we talk abou t mass~production houses, we talk about will seem calm, ordered, and neat; it will inevitably impose discipline on the
enti re housing developmen ts. Unity of structural elements is a guarnntee of inhabitants: America offers us t he example of eliminating ga rden walls thanks to
beauty. 'l 'he variety that an architectural ensemble must have is prm~ded by hous- the new state of mind created over ther e of respect for the p1·operty of ot hers;
ing developments that fostc,· the grand onlonnances, the veritable rhythms of this would give suburbs a more spacious aspect , for t he disap pearance of enclos-
architecture. A town that is well laid out a nd built "ith mass-produeed clements ing walls means a net gain in sun and light fo r everyone.
270 TOWARD AN ARCHITE CT URE MASS-PR OD UCTION H OU SING 271
Salon of the seaside villa. The suppor ts of uniform section, the ceilings with shallow arches,
the standardized window units, the solids and voids make up the architectural elements of
the constrnction.
L. C., 1921. Seaside villa built with mass-produced elements: r einfo1·ced concrete posts at an
equal spacing of five meter s in each direction; fl oors of slightly arched reinforced concrete.
, Vithin this frame, similar to those found in all industrial buildings, the plan is easily taken
care of with light par titions. The net construction cost is among the lowest in building.
There is an aesthetic gain in modular unity of the first impor tance. The savings realized over
complicated construction methods make it possible to enclose more floor space and more
volume. The light partitions can be shifted afterward and t he plan can easily be changed.
L. C., Interior of a "Mono!" H ouse adapted for comfortable living. If cultivated people k new
that perfec tly ham 1onious dwellings costing much less than their city apa1·tments could be
built using mass-produced elements, they would pressure the national railroad to pu t a
stop to the shameful spectacle of the snburban trains in Gare Saint-Lazare; they would
do like the Berliners, and that would be ideal. Then we could make use of those vast areas
on the periphery. The mass-production house would enable precisely those solu tions that
a re most practical and of a pure aesthetic. But we must wait fo r the awakening of the rail-
Plan of the villa, showing the regularly spaced supports. r oad companies and the stirring of major industry, which must provide the mass-produced
elements.
"Villa apartments":
120 stacked villas. F loor plan of the ,illas.
At street Jew!, a large

entrance hall; on the
upper floors, large
staircase and 1nain
corridor.
Ground-floor plan of the

villas: shading incli -
cates the hanging
gardens.
L . C., 1922. Large rental apartment building. The drawings t hat follow show a proposal for a
b'TOnp of a hundred stacked villas on five levels, each two-story Yilla having its mm garden. A
hotel management agency administers the communal buildi ng services and J)l"O\·i des the solu-
tion to t h e servant crisis (a crisis that is just beginning and is an ineluctable social fact).
Modern technics ap plied to so lar ge a n enterprise substit ute t he machine and organ ization
"Villa apartmen ts": fragment of the facade. E very garden completely independent of th e "Villa apartments": mass-production const ruct ion using posts a nd slab s. Cavity wall s.
neighboring ones .
"Villa apartments" : general view (120 stacked Yillas) .
"Villa apart ments" : one of the hanging gardens.

vast k itchen pro,;des meals fo r either the villas or a communal restaura nt, as preferred.
E very villa has a spor ts room, but on the roof there's a large communal sports facility and
for human fatigue: hot water, central heating, refrigeration, vacuum cleaners, purified watei;
a 300-meter t rack. L ikewise on the roof, a recreation hall for use by the resident s. The
etc. Se!'vants arc no longer attached to particular households; they arrive here, a s a t a
usual mean entry to the house with the ine,;table concierge's lodge is replaced by a vast
factory, to put in their eight hours, and a n alert staff is available day and night. Raw a nd
hall; a doorman receives visitors here day and night and directs them to the elevators. In
cooked foods are provided by a pu rcha sing service, which leads to quality and economy. A
the large open courtyar d and on the roof of the u nderground garage, tennis courts. Trees,
flowers all around the courtya rd, and all around the street in the gardens of the villas. On
a ll floors, ivy and fl owers in ha nbring gardens. H ere the " Standard" comes into its own.
T he villas represent the type of rational and sensible design, shorn of all pomposity but
adequate and practica l. With the rental-purchase system, old and outmoded ownershjp sys-
tems no longer e.,:ist.
You pay no rent ; you own stock tha t is paid off in twenty years and the interest on which rep-
resents a very low rent.
More than anywhere else, mass production imposes itself on the large residential block: low
rent. And the mass-production spirit brings benefits that a re many and une,qJected in a
period of social cr isis: domestic economy.
"Villa apartments": view of a villa dining room (through window at right, the ha nging gar den) . "Villa apar tments" entry hall.
r--- - - - ------ - --- - - ----- - ----- ---·- - - - .....-,______ _
- - - - - - - -- - - -- - - -- -- - - - - - -- - - - 1~ - - -- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - --
L. C. J eanneret , 1925.
L et u s a nalyze the 400 m2 of terra in allocat ed to each inhabitant of a garden city: house pipes. cultivation by a farmer, carts for fertilizer and tra nsport of soil and crops , etc.).
and dependencies, 50 to 100 m2 ; 300 m2 are allocated to lawns, orcha rds, vegetable A farmer secs to surwillance and administration for each group. S heds pr otect the
gardens, planted parter res, Yacant land. ) Iaintenance that is di fficult, costly, t axing; ha rvested cr ops. Agricultural labor abandons the countryside; wit h the eight-hour
yield: a few boxes of carrots and a basket of pears. Ther e a re no playgrounds; chil- shift, the worker h ere becomes a fa n ner and produces a signifi ca nt portion of the
dren, men, and women cannot play, cannot do sport s. Sports should be an option things he consumes. Architecture, n rbanismT Logical study of the cell and its fu nc-
every hour of every clay, and they should be possible right outside the house and not t ions rclntive to the ensemble provide a solution rich in consc(Jnences.
at stadium grounds where only professionals and the idle go. Let us pose the prob-
lem more logically : hou se 50 m2 ; plea sure garden 50 ru 2 (this garden and this house - ~()!) - - ----- -· ·-----,,,
are situated on the ground fl oor or 6 or 12 meter s above the ground, in so-called hon-
eycomb cluster s. Right outside t he houses, vast playing fields (soccer, tennis, etc.) at
a rate of 150 m~ per house. In front of the houses (at a rate of 150 m 2 per house)
land fo r inrlustrializecl farming, intensi,·e farming "~th substantia l yield (irrigation by
1 s mall garden
3 houses and
D D
2 small gardens
2 houses and
3 smull garde ns
3 l,ouscs
.'l':'11 ,U J.l,Sll~.S J,Ot :s: : 7 U t ltt ll"'i'

- • "" -· 1•1. 1: ,u 1s ,, "
Xew Fh,ges <111arter in Bordeatn:. "H oneycomb" site plan fo r garden cities.
A fir st group under construct ion.
1924, Bordeaux-Pessac . Mocl el'n Frugi\s quarter.
li'i·agment of: a large ,·csidcutial development built wit h ceme nt guns. A typical housing u nit was meticu lously est ablished , and it is l'epcate<l in the
most varied combinations. lt is a vel'itable imh1stl'ia li zatiott of t he eonstrnction s it e .
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B ordca ux- Pcssac.

'l'he first ed ition of' I.h is hook deeply I.ouched a majo" iudustrialist in B ol'dcaux. A decis ion was t aken t o wipe clea n t he sla te of habit and l'Ollt inc . An elevated con-
ception of indust1·ia l t.hings and of architecture's des ti ny prompted t his industria list to take the most. com·ageous of init.ia tivcR. Perhaps /'0 1· the f'i,·st t.ime in Fh rncc,
tha nks to him, t he present al'chitcctural proble m. is resolved in a s pirit consiste nt with t he er a . E co nomy, s ociology, a est.hcties: il':,; a new 1'c a lizatio11 wit h new mea ns.
L. C. and P J ., 1924.
Mass-production housing fo r cra ftsme n. The problem: to house craftsmen in a large workshop
(open space 7 x 4.5 111 50) with good light . To reduce costs by doing away with partitions
a nd doors, by reducing, th rough the play of architecture, the usu al t1oor areas and room
heigh ts . The house is sup ported by a single hollO\,. column of reinforced concrete.
Thermally insulating walls of "solomite" (compressed straw) coated on the exterior with 5
centimeters of concrete a pplied wi th a cement gun, plaster on the int erior. In the whole
·· ; - ,.,,,<_3 "'111!~ \ house, two doors. The mezzanine on the diagonal allows the ceiling to develop to its fo ll
rLl . ..~.~• j
e:-,.1;ent (7 m x 7 m); the wall also displays its full d imcnsious and, in addition, the d iago-
nal of the mezzanine creates an unexpected dimension: this little 7-meter house impresses
-'
the eye " ith a major element that is 10 meters long.
,------ - -- - - - -- - - - -- - - - - -- -- -- -
0
! i·· -- -j
GROUND FLOOR
MEZZANI NE
I:
'i II
j 1T 1~ -
i
I i___ _u
-~- ·-- - --~=- .:$ - -- - - - - - - ~- J

Interior ,iew.
('l'he walls of the kitchen a nd part of the mezzanine consist of mass-produced elcments -
DIAGON AL CROSS SECT ION
fittings -from the U.P. series; sec page 283 .)
282 TOWAR D .AN A R CHITE CTU RE
CITE AIIJ>INColm'I'. SIJPlmf. MO'\' llES I.OTS '.!!lo M1. 1
(\\~-
·~\.Y...
.\ 01!\'l~ I Elt S
U. ~J.\ITliJSI: E;llPI.OYE!'-
C PlS (:l ,X1,:
1924. L. C. and P J. Orthogonal lot di,rision.

All the houses are built with standardized elements that make up the typical cell. The plot s
ar e of equal size; the ordouuanee is regulai·. Ar chit ecture has full scope here to exp ress
itself with precision and ease.
Le C01·busier and Pierre Jeanneret, 1924.

This :is one cell in the "villa apartments" (see above) . It is also the Pavilion de !'Esprit c{ouveau at
the International Exposition of D ecorative Arts in Paris 1925. A mass-production house for
the man of today. standardized architectural elements, fully industrialized construct ion.
Masonry c.xccuted by G. Summer, masonry contr actor, using the Ingersoll-Rand cement gun
applied to Solomite (compressed straw); floors and terraces idem . The floo r armatures as
well as the mass-produced windows by Raoul Decou rt, construction engineer. Joinery is
completely eliminated; carpenters no longer set foot in the building: the U)<JTED U P
B u s1KESS1>S of Czechoslovakia have produced standardized fittings that are suitable fo r
every bedroom and can be assembled like office filing cabinets. Glazing a nd pain t ing:
RUHL)!AN and LAUREXT.
284 TOWARD AN ARCHITECT URE
MASS-PROD UCTIOK HO USI NG 285
L. C. and P. J ., 1925. Villa in Bord eamc

Bllilt with mass-production clemen ts usi ng the same machinery as the houses in the garden
city of Pcssac (pp . 276- 78).
:VIass production is not a n obstacle to arcbjtcctu re. On the contrary, it bri ngs unity and per-
fection to details a nd offers variety in ensembles. Axonometric per spective of the villa.
286 TOWARD AN ARCI-IITEC 'I'URE
·. / t'
I /J CUUVI: A a C:Ulll' J: t;tt
I- {fl
,:/ A
I [
II
Section a nd plan
General view.
1925. L . C. and P J. Un iversity r esidential comple..x. We bnild student housing complexes a t
great e..xpense by committing ourselves to revive the poetry of the old buildings at Oxford.
A poetry that cost s us clear, disastr ously so. The student belongs to an age of protest
against old Oxford; old Oxford is a fantasy of the donor-patrons of university housing com-
plexes. " That the student wants is a monk's cell, well lit and well heated, with a corner to
gaze at the stars . H e wants to be able to find ready-to-hand whatever he needs to play
sports with his fellows. His cell should be as self-contained as possible.
Plan and cross sections.

Every student has a r ight to the same cell ; it would be en.el if t he cells of poor students were
different from the cells of r ich ones. So the problem is posed: u niversity hou sing as cara-
vansary; each cell has its vestibule, its kitchen, its bathroom, its living room, its sleeping
loft, and its roof garden. W;1.lls afford p rivacy to all. Everyone assembles on the adjacent
playing fields or i n the common rooms of shared service facilities. To classify, to establish
the type, to fi.x the cell a nd its elements. E conomy. Effic iency. .And architecture? Always,
when the problem is clear.
'I'he u niversity h ousing complex is conceived here in t erms of the "shed," a mode of con-
struction that permits of indefinite expansion as it ensures ideal lighting and eliminates
masses tha t arc load bearing (eiqJensive). The walls are no longer anything but light, insu-
lating in-fill materials.
Detail of garden terraces.

MASS- PRO D UC'l'IO X IIO USI::-J G 289
A question in the new spirit:

I am 40 years old, why not buy myself a hou se; for I need th.is
tool; a house like the Ford I bought ( or my Citroen, if I'm a dandy).
Committed collaborators: major industry, specialized factories.

Desirable collaborators: suburban railroads, financial organiza-
tions, a transformed Ecole des B eaux-Arts .
The goal: mass-production housing.
Coalition: ar chitects and aesthetes, the immortal cult of the home.
Implementers: business enterprise and true architects.

Casting out nines: l O t he Salon of Aviation ; 2° celebrated cities
of art (the Procurator 's Offices, the rue de Rivoli, t he place des
Vosges, the place de L a Carriere, the palace of' Ver sailles, etc.: repe-
tition) . For mass-produ ction housing automatically implies layou ts
t hat have breadth and gr andeur. F or mass-p r odu ction hou sing
entails a close study of all household objects and the sear ch for a
st andard, a type . When a t ype is created, ,ve are at the por tals of
beauty (the automobile, the liner, the railway car, the airplane ). For
mass-production housing will impose a u nity of elements: windows,
doors, construction methods , materials. Unity of details and grand
overall plans, that is what, in the century of Louis Xl\~ in a compos-
ite, congested, inextricable, uninhabitable Paris, was called for by a
very intelligent priest , Laugier, who dabbled in town planning: uni-
formity in the details, tumult in the whole (the contrary of' what we do:
a mad va riety of' details and a drab uniformity in the planning of'
streets a nd cit ies) .
L . C. and P J . A painter's atelier (sec p. 142).

290 TOvVARD A N ARCH I T EC T URE
Conclusion: What is in question is a problem of the era. More

than that: the problem of the era. Social equilibrium is a question of
building. vVe conclude with this defensible dilemma: Architecture or
Revolution.
l
I
40,000-kilowatt electric t urbine in Gennevilliers.
Low-pressure ventilator (Societc Ha teau . .Ma ss production) .
ARCHITECTURE
OR REVOlUTION
ARCH ITECTU RE OR REVOL U'l' IO:\T 293
In every domain of industry, new problems have been posed,

tool~ capable of solving them have been created. If we set this fact
agaznst the past, there is revolution.
In building, the factory production of standardized parts has
begun; on the basis of new economic needs, part elements and ensem-
ble elements have been created; conclusive realizations have been
achieved in parts and in ensembles. If we set ourselves agains t the
pa~t, there is revolution in the methods and the magnitude of enter- In every domain of industry, new problems have been posed and
prises. new equipment created t o solve them. Vve underestimate the extent
Whereas the history of architecture evolves slowly over the cen- of the break between our era and earlier periods; it is agreed that
turies in terms of structure and decor, in the last fifty years iron and this era has brought great transformations, bu t what would be use-
co~crete have brought gains that are the index of a great power to ful would b e t o compare its intellectual, social, economic, and
industrial activity not only with the period p rior to the star t of the
build and the index of an architecture whose code is in upheaval. If
nineteenth century, but with t he history of civilizations in gener al.
we set ourselves against the past, we determine that the "styles" no We would soon see that human tools , the automatic indu cers of
longer exist for us, that the style of an era has been elaborated; there social need s, hitherto subject only to slowly evolving changes, have
has been a revolution. just been transformed with a fabulous speed. Human t ools wer e
always in the hand of man: today, completely renewed and formi-
dable, they momentarily elude our gr asp. The human beast r emains
br eathless and panting befor e this tool that he cannot get a grip on;
Consciously or unconsciously, minds have become aware of these pr ogress seems as hateful to him as it is laudable; all is confusion in
events; consciously or un consciously, needs are born. his mind; he feels enslaved to a forcibly imposed order of things and
The social mechanism, deeply disturbed, oscillates between im- has no sense of liberation, of relief, of improvement. A period of
provements of historical importance and catastrophe. great crisis and above all of mor al crisis. To put the crisis behind
us, we must create a state of mind for understanding what is
It is a primal instinct of every living being to ensure a shelter.
happening, we mu st teach t he human beast to use his tools. ,,Then
The various working classes of society no longer have suitable
t he human beast is put back in his new har ness a nd knows what
homes, neither laborers nor intellectuals.
sort of effort is expected of him, he will r ecognize that things have
It is a question of building that is key to the equilibrium upset changed: t hat they have been improved.
today: architecture or revolution. Anot her word on t he subj ect of the past . Our er a, wit h just
t hese last fifty years, sets itself against ten centuries past. During
these t en previou s centur ies man or dered his life after systems
qualified a s "nat ural" : he did his own work and saw it through
to the end, being t he sole initiator of his little enterprise; he rose
with the sun, went to bed at nightfall; he put down his t ools think-
ing about the project u nderway and the things he would undertake
294
T OW.AR D AN .AR CH I T EC T U R E
ARC H I TEC TURE OR REVOLUTION 295
Built by the Steel Corporation .
But let's take a look at t he mechanism of t he family today.

E quitable Buildi ng, New York. Indu stry has led t o mass-p roduced par ts; man and ma_chine ''.'ork in
close collaboration; in telligence selection pr oceeds with an imper -
tomorrow. H e worked at home in a small shop a nd his family t urbable cer t ainty: unskilled laborer s, skilled w~rker s'. fo:emen,
was around him. He lived like a snail in it s shell, in a home made engineers, dir ectors, a nd administrators are al~ 1_11 the1r n?htful
to his exact measure; nothing prompted him to change t his state of place; and anyone who h as t he stuff of a~1 .ad~m1strat~r will not
things, ·which over all was harmonious enough. Family life ran its long remain in unskilled labor; every pos1t10n 1s acc~ss1ble to all.
nor mal course . 'l' he fat her kept watch over his children in t he Specializat ion t ies a ma n to his machine; everyone 1s he~d to an
cradle, then in the shop ; efforts and gains su cceeded_one another implacable standard of pr ecision, for a part t hat passes mto t he
smoothly within t he familial order ; things worked o,1t well for the ha nds of the next wor ker cannot be "put right" by him, cor recte_d
family. Now when things work out well for the family, the society is and adjusted; it must be p recise to contin_u e in ~t s role as a preci-
stable and likely to last . This applies to ten centuries of wor k sion component, r equired to fit au t om atically rnto a ~vhole. The
organized on the family module; t his holds just as well for all past father no longer teaches his son the myriad secr ets of his cr aft; an
cent u ries up t o t he middle of the nineteenth cen tury. unfamiliar for ema n strictly controls the rigor ous perfor mance of a
limited and cir cumscribed task. The worker m akes a ver y small
29 6 T OWARD AN ARC H I1'E CT URE
ARCI-II 'l 'E CTU RE OR RE VOLUTJO): . 297
------ -----~-- ·-· ___--------

.
_..
.
America. A 250-horsepower racing car capable of 263 kin per hour.

New Yor k.
~art, the same one for months, perhaps years, perhaps his whole is hideou s and the mind has not been educated for so man y free
life. H e sees the outcome of his labor only in the finished work : in hou rs. So' we ca n indeed writ e: Architecture or demoralization,
t ha t moment when, shiny, polished, and pure, it passes into the fac-
demoralization a nd revolution.
tory yard _on its way to the delivery trucks. The workshop spirit no
L et 's look at something else:
longer ~x~sts, ? ut a mor e collective spirit cer tainly does . If the The incr edible industrial activity of today, necessarily of great
w?rker 1s mtelhgent, he will understand the fate of his labor a nd he concern to us, puts before our eyes every hour, either . directly or
will d evelop~ well-deserved pr ide. When Auto magazine pu blishes a t hrough newspapers and magazines, objects of a~r est m g novelty
car t ha t has Just gone 260 km a n hour, t he workers will o-ather a nd
whose whys and wherefores interest, delight, and disconcert us. All
say t o one anot her: "It's our car that did that." This i: a mor ale t hese objects of modern life end up cr eating a certain modern s~ate
factor that matters.
of mind. vVe shift our attention wit h alarm t o the old r otten thmgs
. The eig~t-hou r day! !hree eigh t-hour shifts in the factory! The t hat ar e ou r snail shells, our dwellings, which hold u s in t heir
shifts wo1:k m relays . This one begins at 10 p .m . and ends at 6 in putrid and useless grip every day and offer nothing in _return.
the mornmg; a nother completed its work at 2 in t h e aft ernoon.
Everywhere we see machines that serve to prod~ce som~tlu_ng_ a nd
What wer e ,l egislators t hi;1king when they au thorized the eigh t -hour that produce it admirably, wit h pu rity. The machme we hve_m 1s an
day? vV11~t s a man who s free from 6 a .m. until 1 0 p.m., from 2
old crate of a pla ne riddled with tuberculosis . "\Ve don't 1?ndge the
p.m. u n til after midnight going t o do? Un til now only "bistros"
gap between our daily activities a t the factory, at the ?~fice, a ~ ~he
have take~ ~ppropriate me~sures . What becomes of t he family in
bank, healt hy, useful , an d productive, a nd our familial. ac~1v1~y
these cond1t10ns? The home 1s t here to take in the huma n beast and
t hat's h and icapped at every contour. E ver ywh er e, the fanuly 1s
welcome him, a nd the worker is cultivat ed enough to know how to
r uined a nd minds a r e demoralized by being t ied like slaves to
put so many fr ee hours to good use. B ut no, t hat's just it: the home
anachronistic t hings.
298 TOWA RD A~ ARCHI'l'E C'l'URE
,\R CHITECT URE OR REVOLU 'l'IO K 299
--- ---~--
Demag crane.
The mind of every man, shaped by his daily collaboration with

the modern event, has consciously or unconsciously formulated his Ships' coalcrs on the Rhine.
desires; these_de~ires a~e inevitably connected to the family, the
fundamental mstmct of society. Every man knows today that h e
must have s~n, heat_, clean air, and clean floors; he has been taught construction sites 1 those who distribute capital and see to the
to ~vear a bri~ht wlute collar, and women like underclothing that is accounting, those who buy from the coloni~s or fro~ factories ,
white and delicate. Man senses today that he must have the intel- t hose who edit so many articles about everything beautiful and hor-
lectual diversion, bodily relaxation, and physical exercise necessary rible that is produced, who keep track of the fever curve _of a
to recover from t he muscular or mental t ensions of work of "hard humanity in labor, in constant childbirth, in crisis, sometimes
labor. " This bundle of desires constitutes a summa of dem'ands. delirious. All human material passes through their hands. They of
But our social organization has nothing ready in the way of a course end up observing, and drawing conclusions. These people
response. have their eyes fixed on the display windows of the department
stores of humanity. The modern era lies before them, sparkling and
.Another thing: "W hat are intellectuals to conclude in the face of r adiant ... on the other side of the barricades. Back home, in pre-
t he present r ealities of modern life1 carious comfort, their salaries not really related to the quality of
. The spl~ndid industrial exl)losion of our era has created a spe- their work 1 they again find their dirty old snail shells and t hey can-
cial class of mtellectuals so large that it constitutes the active social not dream of starting a family. If they start a family, they begin the
stratum. slow martyrdom that we know. These people too claim their right to
. In the factory, in ~echnical firms, in analysts' offices, in banks, a machine for living in that is plain and simply humane.
m department stores, m newspaper s and magazines, there are engi- L aborer s and intellectuals are prevented from following the
n eers , department h eads, submanagers, secretaries, editors, and profound injunctions of the family; they use, every day, the brilliant
accountants who design, on commission, the formidable things and actively efficient t ools of the era, but t hey cl? n?t have t ~ie
t~at are our concern: those who design t he bridges, the liners, the option of putting them to work for themselves . N othm_g 1s more ~1s-
airplanes, who create the motors, the turbines, those who manag·e couraging, more maddening. Nothing is ready. Well nnght we wnte:
Architecture or Revolution.
300 TOWAR D A N ARCHITECT U RE
AR CH ITE C'l'U RE OR REVOL UTION 301
. ~fodern society does not pay intellectuals judiciously, but
it still tolerates old patterns of ownership at odds ,vith the trans- for individual sale, etc ., and many other even bolder pr ivate_ or
formation of the city and the house. Old ownership is based on state initiatives that might intervene) we would be able to bull?,
inheritance and thinks only of inertia, of changing nothing, of we would be ent husi astic abou t building, and we would avoid
perpetuating the status quo. While all other human enterprises r evolution.
are subjected to the tough ethic of competition, the owner sitting
on his properties escapes the common law like a prince; he reigns .
Under the current principle of ownership, it is impossible to estab- The advent of a ne,v age intervenes only when earlier work has
lish a budget that will hold up. So no one builds. But if the pat- quietly prepared the way.
terns of ownership were to change, and they are changing (the Indu stry has created its tools;
Ribot law for workers, the construction of blocks of apartments Enterprise has changed its ways;
Construction has found it s means;
Architecture finds itself faced with an amended code.
Industr y has created ne,v tools; the accompanying ill~str a ti?ns
offer moving proof of this. Such tools a r e made for ~mprovmg
human welfare and lightening hu man labor. If we set tlns renewal
against t he past, t here is r e~olution: . . ,
Enterprise has altered its rou tmes; 1t 1s now encumbered b}
heavy r esponsibilit ies: cost, t ime frame, solidity of the wor k.
Disk for a 40,000-kilowatt turbine. Le Crensot fac tories.

Ra.teau ventilators, hourly capacity: 59,000 m3 •
302
TOW.AR.D AN ARCHITECTURE
ARCH I TEC 'l 'URE OR REVO LUTI O:'-l' 303
Forecast: the airplane of tomorrow (Breguet).

A Bugatti engine.
Numerous engineers fill its offices, make their calculations in- r oot of every initiative, bold innovat ions are wanted. E ntrepreneur-
t~ntly apply the law of economy, and try to bring· into accord' two ial morality has been transformed; large-scale industry is today a
ch vergent factors: low price and high quality. Intelligence is at the sound and moral organism. If ·we set this new fact against the past,
there is revolution in t he methods and magnitude of en terpr ises.
Construction has found its means , means that, in themselves,
amount to a liberation that previou s millennia sought in vain.
E verything is possible wit h calculation and invention wh en you
have tools of sufficient perfection, and these tools exist . Concrete
Chicago. Construction of a window: industrialization.

Limousin et Freyssinet factory.
305
and steel have completely transformed t he organization of building ARCRIT E CT "CRE OR REVOLU TIOc'l'
as hitherto known, and the exactness with which these mat erials
adapt to theory and calculations gives u s each day r esults that are . . ther e has been a revision of values;
·t. o longer our conce1n, .
encouraging, first because of t heir success , then becau se of t heir us; 1 is n l . . the concept ion of architectur e.
t here has b een r evo ut1on m
look, which recalls natural phenomena and is constantly catching
up wit h e}..l)eriments carried out in n ature. If we set ourselves
against the past, we see that new formulas have been found that . that act on him from ever y quar ter,
Disturbed by t he reactions d ·ld t hat is elabo-
need only be exploited and that, if we can break with routine, will on the one han ' a wo1 .
the man of t oday senses , . l l that produces with punty
bring real liberation from the constraints hitherto endured. There r ating itself regularly, logically, c ear Y,
has been a revolution in construction methods.
Archit ectur e finds itself faced with an amended code . Con -
structional innovations are such that the old styles, with which we
ar e obsessed, can no longer accommodate t hem; t he materials now
being used evade the designs of decorators. There is such novelty in
the forms and rhythms produced by the construction methods, such
novelty in their ordonnance and in t he new industrial, rental, and
urban programs, that we finally under stand in a flash the true and
pr ofound laws of architecture based on volume, rhythm, and pro-
portion; the styles no longer exist, t he styles are outside of us; if
they still assail u s, it is as parasites. If we set ourselves against the
past , we see that the old codification of architect ure, weighed down
by forty centuries' wort h of rules and regulations, ceases t o inter est
. et et Limousin Contractors. Large dirigible hangar at Orly.

Fr eYSSlll
- Width 80. Ill, height
. ..i)1 300 m.
;,'6 m, I enb.
Conception a nd construction by Freyssinet et Limousin.
Wiclth 80 meters, height 50 meters, length 300 meters.
The n aYe of Notr e-Dame de Paris is 12 meters wide ancl 35 meters high.
.AR C HIT E CT U RE OR R EVOLUTION 307
t hings that are useful and u sable; and on the other hand, he finds
himself still disconcerted, still inside the old hostile framework .
This framework is his home; his city, his street, his house, his
apart ment rise up against him and, unusable, prevent his tranquil
pursuit of the same spiritual path t hat he t ook in his work, prevent
his tranquil pursuit of the organic development of his existence,
which is to st art a family and, like all the animals of the earth and
like all men of all times, to live an organized family life . Thus is
society witness to the destruction of the family, and it senses with
terror t hat this will be its ruin.
A great disaccord reigns between a modern st at e of mind that
is an injunction and the suffocating stock of centuries-old detritus.
This is a problem of adaptation where the objective things of
our lives are at issue.
Society has a passionate desire for something t hat it will ob-
tain or that it wi.11 not obtain. Everything is there; everything ·will
depend on t he effort made and on the attention paid to these alarm-
ing symptoms.
Architecture or revolution.
Revolution can be avoided.
"L a P ipe" Coopera tive.

Fiat factory in 'I\1rin with a utodrome on the roof.
Ed itor 's and Transl ator's Notes
Editor's and Translator's Notes [p. 85 and passim. "ordonnance" : ordonnance. On the decision to anglicize the
French term in this translation, see " From the Translator."]
p. 86. "Architects today are afraid of the geometric constituents of surfaces" (Les
architectes ont, aujourd'hui, peur des constituantes geometriques des surfaces) . 1923 ed.:
"Architects today are afraid of the geometry of surfaces" (Les architectes ont, auj ourd 'hui,
peur de /a geometrie des surfaces).
[p. 86 and passim. "the generators and di recting vectors": Les directrices et Les
generatrices. Technical terms in geometry (word order reversed by th e translator).]
p. 88 "with intentions that take the elements of architecture into account" (avec des
intentions qui font etat des elements de /'architecture) . 1923 ed.: "with intentions that make use
These notes have been research ed a nd w ritten primarily by Jean-Louis Cohen of the elements of architecture" (avec des intentions qui usent des elements de /'architecture).
with the help of Sylvie Young, who identified some American sources. Notes ["contour modulation" : la modenature. See " From the Translator" and the intro-
provided by J o hn Goodman are en closed in brackets. D ifferent t ype treat-
duction.]
ments are u sed to dis tinguis h the three categories of n otes: bold t ype for p. 89. Added in 1924: "beautifu l too from all the life that the art istic sense can bring
inform ation about illustrations, serif type for background information, and to strict and pure organs" (Belle aussi de toute /'animation que le sens artiste peut apporter
sans-serif type for text cha nges between the 1923 a nd 1924 editions.
ades stricts et purs organes).
T he present volume includes a translation of the 1928 pri nting of the 1924 p. 91. Ill.: The Garabit railway bridge over the Truyere River in the Canta! region
edition of Vers une architecture. Significant ch anges introduced between the was built by the engineering firm of Gu stave Eiffel and the arc hitect Leon Boyer in
first edition of 1923 and the second edirion of 1924 are specified. Mino r dele- 1884. See the sketch in Le Corbusier to Auguste Perret, 20 January 1914, IFA, fig. 2 of
tions and word substitutions have been omitted. For a complete documenta- the introduction to the present volume. T he uncropped original print is kept in the
tion of the changes introduced compared to the articles published .i n L'Esprit
France ou Allemagne? file: B1(20)110, FLC.
nouveau from 1920 to 1922, see the rigorous in forma ti o n provided in the p. 92. Added in 1924: "He attains ha rmony" (/1 atteint l'harmonie). Added in 1924:
notes to Le Corbusier, Vers une architecture, eds. Giovanni Maria Lupo and "He determines t he diverse movements of ou r minds and our hearts" (// determine des
Paola Pasch etto (Turin: Bottega d 'Erasmo, 1983), which are unfortun ately
mouvements divers de notre esprit et de notre coeur) .
extremely diffic ult t o decipher.
" Plastic emo tions" : G uillaume Apollinaire celebrates in The Cubist Painters:
Aesthetic Meditations, trans. Lionel Abel (New York: Wittenborn, 1944); original ed.,
A bbreviations used in the notes:
L es peintres ettbistes: Meditations esthetiques (Paris: Figuiere, 1913), the "plastic
FLC Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris
virtues" (p. 9). The French term plastique, meaning the sculptural qua lity of an art-
GRI Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles
work, is derived from the German Plastik, denoting "sculpture." On this question, Le
IFA Inscitut franqa is d'architecture, Paris
Corbusier wrote an important article together with Ozenfant: "Sur la plastique I.
Examen des conditions primordiales," L'Esprit nouveau 1, no. 1 (1920).
Cover. Photograph of the liner Empress ofAsia, built in 1912 for the Canadian Pacific. p. 95. Le Corbusier echoes French architect Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc,
Name of the author: "Le Corbusier" replaces 1923 ed.: "Le Corbusier-Saugnier." who observed in 1873 char "architects have played out their role" (/es architectes ont
False title page. Missing in the 1924 ed. : "To Amedee Ozenfant" (A Amedee Ozenfant) fini leur role) whereas "that of engineers is just beginning" (celui des ingenieurs com-
Added in 1924: Introd uction to the second ed. The typescript is B2(15)24, FLC. mence); Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, Entretiens sur /'architecture, vol. 2 (Paris:
p. 83. Le Corbusier al ludes to the architect Fran,;ois Blonde! (1618- 86), whose A. Morel, 1872), 445. He likew ise mirrors the "toast" that Cesar Daly offered engi·
Porte Saint-Denis he discusses in the main rext.
neers shortly thereafter: Cesar Daly, "Toast aux ingenieurs,'' Revue genera/e de /'archi-
(" To do architecture" : architecturer, a neologism.]
tecture et des travaux publics 34 (1877): 101.
P- 85. Add ~d in 1924: "He attains harmony" (// atteint /'harmonie). Added in 19 24: Le Corbusier's frequent contact since 1909 with his friend and engineer-partner
"he determines the diverse movements of our minds and our hearts" (ii determine des Max Du Bois had also convinced him of the virtues of this profession. Du Bois had
mouvements divers de notre esprit et de notre coeur). "engineers use geometric forms,
rranslated a book on concrete by Emil M ersch that Jeanneret had read: Le Beton arme,
[ . .. ] their works are on the way to great a rt" (.. . Jes ingenieurs usent de formes geo- etude theorique et [Jratique (Paris: C. Beranger, 1909); original ed., Der Eisenbetonbau:
metriques [ ... ] leurs oeuvres sont sur le chemin du grand art). 1923 ed.: "engineers employ
seine Theorie und Anwendung (Stuttgart: Wittwer, 1902).
geometric forms [... ] their works come close to great art" (Jes ingenieurs pratiquent Jes p. 97. "Aubusson": in the French Creuse region, traditional center of carpet production.
for mes geometriques [. .. J leu rs oeuvres s'approchent du grand art).
"Salon d'aucomne" : refers co the exhibition in 1910 of Munich applied arts at the Salon.
308
309
Editor's and Translator's Notes Ed itor 's a nd Tra n slato r 's Notes
The date of 1921 in Le Corbusier's note refers co the postwar context of the retour i:, begun in 1508 by Bramante and completed by Raphael after his death in 1514; Alina ri
l'ordre (rerurn co order). photograp h 11830.
Deleted in 1924, after "cleansing" (nettoyage); "A certain sense of morality pushes us [p. 108. and passim. "accencuators" : accusatrices. As used here, a neologism consis-
toward it" (Un certain sens de la moralite nous y pousse). tent with the two terms from the lexicon of geometry discussed in the note for p. 86. j
p. 98. 111 .: Pisa, 1907; photograph by Charles-Edouard Jea nneret; L4(19)99, FLC. p . 109. Ill.: Unidentified America n f actory.
p. 99. 111.: Unidentified North American grain elevator. p. 110. Top and center ills. : Unidentified American factories.
p. 100. "their works are on the way to great art" (leurs oeuvres sont sur le chemin du Botto m ill .: Walter Gropiu s and Adolf Meyer, Fagus factory, Alfeld-an-der-Lei ne,
grand art). 1923 ed .: "t hei r works come close to great art" (leurs oeuvres s'approchent du 1911-14. In 1928, replaced wit h Al bert Ka hn and Edward Grey, Ford fac t ory, Highland
grand art). Park, Michigan, 1908 ; published in Factories and Warehouses of Concrete (Philadel -
p. 101. Ill. : Unid entified North American grain elevator. phia: Association of the America n Portland Cement Manufacturers, 1911), 49; and
In a letter to Charles L'Eplattenier, Jeanneret had already mentioned on 11 January Gropiu s, " Die En twickl ung moderner l ndu strieba uku nst" ( note for p. 17) , n.p. Le
1911 " volumes brought together in ligh t" (volumes qui jouent sous la lumiere): Le Corbusier retouched the original image by whitening out the superstructures. He states
Corbusier, Lettres a ses 111aitres, vol. 2, L ettres a Charles L'Eplattenier, ed. Marie- his intention to replace the Gropius image in the ha ndwritten note " Livre ; illustrations
jeanne Dumont (Paris: Editions du Linteau, 200 6), 252. nouvelles, " B2( 15)164, FLC.
p. 102. Ill.: Unidentified North American grain elevator. p. 111. Top ill.: Cass Gilbert, Army Supply Base , Brook lyn, 19 17. Bottom il l.:
p. 103. Top ill.: Grand Trunk Pacific elevator, Fort William, Ontario, 1910; published Unidentified American factory ; in 1928, replaced with William Higginson, Gair Building,
in Walter Gropius, " Die Entwicklung moderner lndustriebaukunst," in Die Ku nst in Brooklyn, 1904. In 1922, Le Corbusier had asked the American city plan ner George B.
lndustrie und Ha ndel. Jahrbuch des deutschen Werkbundes 1913 (Jena: Eugen Ford for a photogra ph of Bu sh Terminal and one of " 4 2nd St. New York City"; Le
Died erichs, 1913), n.p. Bottom ill.: Bunge & Born grain sil o, Buenos Aires, 1903, demol- Corbusier, undated note T1(1)652, FLC.
ished in 1998; published in Gropius, "Die Entwicklung mod erner lndustriebaukunst" Added in 1924: "the application of a mass-production spirit to construction" (/'appli-
(this note), n.p. The pediments of the original have been whitened out. The correspon- cation de /'esprit de serie dans /'organisation du chantier).
ding page and the ones featuring other images used by Le Corbusier are missing in his p. 112. Ill.: Unidentified America n factory.
copy of the Jahrbuch kept at the FLC; person al library of Le Corbusier, B2, FLC. ["to model": modeler. The only cwo instances of this word in the 1924 French text.
p. 104. Top ill.: Joh n S. Metca lf Co., grain elevator number 2, harbor of Montreal, See the discussio n of modenature in "From the Translator" and the introduction.)
1912, demolished in 1978; published in Gropius, " Die Entwicklung moderner lndustrie- Mansarr: Le Corbusier refers to rhe architect Jules Hardouin-Mansarc (1645- 1708 ).
baukunst" (note for p. 17), n.p. , retouched (the cupola of the Bonsecours market has p. 113. Ill.: James and Merritt Reid, architects, Ch arl es Strobel , engineer, San
been eliminated on the right). See also Old and New Montreal (Montreal : International Fran cisco Call or Claus Spreckels Buildi ng, San Francisco, 189 8. Photographed after
Press Syndicate, 1913), n.p. Bottom ill: Dakota elevator, Buffalo, New York, circa 1910; the earthqu ake of 190 6.
published in Gropius, "Die Entwicklung moderner lndustriebaukunst" (note for p. 17), p. 115. Il l.: The 1923 an d t he 1928 eds. featu re a perspective and plan of the
n.p. Acropolis from Auguste Choisy, H istoire d e / 'architecture, 2 vols. (Paris: Gauthier-
p. 105. Ill .: Pennsylvania elevator, also known as Canton elevator number 3, built Villa rs, 1899), 1:415. Le Corbusier kept an unbound copy of the books with pencil
for James Stewart & Co., Baltimore, 1908; published in Why Buifd Fireproof? (Chicago: marks for the sizing and cropping of photo reproductions used in /!esprit nouveau and
Portland Cement Association, 1917) , p. 20. subsequentl y in Vers une architecture; persona l library of Le Corbusier, Z99, FLC.
"La Gare du quai d 'Orsay": a lludes to the station bu ilt by Victor Laloux in 1900, "subtly effective" (d' un effet subtil). 1923 ed.: "contorted" (mouvementees) .
the same time that the Grand Pala is was built by Henri-Adolphe-Auguste Deglane. p. 117. Ill.: Type of the Hind u temple; from Choisy, H istoire de /'architecture (note
"Poches": poches. In architecrural plans, these inked areas denote masonry struc- for p. 115), 1:175. Choisy underlines the resemblance of this illustration to those in
tures, referring to the use of a particular type of brnsh called /Jincem, a pocher. Poches Ram-Raz, essay on the architecture of the Hindus (London: John William Parker, 1834).
allow for the negotiation between complex lot forms and regular or symmetrical room p. 1 18 . Ill.: Hagia Sophia; from Choisy, Histoire de /'architecture (note for p. 31),
shapes and are consid ered by Le Corbusier co be typical of the Beaux-Arcs design culture. 2:49.
p. 106. Ill.: Canadian government elevator, Sas katoba, Saskatchewa n, 1918. A p. 119 . Ill. : Referred to as Thebes Temple but in fact is the Temple of Khans, at
slightly different view can be fo und in Charles S. Clark, Plans of Grai n ele vators, 4th ed. Ka rnak; from Choisy, Histoire de /'architecture (note for p. 115), 1:64.
(Chicago: Grain Dea lers Journ al , 1918), xliv. "consequences extend ing" (consequences s'e tendant). 1923 ed.: "development s ex-
"stir in us architect ura l emotions" (provoquant (sic] en nous des emotions architec- tending" (developpements al/ant).
turales). 1923 ed.: "achieve great emotions" (atteignent aux grandes emotions). "play of contraries" (mouveme nt des contraires). 1923 ed. : "contraries" (contrastes).
p. 107 . Ill .: Donato Bramante, Raphael, loggia of the Cortile di San Dam aso, Rome, ["algebrization": algebrisation, a neologism. I
310
3 11
Editor ' s and Tran sla t o r's Notes
Ed itor ' s and Tr a n sl at or's N otes
p. 120. Ill.; Umayyad Qasr, Amman, Jordan, A.O. 720-742; from Choisy, Histoire de
spaces in accordance with va riations in size and quantity dictated by purpose: the resi-
/'architecture (note for p. 115), 1:128. Choisy located it in "Transjordanian Syria." Le
dent ial com plex amidst g reenery, the public service complex at t he point of m axim um
Corbusier opts for Syria alone.
civic pride, t he industrial quarter al ongsid e it s dock s and it s fact ories. Where t here is
Added in 1924: "development of an initial plastic invention " (developpement d'une
order, th ere is ha rm ony, what ever the source of t his est het ic or utilit arian ord er. Thus, for
invention plastique initiate).
example, eve n quarters of workers' housing here have t he aspect of real architecture"
Added in 1924: "a diversity that comes from their architectural principle and not
(Des reg/es unitaires distribuent dans t ous /es quartiers le meme c hoix de volumes et d 'es-
from their ornamental modalities" (diversite qui est dans le principe architectural et non
paces suivant des variations de grandeur et de quantil e dictees par la destination: la cite de
dans des modalites ornementa/es).
/'habitatio n au milieu des verd ures, la c ite des services publics au point tier de la ville, la c ite
"The technological capacities of t his era-financing techniques and construction
ind ustrielle avec ses docks et ses usines. Ou ii y a ordre, ii y a harmon ie, d 'ou que provienne
techniques-are ready to carry out this task" (La technicite de cette epoque - technique de
cet ordre esthetique ou utilita ire. Ainsi, par exemp le, /es quartiers d 'habitat ion meme ouvriere
la finance et technique de la construction-est prete a realiser cette tache). 1923 ed.: "The
ont ici une verita ble te nue architectura le).
technological capacities of this era, financial and constructional, are ripe for carrying out
p. 122. Ill. : Plan of a residential district; from Tony Ga rnier, Une cite industrie/le,
th is task" (La technicite de cette epoque, financiere et constructive, est mDre pour realiser
cette tache). etude pour la construction des vii/es (Paris: A. Vincent, 1917), detail of pl. 79.
" In t he present waiting state (for modern urba nism is not yet born)" ( Dans l'etat d'at-
"It is an attempt to instill order" (C'esl une tentative de mise en ordre). 1923 ed .:
tente actue /le [car /'urbanisme moderne n'est pas encore ne] ). 1923 ed .: "While wait ing for
"Order reigns." (L'ordre regne).
someth ing better" (En attenda nt mieux).
In fact the first version of the Cite industrielle was designed in 1901 and a second,
"has d ictated the structu re of the machines and gu ides t heir m ovements, condit ions
more sophisticated one was created in 1916 and published the following year. Edouard
eve ry gestu re of t heir crews; but fi lt h poll utes t he surround ings and incoherence ran
Herriot (1872-1957), the radical-socialist mayor of Lyon from 1905 to his death, had
rampan t when stri ng and T squares fixed the placem ent of the bu ildings, rendering t heir
nothing to do with the project, bur the later version incorporated drawings of projects
expansion point less, expensive, and dangerous. A plan would have sufficed. A plan will
built by Garnier for him, such as the Gerland slaughterhouses, transformed into indus-
su ffice. The excess of evils will lead t o one" (a dicte la structure des machines et gere leurs
trial sheds in the version published in 1917.
mouvements, conditionne chaque geste des equipes; mais la salete infecte Jes alen tours et
Ir is remarkable that Le Corbusier apparently envisioned putting the German archi-
/'incoherence sevissa it Jorsque le cordea u et l'equerre fixerent /'implantat ion des batiments,
tect Heinrich Tessenow, designer of the Hellerau garden-city near Dresden, on the same
rendant /eur exte nsion caduque, couteuse et perilleuse. 11 aurait suffi d 'un p lan. Un plan suf-
plan as Garnier; untitled note, A2(15) 153, FLC.
f ira . Les exces d u ma / y conduiront). 1923 ed. : " but incoherence and fil t h inf ect t he sur-
p. 121. Ill.: Plan of the Acropolis, Athens, after rebuilding by Cimon and Pericles;
round ings. A plan would have su fficed. One will come t o it" (mais /'inc oherence et la salete
from Choisy, Histoire de /'architecture (note for p. 115), 1:412.
in fectent Jes a/entou rs. II suffirait d 'un plan. On y viendra).
Added in 1924 to caption: "The Acropolis on its rock and its supporting walls is seen
"One day August e Perret coined t he phrase ' Tower-Cit ies .' A sparkling epithet t hat
from afar, as one block. Its buildings are massed together through the incidence of their
struck the poet in us . A word that rang out none t oo soon because the fact is im minent!
multiple planes" (L'Acropo/e sur son rocher et ses murs de soutenement est vue de Join,
Un known t o us, t he 'great cit y' incubates a plan. Th is plan can be giga ntic because t he
d'un bloc. Ses edifices se massent dans /'incidence de Jeurs plans multiples).
great cit y is a rising t ide. It is tim e to repudiate t he present layout of ou r cit ies" (Un jour
"A unitary code distributes the same set of essential volumes through all parts of the
Auguste Pe rret crea ce mot: Jes "Vil/es-Tours." Epit hete et incelante qui en nous secoua le
city and determines the spaces in ways consistent with needs of a practical order and
poete. Mot qui sonnait a J'heure parce que le fait est imminent! A notre insu, la "g rande ville "
with the promptings of a poetic sense that is the architect's own . Reserving all judgment
incube un plan. Ce plan peut etre gigantesque puisque la grande ville est une maree mon-
about the coordination of the zones of this industrial city, we are here subject to the bene-
tante. II est tem ps de rep udier le t race actuel de nos vii/es) . 1923 ed .: "August e Perret
ficial consequences of order. Where order reigns, well-be ing is born. Through the happy
spo ke of 'Tower-Cities' ; a t opic about which it was written: 'Too soon .' Why? Given t he lim -
invention of a system of lot division, even the quarters of workers' housing take on high
its of possible density in a great er urban reg ion, it is t ime to reject ·t he solution of cities
architectural significance. Such are the consequences of a plan" (Une regle unitaire dis-
laid out li ke Paris" (Auguste Perret a parle des " Vil/es- To urs "; on a ecrit ace suj et: "antici-
tribue dans tous Jes quartiers de la ville le meme choix de volumes essentiels et fixe /es
pation." Pou rquoi? Etant donne la limite de densite possible d 'une ag glomeration urbaine, ii
espaces suivant des necessites d'ordre pratique et Jes injonctions d'un sens poetique propre a
est temps de repudier la solution de vii/es tracees comme Paris).
l'architecte. Reservant tout jugement sur la coordination des zones de cette cite industrielle,
p. 123. Top ill.: View of a residential district; from Garn ier, Une cite industrielle
/'on subit Jes consequences bienfaisantes de l'ordre. Ou J'ordre regne, nait le bien-etre. Par la
(note tor p. 122), pl. 8 4, slightly crop ped.
creation heureuse d'un systeme de lotissement, Jes quartiers d'habitation meme ouvriere
Bottom ill.: Pla n of a residential district; from Garnier, Une cite industriel/e (note
prennent une haute signification architectura/e. Telle est la consequence d'un plan). 1923
for p. 122), pl. 87, slightly cropped.
ed.: "U nitary rules distribute through all the quarters the same set of volumes and
p. 124. Top ill. : Le Corbusier, Tower-Cities, 1920; drawing, 8 (15)19, FLC.
312
3 13
Ed i tor's a nd Tr a nslator ' s Notes Ed i tor ' s and Trans l ator ' s N otes
Bottom ill.: Le Corbusier, elevation of Tower-Cities. p. 128. Top and bottom ill .: Le Corbusier , perspective and plan of the I ndent-Cities,
[" Grand Roy" : Louis XIV.) 1920 ; original drawings, 8 2(15)20, FLC, and 8 2(15)2 1 , FLC.
p. 125. Ill.: Le Corbusier, Tower-Cities, 1920; image reproduced in Willi Boesiger p . 129. Not e 1 added in 1924.
and Oscar Storonov, Le Corbusier et Pierre Jeanneret: Oeuvre complete de 1910-2 9 p. 130 . Ill.: Le Corbusier and Pierre Jean neret, roof of the Jea nneret House, Paris,
(Zurich: Girsberger, 1930), 34 . 1923- 24. Added in 1924.
Added in 1924: "Large cities have become too dense for the sa fe ty of their inhabi· In 1924, the word "construct ional" (constructives) was added t o "the old fou ndat ions"
t ants and yet they are not dense enough to answer to the new realit ies of 'business"' (/es bases anciennes): "I n architecture, t he old construct ional foundations are dead" ( En
(Les grandes vii/es sont devenues trop denses pour la securite des habitants et pourtant el/es architecture, /es bases constructives anciennes sont mortes).
ne sont pas assez denses pour repondre au fait neut des "affaires"). p. 131. Ill.: Fran~ois Blonde!, Porte Saint-Denis, Paris, 1671-73. D rawing of the regu-
"the work previously smothered in dense neigh borhoods" (le travail jusqu'ici etouffe lating Jines by Le Corbusier. T his is a simpl ified version of the drawing published in
des quartiers compacts). 192 3 ed.: "the population hitherto squashed in massive neigh- Choisy, H istoire d e /'architectu re (note fo r p. 115), 2 :746, by which Le Corb usier
borhoods" (la population jusqu'ici ecrasee dans des quartiers massifs). intends to " translate into a diagram the dimensional relationships that he [Blo nde!)
Deleted in 1924: "i n t he immediate proxi mity of the apartment bu ild ings, tennis ind icates as having defined t he bea utiful ordonnance of the Porte Saint-Denis."
cou rts and playing fields are available " (s'offren t a proximite immediate des immeubles, /es Added in 1924, after "Porte Sai nt -Denis": "(Blonde!) ."
tennis et terrains de sports). p. 133. "sacrificial vases" (vases du sacrifice). 1923 ed .: "vases for libations" (vases
p. 126. Added in 1924: "thereby an indispensable calm" (et par fa un ca/me indispen- des libations).
sable). p. 134. Ill.: " Pri mitive templ e," sketch plan and section by Le Corbusier; tracing of
"extending his conception beyond reasonable limits. Thus did he throw a veil of dan- the reconstruction drawing of the Stiftshiitte ( religious building), published by the arch·
gerous futur ism over a sound idea" (distendre sa conception au de/a des /imites raison- conservative historia n Rein hol d Freiherr von Lichtenberg in his Haus, Dorf, Stadt, ei ne
nables. II a jete ainsi sur une idee saine un voile de futuris me dangereux). 1923 ed. : £ ntwick/ungs-Geschichte des antiken Stadtbildes (Leipzig: Rudolf H aupt, 1909), 18;
"expanding his conception beyond the limits of reason , which is regrettable. For thus did drawing, 8 2(20)9, FLC.
he t hrow over t his sound idea a veil of futurism (that was] qu ite dangerous and a bit inco- p. 1 35. Ill.: " Primitive temple," axonometric drawing by Le Corbusier, after t he per-
herent" (agrandir sa conception au de/a des limites de la raison, ce qui est regrettable. Car ii a spective of the Stiftshiitte published by von Lichtenberg, Haus, Dorf, Stadt (note for p .
jete ainsi sur cette idee saine un voile de tuturisme bien dangereux et quelque peu incohe rent). 1 34), 19.
Added in 1924: "A plan had not been drawn up and the idea went no further without Added in 1924, aft er " while it would ot herwise be chance, anomaly, arbitrariness"
a plan" (Le plan n'avait pas ete trace et l'idee ne se portait pas sans plan). (a/ors qu'autrement ce sera it hasard, anomalie, arbitraire) : " Geometry is t he lang uage of
p. 127. Ill.: Le Corbusier, Pilotis-Cities, 191 5. This section d erives from t he "future man " (La geomet rie est le /ang age de /'homme).
street " presented by Eugene Henard in 1910; Eugene Henard, " Les villes de l'avenir," p. 136. "creating his universe" (creant son univers). 1923 ed .: " recreating his uni-
in Town-P la nning Confere nce, London, 10-15 October 1910, Transactions (Lond on: verse" (recreant son univers) .
Roya l Institute of Bri tish Architects, 1911), 345-67. "The man of today" (L'homme d 'auj ourd'hui ). 1923 ed.: "The modern man" (L'homme
Added in 1924: "were no longer a fungus eat ing into the sidewalk" (n'etaient plus moderne).
cette moisissure qui ronge /es trottoirs); "along with luxury shops" (ainsi que /e commerce "The man of yesterday" (L'homme d'hier). 1923 ed : "The less modern man" (L'homme
de luxe); "d id nothing less than t riple t he circulation areas of t he city" (ne faisait rien moins moderne).
moins que trip/er la surface circulable de la ville); "enta iling a complete renewal of the p. 137. Ill.: Facade of t he Arsen al at Peiraeus; from Choisy, Histoire de /'architec-
terms of lot division and anticipating a radical reform of the rental house; th is imminent ture (note for p. 115), 1:389.
reform motivated by the transformation of domestic use calls for new housing plans, "The man of today" (L' homme d 'aujourd'hui). 1923 ed. : "The modern man" (L'homme
and an entirely new organization of t he services answering to life in t he big city. Here moderne).
again, the plan is the generator, without which it's t he reign of meanness, disorder, arbi- "and t hat his inst incts suffice; but t hese express t hem selves only t hrough the artif i-
trariness" (entra1nant un renouvellement comp/et des modes de /otissement et al/ant au- cial means learned in the schools. A lyric poet set loose wit h shackles round his neck,
devant d 'une retorme radica le de la maison a layers; cette reforme imminente motivee par /a someone who knows things, but t hings t hat he has neit her invented nor even mastered ,
transformation de /'exploitation domestique reclame des plans neufs de /ogemen ts, et une who in the course of his education has lost t hat cand id and essent ial energy of the child
organisation entierement nouvelle des services repondant a la vie dans /a grande ville. lei who keeps asking: 'Why?'" (et que ses instincts suffisent; mais ceux-ci ne s'expriment qu'au
aussi le plan est le generateur; sans lui regnent !'indigence, le desordre, l'arbitraire). moyen d'a rtifices acquis dans /es ecoles. Un lyrique decha1ne avec carcan au cou, quelqu 'un
Added in 1924 : note 1: "See below: 'Mass-Product ion Housing' (Voir plus loin: "Mai- qui sait des choses, mais des choses qu 'il n'a ni inventees ni meme contr6 /ees, qui a perdu
sons en serie ") . au cours des enseignements rer;us cette candide et capita le energie de l'entant questionnan t
314 315
Ed itor's and Translator's Notes Editor's and Translator's No tes
inlassablement: "Pourquoi?"). 1923 ed.: "A lyric poet set loose, a gentleman who doesn't p. 144. Top ill.: Le Corbu sier and Pierre Jea nneret, the La Roche and Jeanneret
know much and who by nature is not very cu rious" (Un lyrique dechaine, un monsieur qui houses, Paris , 1923-24 , main elevation with regul ating lin es; drawin g, 15232, FLC .
ne sail pas grand'-chose et qui de nature est bien peu curieux). Add ed in 1924.
"it determines one of the fundamental impressions" (ii determine done l'une des Bottom ill.: Photograph of the houses. Added in 1924.
impressions fondamentates) . 1923 ed .: " it fixes" (ii fixe). p. 145. Ill.: The liner Flandre, built in 1914 for the Compagnie genera le transatlan-
p. 138. 111.: Achaemenid cupolas ; from Marcel Dieulafoy, J.:art antique de fa Perse, tiqu e and used on the lines to Mexico.
Achemenides, Parthes, Sassanides, pt. 4, " Les monuments voiites de l'epoque ache- p. 146. Added in 1924, after "are not able to discern it" (ne savent pas le discerner):
menide" (Paris: Vve A. Morel, 1885), 28: figs. 22 , 23. See first reproduction of the sec- "yet" (encore).
tion in th e sketchbook A2 of 1915, pp. 113 and 114. p. 147. "coming to encumber a mental system that alone provides the elements of a
Added in 1924, after "The facade of the Arsena l" (La fa<;ade de /'Arsenal): "in style" (venant encombrer un systeme de /'esprit qui seul fournit /es elements d'un style).
Peiraeus" (du Piree). 1923 ed .: "on a st ructure that, in itself , constitut ed the 'st yles"' (sur une structure qui, a
Deleted in 1924, after " statics" (statiques) : "and dynamics" (et dynamiques). e//e seu/e, constituait /es "styles").
p. 139. 111. : Notre-Dame de Paris, 1163-1345, probably a reproduction of a post- In 1924, t he enti re text beginning with: "The ' decorative arts' flourish! " (Les "arts
card with drawing of the regulating lines by Le Corbusier. See the version in perspec- decoratifs " sevissent!) and ending wit h "architecture's time has come" (On peut croire que
tive: L5(6)113, FLC. /'heure de /'architecture a sonne) replaced 1923 ed. : "M . Guillaume Janneau , charging
p. 140. Ill.: The Capitol, Rome, 1538-1650; probably a postcard of an Alinari pho- zealously forward in the Renaissance of Apr il 1920, usi ng language of kid-glove suavity,
tog raph with the regulating lin es drawn by Le Corbu sier. writes things that are enormous, consid erable, imposing: ' It is a regeneration of French
~EXTRACT FROM BLONDEL'S OWN COMMENTS ON THE PORTE SAINT- art t hat is bei ng elaborated in paint ing by M. Guillaume Du lac, M. Rene Francillon; in
DENIS": Tn Jacques-Frarn;:ois Blonde[, Cours d'architecture enseigne dans l'A cademie decoration , by MM. Sue and Andre Mare, M. Ruhlmann , M. Paul Vera. They are uncover-
royale d 'architecture (Paris: Imprimerie de Lambert Roulland, 1675-83), 623, Blonde! ing the laws of a profoundly t raditional style. They strive to recover the manifestly eter-
writes: "Furthermore, here are rhe general measurements of this work, whose width is nal geometric schemas with wh ich the old masters strengt hened t heir compositions.
perfectly equal to its height. This width divided into three parts produces one part fo r From t he Greeks to Perci er and Fontai ne, from the Romans to Blonde! , by way of
the opening of the large gate, and one part for the width of each of the supports" (Au Philibert Delorme, etc. They permit their severe pencil no improvisation. From what mas-
reste, voici !es mesures genera /es de cet ouvrage, dont la largeur est parfaitement egale ter th inker does M. Pau l Vera seek counsel? From Pascal, from Descartes, and, in art ,
a la hauteur. Cette largeur divisee en trois parties donne une partie pour l'ouverture de from the Grand Siecle"' (M. Guillaume Janneau, dans la Renaissance d'avril 1920, parti sur
la grande Porte, et ime partie pour la large11r de chacune des piles). son destrier, ecrit en un /angage gante de daim, des choses enormes, considerables,
p. 141. Top ill.: Petit Trianon, Versailles, 1762-68, drawing of the regulating Jines imposantes: "C'est une regeneration de /'art franc;ais qu'e/aborent dans la peinture, M.
by Le Corbusier; original document L4(19)47, FLC. Guillaume Dulac, M. Rene Francillon; dans la decoration, MM. Sue et Andre Mare, M.
Bottom ill.: Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, garden elevation of the Vill a Schwob with Ruhlmann, M. Paul Vera. /Is degagent !es lois d 'un style profondement traditionnet. /Is
regulating lines, La Chaux-de-Fonds, 1917; based on drawing 30075, FLC (without the s'ingenient a re trouver /es schemas geometriques evidemment eternels da ns lesquels /es
regulating lines). Repl aced the street elevation of the same location in the 1923 ed. vieux maitres affirmaient /eurs compositions. Des Grecs aPercier et Fontaine, des Romains a
Pol Abraham notes in his review that Le Corbusier should have known "chat, at the Blonde/, en passant par Philibert Delorme, etc. A /eur crayon severe, ifs ne permettent
Ecole des Beaux-Arcs, there were scarcely any candidates fo r the Grand Prix who did aucune improvisation. A quel maitre a penser. M. Paul Vera va -t-il demander conseil ? C'est a
not make some use of Egyptian triangles and geometric diagonals" (qu'il ne fut guere, a Pascal, c 'est a Descartes, et, dans /'art, c'est au Grand Siecle").
/'Ecole des Beaux -Arts, de candidat au Grand Prix qui ne jouat plus ou moins aux p. 148. "m istakenly called t o test ify in favor of the decorative art s, have enlightened
triangles egyptiens et a la diagonale rabattue); Pol Abraham, '"Vers une architect ure' ou r judgment, and now we find ourselves in architecture, architecture t hat is everything,
par Le Corbusier-Saugnier," pt. 2, L'Architecte l, no. 3 (1924): 18. but t hat is not the decorative art s" (appe/es par erreur a temoigner en faveur des arts deco-
p. 142. Top ill.: Le Corbusier and Pier re Jeann eret, elevations of the Ozenfant ratifs ont ectaire notre j ugement, et nous voici maintenant dans /'architecture, /'arch itect ure
House, Paris, 1922; drawing, 7850, FLC. Add ed in 1924. qui est tout, mais qui n'est pas /es arts decoratifs). 1923 ed : "[the) regeneration of French
Bottom ill .: Facade of the house. In the 1923 ed ., this page was devoted to a gard en art, only t hat in service to t he frills that are now the fashion: linden and chamomile tea,
elevation of the Villa Schwob, La Chaux-de-Fonds, 1917, and a photograph showing a the aisles at the Gale ries Lafayett e!" (regeneration de /'art franr;ais, rien que cela au service
detail of it. de tanfretuches a la mode du jour: ti//eul et camomille, rayons des Gateries Lafayette!).
p. 143. 111.: Charles-Edou ard Jea nneret , street facade of the Vill a Schwob. The Le Corbusier also removed a foot note here in which he had acknowledged the posi-
facade called " rear " faces in fact the rue du Jura on the north of the Jot and was con- tive response of Guillaume Janneau to his L'Esprit nouveau articles.
sidered by many locals to be the front facade. Added in 1924: "boudoirs decorated with 'pumpkin' cushions in black and gold velvet
316 317
Edito r 's and Tran s la t or's Notes Ed i tor's a nd Trans lator ' s Notes
are no longer anything but the insuffera ble witnesses to a dead spirit. These sanctums p. 155. Il l.: The liner Lamoriciere. Apparently this image is a detail from t he same
smothered in coke and soppy 'peasant' idiocies are offensive t o us" (/es boudoirs garnis sou rce as the ill. on p. 73.
de coussins en potirons de velours, d'or et de noir, ne sont plus que /es temoins insupporta- p. 156. Ill. : The liner Empress of France of the Ca nadian Pacific. Launched in
b/es d 'un esprit mort. Ces sanctuaires etouf fes de la coco ou par ailleurs /es betises "gnan- Glasgow in 1913 as the Alsatian for the Alla n Line, it was given a new name in 1919.
gnan" des paysanneries nous offensent). Added in 1924: "confused with respect for decor" (confondu avec le respect du decor).
111. Paul Vera, tailpi ece ; frontispiece to " Les petits j ardins ," in Andre Vera, Les p. 157. Ill.: The liner Empress of Asia , same as cover.
jardins (Paris: Emile-Paul Freres, 1919), 113. Vera was o ne of t he founders of the Art [ "Art is in irs essence elevated": L'art est d'essence hautai11e.]
Deco aesthetic and is clearly mocked in the passage excised from p. 147. p . 158. "governed by economy" (regi par l 'econom ie). 1923 ed. : "governed by the law
Le Corbusier alludes to "coke," using the familiar French t erm coco (cocaine). of economy" (la loi d'economie).
p. 149. 111.: The liner Aquitania, compared t o the Notre-Dame Cathedral, Saint- Added in 1924: the text beg inn ing with "conditioned by the inevitability of physics"
Jacques Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and Opera Garnier (not to scale). The Aquitania, 275 (conditionne par ta fatalite de la physique) and ending with "our admiration" (notre admira-
meters long, was t he last large ship created for the Cunard Lines before the war and tion) and the phrase "and required by this century of great endeavors that has just t aken
entered service in 1914 in ord er to compete against the Olympic for the annual Blue a giant step forward" (requises par ce siecle de grand effort qui vient de faire un pas de
Ribbon award for the f astest transatlantic crossing, thanks to its improved turbines. The geant).
" objects" of "modern life" mentioned in the text are for the most part reproduced in Le p. 159. Ill. : Maurice Farman MF 11 " Shorthorn" reconnaissance and bombing air-
Corbusier, l:art decoratif d 'aujourd' hui (Paris: G. Cres, 1925). craft, 1914. Widely used by the French Armee de /'Air during the war and also bu ilt in
" windows meant to introduce light" (con<;ues pour introduire la lumiere). 1923 ed.: Italy , England , Russia , and Japan .
"windows intended to introduce light" (projetees pour introduire la /umiere) . p. 162. I ll.: Farman F 60 Goliath aircraft, 1920, civilian version. See Far man
p. 150. 111.: The liner Aquitania; reproduction of a painting. brochure owned by Le Corbusier, A1(16)24, FLC. Henri Farman was a friend of Gabriel
"would be ju st as efficient" (seraient d'egale efficacite). 1923 ed.: "wou ld suff ice" Voisin , who bu ilt his first aircraft. He set up a factory in Mourmelon and developed t he
(suffiraient) . production in partnership with his brother Maurice. See Jean Liron , Les avians Farman
p. 151. Ill. : The liner Lamoriciere, built in 1921 in Newca stl e for the Compagnie (Clichy : Editions Lariviere, 1984).
generale transatlantique and sunk in 1942. "Arts er meriers" : Le Cor busier refers ro the Ecole nationale superieure des arts er
Added in 1924, aft er "haze lnuts!" (noisettes!): "The 'styles' are still with us !" (Les metiers, a civil engineering school first created in 1780, w ith branches in several French
·s tyles" demeurent!). towns. T he "Gad'zarrs,» as these engineers were nicknamed, were known for being
"A house is a machine tor living in" (une maison est une machine a habiter). 1923 ed. : technical virtuosi.
"A house is a machine for residing in " (Un e maison est une machine a demeurer). p. 163. Ill.: Cockpit of a Farman aircraft.
Demeurer carries the connotation of conservatism. "stirring forma l relationships" (rapports emouvants). 1923 ed: "proportional relation-
Bernard Palissy: French Renaissance ceramic designer whose product ion was satu- ships" (rapports proportionnes).
rated w ith sculptural m otifs to the p oinr of being sometimes useless. H ere Cor bu is p. 164. Ill.: SPAD 33 aircraft, 1921 ; photograph Marcel Roi. T his six-seat berline
deliber ately distorting t he known fact that Palissy's more elaborate works were vi r- (enclosed ca bi n) transportation airplane was built by Louis Bleriot under t he trademark
tuoso exercises that were never meant to be used as functional object s. SPAD (Societe anonyme pour !'aviation et ses derives) and used by Compagnie de mes-
["Maple" : reference to Maple & Company, a furniture manufacturer and retailer sageries aeriennes. Second craft prod uced.
whose giant L ondon warehouse (on Tottenham Coun Road ) was a m ajor t ourist site in Added in 1924: note 1, insisting on the failure of postwar reconstruction in t he north
the first two decades of t he twentieth century and w hose products were exported to all of France.
o f Europe. "Twyford" : British company (est. 1849) specializing in bathroom fixtures.] p. 165. Ill.: Caproni CA-60, " Capronissimo" tri-cell ula r seapl an e, 1920. This mam-
p. 152. Top ill.: The deck of the A qui tania, designed by Leonard Peskett. moth aircraft had eight engin es and was destroyed upon its maiden flight on Lake
Bottom ill.: Interior of the same, designed by Charles Mewes and Arthur J. Davis, Maggiore on 4 March 1921. Le Corbusier had a copy of the art icle by J.-A. Lefranc,
whose other ecl ectic designs- rangi ng from Tudor to Louis XIV- Le Corbusier didn' t brevete mecanicien d ' avion (licensed plane mechanic): J.-A. Lefranc, " L' hydravion
care to show. geant Caproni ," La Nature, no. 2454 (1921): 248-54.
p. 153. 111.: The liner France. First and last French fo ur-fu nnel ship, 218 meters p. 166. Ill .: Caproni CA-58 triplane, 1919. This aircraft was a development of the
long, launched in 1912. Nicknamed Le Chateau de /'At/antique because of its lavish CA-48, the civilian version of the CA-40 bomber. Equipped with five engines, it carried
decoration. t hirty passengers in a t wo-story cabin.
p . 154. Ill.: Bow of the liner Aquitania. p. 167. Ill.: Civilian version of the Farman Goliath, adapted from the 1918 bomber.
Bottom ill.: Corridor of the same. [p. 168. Ill.: T he phoro credit misspells the name Baranger.]
31 8 319
Editor's and Tran slator's Notes
Edito r' s a nd Tra n s l a tor 's Notes
Ill.: Farman Moustique "moto-aviette" lightweight aircraft, 1919.

p. 179. Ill.: Front view of Gl 95 x 140 Delage ca r. This chassis cou ld be produced in
p. 169. Top ill.: SPAD XIII fighter, 1917. The main engineer of the SPAD was Louis
four models: "sleeping," " standard ," " sport," and " grand sport. "
Bechereau and not " Bechneau, " as spelled by Le Corbusier. This was one of the most
p. 180. Top ill.: Basilica at Paestu m, circa 550 - 525 B.C.
popular fighters of the entire war. Bottom ill.: Interior of a civilian Goliath.
Botto m ill.: British Humber (not " Humbert") 1907 car ; reproduced from la Vie auto-
p. 170. 111.: Farman F 60 Goliath, military version, 1920.
mobile.
" if it rains at night, you get drenched closing them" (s'il pleut /e soir, pour /es tirer, on
p. 181. Top ill.: The Parthenon , At hens, fifth century B.C.; from Max im e Collignon,
rer;oit /'averse). 1923 ed .: "you have to get drenched to close t hem" (pour Jes tirer, ii taut
Le Parthenon: J.:histoire, /'architecture et la sculpture, with photogra phs by Frederic
recevoir /'averse).
Boi ssonnas and W,-A. Ma nsell (Paris: Librairie Centrale d ' art & d' architecture, 1910-
Added in 1924: "The mod ern man and woman are bored at home; they go dancing"
12), pis. 2, 3 ,
(L'homme et la femme modernes s'ennuient chez eux; ils vont au dancing).
Bottom ill.: Delage Grand-S port, four-seat version of Gl 95 x 140 model, 1921.
p. 171. In the eighteenth cemmy, the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, east of the place de la p. 182. Ill.: His pano-Suiza coachwork, designed by Amedee Ozenfant and his
Bastille, was home to many luxury furn iture ateliers. In the nineteenth century, how-
younger brother, Jean, in Saint-Quentin, 1911.
ever, it became widely associated with the prod uction of furniture imitating historical
[O edif;us (Tyrannus): play by Sophocles; Phaedra: play (1677) by Jean Racine; the
styles.
Prodigal Son: parable in the Gospel of Luke (15:24) and subject of many paint ings;
Top ill.: Front view of a civilian Goliath.
Paul and Virginia: novel (1787) by Jacques-H enr:i Bernardin de Saint-Pierre; Philemon
Bottom ill.: Farman MF 11; from the cover of a Farman brochure owned by Le
and Baucis: ancient myth about an elderly peasant couple who entertai ned Zeus and
Corbusier, Al(l6)25, FLC.
Hermes and w ho, upon their deaths, were transfigured into an oak and a linden tree
p. 173. 111.: Civilian version of the Farman Goliath; enlarged section of ill. on p. 91.
springing from the same trunk (see, e.g., O vid, Metamorphoses 8.618- 724); T he Poor
p. 174. 111.: Set of Beaux-Arts projects. When this plate was published in J.:Esprit
Fisherman: oil painting by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1881; Paris, Musee d'Orsay); the
nouveau, no. 9 (1921): 986, le Corbusier included the names of the six architects and
Marseillaise: French nati onal anthem; "[Quand] Madelon vient nous [servir] a boire":
four of the projects. The images are fragments of plates he cut out from Les salons
French soldiers' d rinking song (1914), lyrics by Louis Bousquet, music by Camille
d 'architecture. Societe des artistes franfais et Societe nationale des beaux-arts 1913
Robert.]
(Paris: Ch. Massin, 1920). The detailed captions are: top left: Pierre Varin, project for
p. 183. Ill.: Bignan-Sport, 1921. The Bignan firm operated from 1918 to 1931 in
the organization of the la Baule beach, p. 115; top right: Gaston Castel, "Salle des
Courbevoie. The Bignan-Sport was produced jointly with Gregoire.
sea nces d' un palais legislatif," p. 36; center left: Paul Lajoie, Municipal casino in
In t he 1923 ed. the graph on aerodynamic evolution (moved top. 190 in 1924) was
Ann ecy, p. 67; center right: Garriguenc and Gosselin, hotel close to an excursion area in
featured on this page .
the mountains, p. 85; bottom left: Alexandre Marcel, competition project for the
p. 184, Ill.: Nort h side of t he Parthen on; from rAcropole d'Athenes, le Parthenon,
Magasins modernes in Strasbourg, 1912, p. 43; bottom right: Jul es Lavirotte, pavilion of
intro. Gustave Fougeres (Paris: Albert Morance, 1910), upper-right deta il of pl. 10. The
th e sca les for th e Societe des courses de Compiegne (Horse-racing society of
same photograp h appears in Collignon, Le Par thenon (note for p. 181), pl. 10.
Compiegne), p. 65, very similar to the Saulot hunting lodge designed by Jeanneret for
"Bretons beds" are traditional beds enclosed behind sliding wood doors .
Perret in 1908. More radical projects featured in th e book, such as Louis Bonnier's
p. 185. Ill.: North side of the Parthenon; from J.:Acropole d'Athenes, le Parthenon
sc hool at Grenelle in Paris, were omitted.
(note for p. 184), lower-right detail of pl. 10. The sa me photograph appears in Collignon,
p. 175. 111.: Civilian version of the Farman Goliath.
l e Par the non (note for p. 181), pl. 10,
P- 176. Ill.: Handley Page 0 / 400 heavy bomber, 1917. Developed for the British
Added in 1924: "reads as categorical" (s'y lit categorique).
Royal Naval Air Service and used for night raids over Germany.
p. 186. Ill.: Cockpit of the " Capronissimo" seaplane.
"of esteem" (d'estime). 1923 ed.: "of admiration" (d'admiration).
Capt ion: " sole instigat ion " (seu/e instigation). 1923 ed. : "sole ind icat ion" (seule in di-
Added in 1924: note 1: "1921. Today it would be as high as 28 or 40,000 francs"
cation) .
(1921. Aujourd'hui nous en sommes bien a 28 ou 40.000 francs).
p. 187. Ill.: Cockpit of the " Caproni exploratio n" airplane; from Paolo Azzoli ni, /
The laws written by Lo uis Loucheur (1872-1931) and Laurent Bonnevay (18 70-
grandi artefici de /la nostra vittoria: Gianni Caproni (Mil an: Va rietas, n.d .). le
195 7) would have ensured state funding for low-cost housing bur were not voted until
Corbusier's copy is A1(16)26, FLC.
1928 and 1930, respectively.
Added in 1924 : "relationships that create the imponderable" (/es rapports qui creent
p. 177. Ill .: Front brake of Gl 95 x 140 Delage car, with six-cylinder motor; repro-
/'imponderable ).
duction of a photographic print glued on paper, A1(07)499, FLC. The Delage firm oper-
[p. 187 : "Decoration is t he necessa ry superfluity or quantum of the peasa nt" (Le
ated from 1905 to 1954; Fran~oise Jolly, l a grande aventure des Delage 3 litres
decor est le superflu necessaire, quantum du paysan). Ct. Voltaire, "The su perfluous , a very
(Pontoise: Edijac, 1988).
necessary thing" (Le superflu, chose tres-necessaire); " Le Mondain;· 1736, line 22 .J
320
32 1
Edi t or 's and Tr ans lator' s No tes
Ed it o r 's and Tra n sla t o r 's N ot es
p. 188. 111.: Bellanger 15 HP car body and interior, 1921. The firm produced cars in "Pert aining to t he face of m an" (touchant au visage de f'homme). 1923 ed.: " pertain-
Neuilly from 1913 to 1925. Le Corbusier owned the brochure for the car: A1(7)379, ing closely to m an" (touchant de pres a f'homme).
FLC.
p. 203. Ill.: Pu lpit of Santa Ma ria in Cosmedin ; Alina ri photograph 26562, retouched
p. 189. Ill.: Voisin, Torpedo-Sport car, 1921. The firm produced cars from 1919 to by Le Corbusier, who eliminated a series of col umns and blackened t he windows. See
1939.
82(15)87, FLC.
"an art of great dignity" (un art tres digne). 1923 ed.: "an elevated art" (un art hau- p. 204. Ill.: Basilica of Saint Peter, Rome, sixteenth century; Ali nari photograph
tain).
26469. Inverted by Le Corbusier, who cropped away the left side of the original photo,
p. 190. Bottom ill.: "Looking for a standard "; newspaper clippings assembled by Le with the sacristy by Carlo Marchionni (1702-86).
Corbusier. Added in 1924. Le Corbusier uses throughout his writings the German p. 205. Ill.: Apse of Basilica of Saint Peter; Anderson photograp h 17593, right side
spelling "standart," revealing his first exposure to this concept in pre-1914 Germany. cropped.
p. 191. Ill.: Western peristyle of the Parthenon; from J:Acropole d'Athenes (note for "fine bun ch of f ellows who had talent" (un tas de bonshommes a talent). In 1923 , th e
p. 184), pl. 68.
same phrase appears but with bonshommes printed as two words (bans hommes).
p. 193. Ill.: Hadrian 's Villa, Tivoli, A.D. 120; from ltalie, 2e partie, ltalie centrale et p. 206. Ill.: Basilica of Saint Peter, rotated; detail of Anderson photograph 17595.
Rome (Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1909), insert after p. 450, lower part cut out. p. 207. Il l.: Basilica of Saint Peter; detail of Anderson phot ograph 17595.
p. 195. "Victor-Emmanuel" : Le Corbusier alludes to the monument built between p. 208. Top ill.: Plan with galleries of the Basilica of Saint Peter, red rawn by Le
1884 and 1913 by Giuseppe Sacconi adjacent to Rome's Capitoline Hi ll, on Piazza Corbusier.
Venezia, ar rhe end of the Corso. Botto m ill.: Michel angelo, Port a Pia, Rome, 1561-65 , detail; probably an Alinari
p. 196. Ill.: The Pyramid of Caius Cestius, 12 B.c., and Porta San Paolo, Rome, 3rd photograph .
century A.D.; postcard or Alinari photograph.
p. 209. Top ill.: Basilica of Saint Peter, perspective and p lan of Michelangelo's
p. 197. Top ill.: The Colosseum, Rome, A.D. 80; drawing published as postcard. scheme, compared to the Colosseum ; drawing, 5425, FLC. Manuscript note relat ive to
Bottom ill.: View from the north of the Arch of Constantine, Rome, fourth century t he plan: "the apses that were to t he scale of the Colosse um" (Jes absides qui etaient a
A.D.; postcard. According to his notes, Le Corbusier seems to have lost it for a while:
/'eche//e du Co/ysee), and relat ive to t he elevation: "he would have t reat ed t he interior
82(15)87, FLC , p. 12.
like the Laurent ian Library (p rovide photos)" (/'interieur ii l'aurait traite comme la
p. 198. Ill.: Interior view of the Pantheon , Rome, A.D. 118-128; probably a post- Laurentie nne (donner cliches).
card.
Bottom ill.: View of Sa int Peter 's Squa re, Rome, 1656-67 ; And erson photograph
p. 199. Ill.: The Pantheon; reproduction of upper-right corner of postcard owned by 17 3, right side cropped away by Le Corbusier.
Le Corbusier, L5(8)197, FLC.
p. 210. Ill.: Apse window of Basilica of Sai nt Pet er; And erson photograph 17596.
p. 200. Top ill.: Platonic and other elementary solids; a detail from a didactic chart p. 211. Ill.: " The Ro me of Horr ors. " 1. Cast el Sant'Angelo, Rome, A. D. 135- 39 ,
for schoolchildren, A2(5)53, FLC. This chart is reproduced in Urbanisme, with the cap- papal apartments; 2. Galleria Colonna , Rome, 1654-65; postcard , F2(12)67, FLC, and
tion, " This is printed on the back cover of France's elementary schools' class note- Alinari photograph 6318. 1. Gugl ielmo Calderi ni, Palazzo di Giustizia, Rome, 1884-
books, this is geometry" (Ceci est imprime au dos des cahiers de classe des ecoles 1911; Alinari photog raph 20177. 2. Ceiling of Pa la zzo Bar berini , Rome, 1625-3 3.
primaires de France; c'est la geometrie); Le Corbusier, Urbanisme (Paris: G. Cres, Combined with Dadaist collages, this assem blage is t he likely source of Pietro Maria
1925), v.
Bard i's Tavolo degli orrori (Table of horrors), the most pol em ical piece shown at the sec-
Bottom ill.: Le Corbusier, drawing made in 1915 after parts of Pirro Ligorio's ond exhibition of the Movimento Italiano per l'Architettura Razionale ( Italian rational
Anteiqvae Vrbis Im ago engraving of Rome made in 1561. This montage is also pub- architecture move ment), held in Rome during the spri ng of 1931.
lished in Le Corbusier and Oze nfant, "Sur la plastique I" (note for p. 92). The original p. 213. Ill.: Pl an of Karlsruhe, Germany, ca. 1715; apparently from an exhibition
tracing was made during his research visit in 1915 at the Bibliotheque nationale de panel.
France in Paris for La construction des vii/es; traci ng, 82(20)655, FLC. p. 216. Ill.: Charles-Edouard Jea nn eret, sketch of t he Sulemaniye Mosque from the
[" it renders": <;a rend.]
Beyazit t ower, Istanbul, 1911. Also re produced in Le Corbusier, Almanach d'architec-
p. 201. Ill.: Santa Maria in Cosmedin , Rome, built beginning in A.D. 772; Alina ri ture moderne: Documents, theorie, pronostics, histoire, petites histoires, dates, propos
photograp h 26561, retouched by Le Cor busier in order to make the interior more struc- s tandarts, organisation, industrialisation du batiment (Paris: G. Cres, 1926).
tural a nd more abstract. See his g raphic and verbal in structions on sketch sheet p. 217. Top ill.: Charles-Edouard Jean neret, pla n of t he Kii lliye of Mohammed I or
82(15)87, FLC.
Green Mosque, Bursa , Turkey, 1911; in Le Corbusier, Voyage d'Orient: carnets, 6 vols.
p. 202. 111.: Santa Maria in Cosmedin; photograph retouched by Le Corbusier , who (Milan : Electa ; Paris: Fondation Le Corbusier, 1987), 4 :19 .
eliminated the Gothic baldachin and redrew the windows. See 82(15)87, FLC. Bottom ill.: View of Hagia Sophia, Ista nbul, 19 11. Le Corbusier had en visio ned
322
323
Edit or's and Tr anslator's Notes Edi tor ' s and Tra n sla to r 's Notes
adding a plan of the lnvalides as a "counterexample"; 82(5)87, FLC, p. 15. ["a perfect 'knocko ut"': le "knock-out" parfait. Le Corbusier seems to have mis·
p. 218. Top ill.: Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, view of the Casa delle Nozze d'Argento understood the English phrase; the context suggests that he meant something like "a
(captioned by him " del Nace"), Pompeii, 1911. It was excavated in 1893, the year of the complete flop."]
king's silver wedding anniversary. p. 231. Ill.: The Pa rthenon; photograph by Frederic Boissonnas ; from Collignon, Le
Bottom ill.: Plan of the same house; in Le Corbusier, Voyage d'Orient (note for p. Parthenon (note for p. 181), pis . 2, 3.
147), 5:126, 127. [p. 23 2 and passim: "conto ur modulation": la modenature. See "From the
"a sensation of strengt h and witness to potent means" (sensation de force et te· Translator."]
moignage de moyens puissants). 1923 ed.: "the sensation of a cathedral" ( sensation de p . 233 . Ad ded in 1924 : "There are millions of f aces built on these essential types,
cathedra/e). yet all are differe nt: t here is variation in t he quality of the feat ures and variation in their
p. 219. Ill.: Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, view and plan of the Oecus of the " Oriental unifying relat ionships" (// y a des millions de visages construits sur ces types essentie/s;
garden " at Hadrian 's Villa , 1911; in Le Corbusier, Voyage d 'Orient (note for p. 147), pourtant taus sont diffe rents: variat ion de qualite des traits et variation des rapports qui /es
6:45, 44. unissent).
p. 220. Top ill.: Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, section and plan of three apses of the p. 234. Top il l.: The Parthenon ; source not id entified.
temple on the Golden Square of Hadrian 's Villa, 1911; in Le Corbusier, Voyage d 'Orient Bottom ill.: T he Propylaea; source not identified.
(note for p. 147), 6:83. p. 235. Ill.: T he Propylaea; source not identified.
Bottom ill.: Room in a Pompeii house, 1911 ; in Voyage d'Orient, vol. 5, p. 121. p. 236. Ill.: Th e Propylaea; source not ident ified.
[p. 221. "ordonnance": ordonnance. On the decision to anglicize the French term p. 237. Ill.: The Erechtheum, the Caryatids, seen from the back towa rd the south;
in this translation, see "From the Translator."] the Propylaea ; source not identified.
"an orthogona l perception" (perception orthogona/e). 1923 ed .: "an orthogonal sensa- p. 238. Ill.: The Parthenon; photograph by Frederic Boissonnas; from Collignon, Le
t ion" (sensation orthogona/e). Parthenon (note for p. 181), pl. 14.
p. 222. Top ill.: The Acropolis ; from Choisy, Histoire de /'architecture (note for p. p. 239 . Ill.: T he Parthenon ; photograph by Frederic Boissonnas ; from Colligno n,
115), same ill. as on p. 115 (source not acknowledged). vol. II: Le Parthenon (note for p. 181), detail of pl. 68.
Bottom ill.: Plan of t he Pompeii forum, 1911; in Le Corbusier, Voyage d 'Orient (note p. 240. Ill.: The Parthenon. Photograph by Frederic Boissonnas; from Collignon, Le
for p. 217), 5:47. Parthen on (note for p. 181), 65.
p. 223. Ill.: Plan of the Hou se of th e Tragic Poet, Pompeii, 1911; from Le Corbusier, p. 241. Ill. : The Parthenon; photograph by Frederic Boisson na s; from Collignon , Le
Voyage d'Orient (note for p. 217), 5:87. Parthenon ( note for p. 181), pl. 19.
p. 225. Top ill.: View of the Propyl aea and of the Temple of Nike on the Acropolis, p. 242. Ill.: Entablature of the south wi ng of t he Propy laea; ide nt ica l view in
1911; photogra ph by Charles-Edouard Jeanneret; in Le Corbu sier, Voyage d 'Orient t:Acropole d'Athenes, f'enceinte, /'entree , le bastion d 'Athena Ni ke, /es Propylees,
(note for p. 217), 4:111. intro. Charles Picard (Paris : Albert Mora nce, n.d.), pl. 63.
Bottom ill.: View of the Propylaea, Athens, 1911; in Le Corbusier, Voyage d 'Orient p. 243. Il l.: The Parthenon; photograph by Frederic Boisson nas ; from Collig non, Le
(note for p. 217), 4:125. Parthenon (note for p. 181), pl. 71. Caption: The cu rve of t he echinus is as rational as
p. 226. Top and bottom ills.: Views of the Poekile at Hadrian's Villa, 1911; photo- that of a large artillery shell. One could read her e an anticipation of the met aphor of t he
graphs by Charles-Edouard Jea nneret; in Le Corbusier, Voyage d 'Orient (note for p. shell (obus), used in 1932 for t he Algiers plan.
217), 6 :61, 34. p. 244. Ill. : Cast of the Part henon at t he Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris; source not
p. 227. 111. : View of the Pompeii forum, 1911; photograp h by Char les-Edo uard identified.
Jea nneret; in Le Corbu sier , Voyage d 'Orien t ( note for p. 217), 5:103. Caption: " quai Voltaire." A (self-conscious?) confusion by Le Corbusier between
p. 228. Left ill.: Pl an of Basilica of Saint Peter and Saint Peter's Square; from ltalie, Quai Voltaire, the loca tion of the Academie des Beaux-Arts, and Qua i Malaquais, the
2e partie, ltalie cen trale et Rom e (Paris: Ollendorf, 1909): insert between pp. 272 and actual location of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. The Grand Palais is here taken as the epit-
273, right part cut out; personal library of Le Corbusier , 143, FLC. ome of histo ricism.
Right ill.: Plan of Hagia Sop hia, probably from Baedeker. p. 245. Ill.: The Parthenon ; phot ograph by Frederic Boissonnas ; from Coll ignon, Le
p. 229. 111.: Charl es·Edouard Jeanneret, perspective of Versa ill es, after an engrav- Parthenon (note for p. 181), pl. 53.
ing by Gabrie l Perelle. An early version in pencil of 1915 is preserved: drawing, p. 246. Ill.: The Parthe non; photograph by Frederic Boissonnas; from Collig non, Le
82(20)256, FLC . Parthenon ( not e for p . 181), pl. 20.
"a vision of the whole" (une vision d'ensemb/e). 1923 ed .: "a view of the whole" (une p. 247. Il l.: The Parthenon; photograph by Fred eric Boisson nas; from Collignon, Le
vue d'ensemble). Parthenon ( note for p. 181), pl. 20.
32 4 325
Editor's a n d Translator 's Notes
Ed i to r's and Trans l ato r 's Notes
p. 248. 111.: The Parthenon; photograph by Frederic Boissonnas; from Collignon , Le inadequacy would lead ro numerous revolts of the mal-lotis {literally, the "ill-subdivided"
Parthenon (note for p. 181), pl. 72.
bur also meaning "m istreated heirs" ).
p. 249. 111.: The Parthenon; photograph by Frederic Boissonnas; from Collignon, Le p. 260-61. Ill.: Perspective and plan of the Domino House, drawing by Le Corbusier,
1915. This view reveals Jean neret's knowledge of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Houses.
p. 250. Ill.: View of the Acropolis, 1911. Photograph by Charles-Edouard Jeanneret; Also published in Boesiger and Sto ronov, Le Corbusier et Pierre Jeanneret (note for p.
in Le Corbusier, Voyage d'Orient (note for p. 217), 4:98. Illustration added in 1924.
125), 24. Image deleted in 1924 from p. 261: "Type of electrical power plant for a small
p. 251. 111.: The Parthenon; photograph by Frederic Boissonnas; from Collignon, Le city with workers' houses for the workers of t he night shift" (type de centrale e/ectrique
de petite ville avec maisons ouvrieres pour Jes ouvriers attaches au service de nuit).
p. 253. 111.: Citroen and F'ord posters in a Paris street, circa 1921; photograph by p. 261. Added in 1924 : " It will be beautifu l too from all the anim ation t hat an art istic
Hostache. In 1924, it replaced the initial image of the Bellanger car (see p. 188). sense can bring to its strict and pure organs" (Elle sera belle aussi de /'animation qu 'un
LC tries to recruit H ostache as a stockholder of L'Esprit nouveau: Le Corbusier to sens artiste peut apporter a ses stricts et purs organes).
Hostache, 22 July 1922, Al (19)222, FLC.
p. 262. Il l.: Plan of the Domino housing develop ment, 19205, FLC; elevation by Le
p. 254. "only through it are our conceptions viable" (nos conceptions ne sont viab/es Corbusier, close to 30292, FLC. Also published in Boesiger and Storonov, Le Corbusier
que par el/es) . 1923 ed .: "and our thoughts" (et nos pensees). Exceptionally (perhaps
et Pierre Jeanne ret (note for p. 125), 25.
inadverte ntly, as a result of oversight d uring textual revision between the 1923 and 1924 p. 263. Ill.: Le Corbusier, interior perspective of the Domino House, 1915. Also pub-
eds .), this sentence in the chapter heading proper d iverges from the correspond ing one
lis hed in Boesiger and Storonov, Le Corbusier et Pierre Jeanneret (note for p. 125), 25.
in the opening argument. Argument: "The law of Economy necessarily governs our Added in 1924 : "and wacky ideas" (et des idees loufoques).
actions and our t houghts" (La loi d'Economie gere imperativement nos actes et nos pen-
p. 264. Top ill.: Perspective of the house of an artist, 30199, FLC.
sees). Chapter heading proper: "The law of Economy necessarily governs our actions and
Bottom ill.: Houses made of coarse concrete for the Jourdain Society, T roye s, 1919.
only through it are our conceptions viable" (La loi d'Economie gere imperativement nos Also publ ished in Boesiger a nd Storonov, Le Corbusier et Pierre Jeanneret ( note for p.
actes et nos conceptions ne sont viables que par el/e).
125), 29.
Added in 1924: "Beautiful too from all the life that the art istic sense can bring to p. 265. Ill. Mass-production workers' housing, 1920, 7946, F'LC.
these strict and pure organs" (Belle aussi de /'animation que le sens artiste peut apporter a
For the caption "Architecture is a matter of plastique, not of Romanticism," see the
ces stricts et purs organes).
note for p. 92.
p. 255. Loucheur and Bonnevay (note for p. 176). The chamber is the Chambre des p. 266. Ill.: Perspective rendering of interior of the mass-production Citro ha n
deputes, with the Senat one of the two constitutive bodies of the French parliament. House, drawing, 20707, FLC.
p. 256-57. Ill.: Domino housing, drawings by Le Corbusier, 19131, FLC; perspec- [p . 267. Bottom ill.: The typographical error "1621" appears in t he 1924 ed . but not
tive, 19209, FLC.
t he 1923 ed.]
Houses made of poured concret e, drawing by Le Corbusier, 1920. Also published in Bottom ill.: Citrohan stands for "Citroen." Le Corbusier had initially imagined call-
Boesiger and Storonov, Le Corbusier et Pierre Jeanneret (note for p. 125), 29.
ing this p roject "Renault," as shown on the untitled note, A2(15)153, FLC. But the
p. 258 . The "cold storage building at Tolbiac," situated on the Seine embankment, intense propaganda campaign of C itroen probably persuaded him to cha nge his mind.
still stands but has since been transformed into artists' housing.
p. 268-69. Top. ill. : Perspective rendering of t he Mono/ House, 1919, 19121, FLC.
p, 259. Added in 1924: "Urban and suburban site plans will be vast an d orthogonal Bottom ill.: Perspective rendering of the Mono/ House, 19122, FLC.
and no longer horribly misshapen; they wil l allow for the use of mass-produced parts
"Entire schemes": Le Corbusier also mentions here the lotissements (see note for p.
and the industrial ization of the construction site . Perhaps we wil l finally stop building 'to 193).
measure"' (Les lotissements urbains et suburbains seront vastes et orthogonaux et non plus
p. 270, Top ill.: Perspective rendering of t he Seaside Villa, location unknown, 1916,
desesperement biscornus; its permettront /'emploi de !'element de serie et /'industrialisation
30280 , FLC.
du chantier. L'on cessera peut-etre enfin de c onstruire "sur mesures").
Bottom ill .: Pla n, 30281, FLC.
"that is an opu lent object man ifesting wealth" (qui est l'objet opulent par quoi se mani-
Probably d esigned for the couturier Paul Poirer; see the commentary by Josep
feste la richesse) . 1923 ed .: "which is a definite index of r iches" (qui est l'indice decisif de
Quetg las in the DVD Le Corbusier: Plans, vol. 1, 1905- 26 (Paris: Echelle 1 and
la richesse).
Fondation Le Corbusier, 2005).
" from our heart s and minds" (du coeur et de /'esprit). 1923 ed .: "from people's hearts p. 2 71. Top ill.: View of the salo n in the Seaside Villa , 14711, FLC. Bottom ill. :
and minds" (du coeur et de /'esprit des gens).
Interior of the Mono/ House.
"Site plans" : Le Corbusier refers to the speculative land subdivisions (/otissements) p . 272- 73. Top ill.: Mirror assembl age of two half-plans of t he villa apartme nts,
with small low-cost cottages that developed around Paris after World War I. Their Paris, 1922, 19082, FLC.
326
327
Editor's and Transla t or ' s Notes Ed i tor's and Transla to r ' s Not es
Bottom ill. on p. 272: Partial perspective, 19069, FLC. Bottom ill. on p. 273: struc- Page ad ded in 1924.
tural scheme. Declared to be "u nder construct ion in Paris" (en construction a Paris) in p. 288. Le Cor busier, Pierre Jea nneret, interior of the at elier of the Ozenfant House.
1923 but not in 1924. Added in 1924 to the top caption on p . 273 : " 1922 ." Page added in 1924.
["villa apartments" : a rendering o f the oxymoron immeubles villas.] p. 289. The old and new Procuraror's Offices were bu ilt in the sixteenth century on
p. 274. Ill.: Two interior views of the villa apartments from drawing 19097, FLC, Piazza San Marco in Venice; the Place des Vosges was built fro m 1609 to 1612 in Paris;
cropped. and the Place de la Carriere took its final, classical form in the middle of the eighteenth
p. 275. Top ill.: Perspective rendering of the villa apartments, 19083, FLC. centur y in Nancy.
Bottom ill.: View of the hall, 19071, FLC, [" Laugier" : Marc-Antoine (ab be) Laugier, Jesuit priest and author who contributed
p. 276-77. Top and bottom ill.: Perspective rend ering of " Honeycomb" clusters for in print to many contemporary cultural debates, most notably in h is Essai sur /'archi-
a garden city, 1924. Also published in Boesiger and Storonov, Le Corbusier et Pierre tecture (1753) and Observations sur /'architecture (1765 ).]
Jeanneret (note for p. 125), 76. Bottom ill.: Perspective of a building in " Lotisse ment 'a p, 290. Ill.: Low-pressure venti lator; from the broc hure Societe Rateau, ventilateu rs
alveoles ' pour cites-jardins," drawing, 30834, FLC. Also published i n Boesiger and a haute pression, n.d ., p. 20, A1(16)114, FLC.
Storonov, Le Corbusier et Pierre Jeanneret (note for p. 125), 76. p. 291. Ill.: Electric tu rbine in t he Genevilliers power pla nt, then t he largest of t he
Double page added in 1924. Paris region.
p. 278. Aerial perspective of the "Modern Fruges quarter," Pessac, 1925; drawing, p. 293. "The hu man beast" : Le Corbusier refers to Emile Zola 's novel La bete
19879, FLC. humaine (1890), centered on the fi gure of the hardworking locomotive engineer Emile
Page ad ded in 1924. Lantier.
p. 279. Plan of the modern Fruges quarter, 1925. The original of the right part is p. 294. Ill.: Ernest R. Gra ham , for Anderson , Probst & Co., Equitable Building, New
filed as drawing, 19772, FLC. York, 1913-15, seen from t he corner of Trinity Place and Rector Street. The steepl e of
p. 280-81. Mass-production housing for craftsmen, location unknown , 1924. Top ill.: Trinity Chu rch appears at t he bottom right.
Perspective. On p. 280: plans and on p. 281: interior perspective. All illustrations were p. 295. Ill.: Gu stave Lind enthal , Hellgate Bridge over the East River, New York,
published in Boesiger and Storonov, Le Corbusier et Pierre Jeanneret(note for p. 125), 54. 1918. The upper part of the arc h is under construction.
Double page added in 1924. "Intelligence selection" : Le Cor busier expresses here h is ap proval fo r the organiza-
p. 282. 111.: Plan and perspective of the Peugeot Lotissement project, Audincourt, tion of the division of labor according to "natu ral" class hierarchies.
1923. Also published in Boesiger and Storonov, Le Corbusier et Pierre Jeanneret (note p. 296. Ill. : Wisconsin Special racing car , 1922. Designed and built with power from
for p. 125), 72. an airplane engine by Sigu rd Olson " Sig" Haugdahl to set a world speed r ecord , a feat
For the workers of the Peugeot car facrories. ac hieved in Daytona Beach on 7 April 1922. Le Corbusier has bru shed out the context
Page ad ded in 1924. of the p hot o.
p. 283 . Axonometric view of a cell of the villa apartments, 1923. Also published in p. 297 . Ill.: View of t he East River in New York in 1912, with the USS Michigan bat-
Boesiger and Storonov, Le Corbusier et Pierre Jeanneret (note for p. 125), 95. tleship. Replaces a photograph of a Voisin tripla ne of 1916 used in 1923.
" The U P Busin esses of Czechoslovakia" (/es Etablissements U. P. reunis de p. 298. Ill.: German Demag crane. Based in Duisburg, Demag was the leading manu-
Tchecoslovaquie): Spojene umeleckoprumyslove zavody V Brne (United decorative arts facturer of cranes in Europe since the late nineteenth cent ury.
factories in Brno), a consortium established in 1920 that produced modern fu rnishings. p. 299. Ill.: Coal harbor in the Ru hr.
Page added in 1924. p . 300. Ill.: El ectric turbine wheel prod uced by Le Creusot .
p. 284. Plan of a villa, Bordeaux, 1925; drawing, FLC 31518. ["Ribot law fo r workers" : reference to French legislation (1908 ), named after min-
Designed in fact for Dr. Mont-Refer, in Royan. ister Alexandre Ribot (1842- 1923 ), that faci litated the purchase of small plots of land
Page added in 1924. for the construction of houses by individ uals w ith limited financial means.]
p. 285. Axonometric view of a vill a, Bordea ux, 1925; drawing, 31519, FLC. p. 301. Ill. : Rateau ventilat or. Not f eatured in the broc hure Societe Rateau (note for
Page added in 1924. p. 290).
p. 286. Gen eral axonometric view of the Cite universitaire, Paris, 1925. Also pub- p. 302. Top ill.: Bugatti car engine.
lished in Boesiger and Storonov , Le Corbusier et Pierre J eanneret (note for p. 125), 73. Bottom ill.: American wind ow sample.
Page added in 1924. p. 303. Top ill.: Louis Breguet, flying wing aircraft; from Louis Breguet, " L' avion de
p. 287. Section, plan, and partial axonometric view of the Cite universitaire, 1925. demain, " in l:£xportateur franr;ais 6 , no. 277 (1921): 625.
Also published in Boesiger and Storonov, Le Corbusier et Pier re Jeanneret (not e for p. Bottom il l.: Factory built by the Limousin firm with Eugene Freyssinet.
125), 73. p. 304. Ill.: Eugene Freyssinet, Orly dirigible hangar s, 1921-23 (dest royed 1944).
328 3 29
Edito r 's a nd Tr ans la t or' s Notes
The spectacular build ing replaces th e pictu re used in 1923 of a st ructure made of
laminated wood (lame/les de bois co/lees a la casein e) by the eng ineers Terner and
Selected Bibliography
Chopard. This mod ificat ion could be int erpret ed as a response to Freyssinet, who had
requested a meeti ng with Le Corbusier after reading th e f irst ed.: Eugene Freyssinet to
Le Corbusier, 22 Novem ber 1923, E2(2)425, FLC .
p. 305. Ill.: Eugene Freyssinet, Orly. Added in 1924.
Erich M endelsohn reproduced th is image in his Ru(5/and, Europa, Amerika, ein
architektonischer Quersclmitt (Berlin: R. Masse, 192 9), 193.
p. 306. Ill.: Giacomo Matte-Trucco, Fiat automobile factory at the Lingotto, Turin,
1917-22. Le Corbusier would visit it in 1934, driving a car on the test runway.
Page add ed in 1924. Works written by Le Corbusier
p. 307. Briar pipe produced by the La Pipe cooperative firm , established at Saint- Etude sur le mouvement d'art decoratif en Allemagne. La Chaux-de-Fonds: Haefeli,
Claude, in the Jura, the world's capital of briar-pipe production. Founded in the late 1912.
nineteenth century, it operated until 2000. An obvious objet-type, similar to the ones A pres le cubism e, with Amedee Ozenfanc. Paris: Editions des Commentaires, 1918.
featured in the purist still lifes painted by Jeanneret in the 1920s. On p. 152, Le Vers une architecture. Paris: G. Cres, 1923. Translated by Frederick Etchells as
Corbusier sees in the Aquitania the " same aesthetic as that of your English pipe" Towards a N ew Architecture. London: John Rodker, 1927.
(meme esthetique que cel/e de votre pipe anglaise). L'art decoratif d'aujourd'hui. Paris: G. Cres, 1925. Translated by James I. Dunnett as
T he D ecorative Art of Today. Cambridge: M IT Press, 1987.
La peinture m oderne, with Amedee Ozenfanc. Paris: G. Cres, 1925.
Urbanism e. Paris: G. Cres, 1925. Translated by Frederick Etchells as The City of
Tomorrow and Its Planning. London: John Rodker, 1929.
Almanach d'architecture moderne. Paris: G . Cres, 1926.
Une maison, tm palais. Paris: G. Cres, 1928.
Precisions sur un etat present de /'architecture et de /'urbanisme. Paris: G. Cres, 1930 .
Translated by Edith Schreiber Aujame as Precisions on the Present State of
A rchitecture and City Planning. Cambridge: M IT Press, 1991.
Croisade; ou, Le crepuscule des academies. Paris: G. Cres, 1933.
A ircraft. London: The Stud io, 1935.
La ville radieuse: Elements d'une doctrine d'urbanisme pour /'equipement de la civili-
sation machiniste. Boulogne: Editions de !'Architecture d'aujourd'hui, 1935.
Translated by Pamela Knight, Eleanor Levieux, and Derek Coltman as The
Radiant City: Elements of a Doctrine of Urbanism to Be Used as the Basis of Our
Machine -Age Civilization. New York: Orion, 1967.
Quand /es cathedrales etaient blanches: Voyage au pays des timides. Paris: Plon, 1937.
Translated by Francis Edwin Hyslop as When the Cathedrals Were White: A
Journey to the Country of Timid People. New York: Reyna! & Hitchcock, 1947.
Des canons, des munitions? Merci! Des logis . .. s.v.p. Boulogne: Editions de
!'Architecture d'aujo urd'hui, 1938.
Destin de Paris. Paris: F. Sorlot, 1941.
Sur /es quatre routes. Paris: Gallimard, 1941. Translated by Dorathy Todd as The Four
Routes. London: D. Dobson, 1947.
La maison des hommes, with Fran~ois de Pierrefeu. Paris: Pion, 194 2. Translated by
Clive Entwistle and Gordon H olt as T he Home of Man. London: Architectural
Press, 1948.
Les maisons "murondin." Paris: E. Chiron, 1942.
330 3 31
Selected B i b l iogr aphy
Se le cted Bib l iography
1992.
La charte d'Athenes. Paris: Pion, 1943. Translated by Anthony Eardley as The Athens
Les voyages d'Allemagne: Carnets. Edited by Giuliano Gresleri. 5 vols. Milan: Electa
Charter. New York: Grossman, 1973.
Architecture, 1994.
Entretien avec Jes etudiants des ecoles d'architecture. Paris: Denoel, 1943.
Album La R oche. Introduction by Stanislaus van Moos. Paris: Gallimard, 1996.
Les trois etablissements humains. Paris: Denoel, 1945. Translated by Eulie Chowdhury
Le Corbusier: Chaix de lettres. Edited by Jean Jenger. Basel: Birkhauser, 2002.
as The Three Human Establishments. Chandigarh: Punjab Government,
L ettres ases maitres, vol. 1, L ettres a Auguste Perret. Edited by Marie-Jeanne
Department of Town and Counrry Planning, 1979.
Dumont. Paris: Editions du Linteau, 2002.
Maniere de penser l'urbanisme. Boulogne: Editions de !'Architecture d'aujourd'hui,
Schnoor, Christoph. " La construction des villes, Charles-Edouard Jeannerets erstes
1946. Translated by Eleanor Levieux as Looking at City Planning. New York:
Stadtebauliches Traktat von 1910/ 1911." Ph.D. diss., Technische Un iversitat, Berlin,
Grossman, 1971.
2003.
UN Headquarters. New York: Reinhold, 1947.
Le Corbusier: Plans. 16 DVDs in 4 vo ls . Paris: Echelle 1 and Fondation Le Corbusier,
Le modular: Essai sur une mesure harmonique a /'eche/le humaine applicable uni-
versellement a /'architecture et a la mecanique. Boulogne: Editions de 2005.
L ettres a ses maitres, vol. 2, Lettres ii Charles L'Eplattenier. Edited by Marie-Jeanne
!'Architecture d 'aujourd'hui, 1950. Translated by Peter de Francia and Anna
Dumont. Paris: Editions du Linteau, 2006.
Bostock as The Modular: A Harmonious Measure to the Human Scale Universally
Applicable to Architecture and Mechanics. London: Faber & Faber, 1954.
Selected books on Le Corbusier's work, in chronological order
Poesie sur Alger. Paris: Falaize, 1950.
Gauthier, Maximilien. Le Corbusier; ou, L'architecture au service de l'homme. Paris:
Une petite maison, 1923. Zurich: Editions Girsberger, 1954.
Denoel, 1944.
Modular 2, 1955: La parole est aux usagers; suite de "L e modular," "1948."
Choay, Frarn;:oise. Le Corbusier. New York: G. Braziller, 1960.
Boulogne: Editions de I' Architecture d'aujourd'hui, 1955. Translated by Peter de
Besser, Maurice. Who Was Le Corbusier? Translated by R obin Kemball. Geneva: Edi-
Francia and Anna Bostock as Modular 2, 1955: Let the User Speak Next;
t ions d'Art Albert Skira, 1968.
Continuation of "The Modular," 1948. London: Faber & Faber, 1958.
Moos, Stanislaus von. L e Corbusier: Elemente einer Synthese. Frauenfeld: Huber,
Poeme de /'angle droit. Paris: Teriade Editeur, 1955.
1968. Translated by Beatrice M ock, Joseph Stein, and Maureen Oberil as Le
Les plans de Paris. Paris: Editions de Minuit, 1956.
Corbusier: Elements of a Synthesis. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1979.
Le poeme electronique L e Corbusier. Paris: Editions de Minuit, 1958.
Petit, Jean. Le Corbusier lui-meme. Geneva: Editions R ousseau , 1970.
L'atelier de la recherche patiente. Paris: Vincent & Freal, 1960. Translated by James
Jencks, Charles. Le Corbusier and the Tragic View of Architecture. Cambridge:
Palmes as Creation Is a Patient Search. New York: Praeger, 1960.
H arvard Univ. Press, 1973.
Mise au point. Paris: Editions Forces Vives, 1966. Translated by Ivan Zaknic as The
Olmo, Carlo, and Roberto Gabetti. Le Corbusier e "L'Esprit nouveau." Turin: G.
Final Testament of Pere Corbu: A Translation and Interpretation of Mise au point.
Einaudi, 1975.
New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1997.
Turner, Paul. The Education of Le Corbusier. New York: Garland, 1977.
Le voyage d'Orient. Paris: Editions Forces Vives, 1966. Translated by Ivan Zaknic as
Walden, Russell, ed. The O pen Hand: Essays on Le Corbusier. Cambridge: MIT Press,
Journey to the East. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1987.
1977.
Tentori, Francesco. Vita e opere di L e Corbusier. Roma: Laterza, 1979.
Architectural works, posthumous publications of Le Corbusier's manu-
Gresleri, Giuliano. Le Corbusier, viaggio in oriente. Venice: Marsilio, 1984.
scripts and correspondence, and facsimile editions of sketchbooks, in
Brady, Darlene. Le Corbusier: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Garland , 1985.
chronological order
Monnier, Gerard. L e Corbu sier. Lyon: La Manufacture, 1986.
Oeuvre complete. Edited by Willi Boesiger and M ax Bill. 8 vols. Zurich: Editions
Benton, Tim, ed. Le Corbusier: Architect of the Century. Exh. cat. London: Arts
Girsberger, 1957- 70.
Council of Great Britain, 1987.
Le Corbusier Sketchbooks. Edited by Franc;:oise de Franclieu. 4 vols. Cambridge: MIT
- - ~. T he Villas of Le Corbusier, 1920-1 930. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 198 7.
Press, 1981-82.
Bosman, Jos, ed. Le Corbusier und die Schweiz: Dokwnente einer schwierigen
The Le Corbusier Archive. Edited by H . Allen Brooks. 32 vols. New York: Garland;
Beziehung. Z urich: Institut for Geschichte und Theorie der Architek tur,
Paris: Fondation Le Corbusier, 1982- 84.
Eidgenossische Technische H ochschule Ziirich, 1987.
Voyage d'Orient: Carnets. Edited by Giuliano Gresleri. 6 vols. Milan: Electa
Cohen, Jean-Louis. L e Corbusier et la mystique de l'URSS: Theories et projets pour
Architecture; Paris: Fondation Le Corbusier, 1987.
Moscou, 1928- 1936. Liege: Pierre Mardaga Editeur, 1987. Translated by Kenneth
La construction des vii/es: Genese et devenir d'un ouvrage ecrit de 1910 a 1915 et
H ylton as Le Corbusier and the Mystique of the USSR: Theories and Projects for
laisse inacheve. Edited by Marc E. Albert Emery. Lausanne: L'Age d'Homme,
333
332
Selected B i bliography
J\1Ioscow, 1928- 1936. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1992.

Gans, Deborah. The Le Corbusier Guide. Princeton: Princeton Architectural Press, Illustration Credits
1987.
Lucan, Jacques, ed. Le Corbusier: Une encyclopedie. Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou,
1987.
Moos, Stanislaus van, ed. L'Esprit Nouveau: Le Corbusier et l'industrie 1920-1925.
Exh. cat. Strasbourg: Musees de la ville, 1987.
Pauly, Daniele, ed. Le Corbusier et la Mediterranee. Exh. cat. Marseille: Parentheses,
1987.
Ragot, Gilles, and Mathilde Dion. Le Corbusier en France: Realisations et projets.
Paris: Electa Moniteur, 1987.
All photographs of illustration s from Le Corbusier, Vers une architecture,
Baker, Geoffrey H. Le Corbusier, the Creative Search: Th e Formative Years of Charles-
2nd ed. (Paris, G. Cres, 1924 ), are courtesy the Getty Research Institute,
Edouard Jeanneret. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1996.
Research Library, 84-B10997. © 2007 Fondat ion Le Cor busier. The fol-
Vogt, Adolf Max. Le Corbusier, der edle Wilde: Zur Archaologie der Moderne.
lowing sources have granted permission to reproduce the other illustra-
Wiesbaden: Vieweg, 1996. Translated by Radka Donnell as Le Corbusier, the
tions in this volume:
Noble Savage: Toward an Archaeology of Modernism. Cambridge: MIT Press,
1998.
p.2 Fondation Le Corbusier, B2(15 )17
Brooks, H . Allen, ed. Le Corbusier's Formative Years: Charles-Edouard Jeanneret at
p. 7 Archives nationales, Cite de !'architecture et du patrimoine/Archives d'architecture
La Chaux-de-Fonds. Chicago: Univ. o f Chicago Press, 1997.
du XXeme siecle, Fonds Auguste Perret
Elie!, Carol S., ed. L'Esprit nouveau: Purism in Paris, 1918- 1925. Exh. car. Los
p. 9 Fondation Le Corbusier, B2 (15 )77, p. 4
Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Arr, 2000.
p. 12 Fondation Le Cor busier, L5(6)113
Jencks, Charles. Le Corbusier and the Continual Revolution in Architecture. New
p. 15 Fondation Le Co.rbusier, A1 (16)24, p. 1
York: Monacelli, 2000.
p. 16 Fondation Le Corbusier, B2 (15 )71, p. 2
Frampton, Kenneth. Le Corbusier: Architect and Visionary. London: Thames &
p. 18 Fondation Le Corbusier, L4(19)123
Hudson, 2001.
p. 19 Fondation Le Corbusier, B2(15)87, p. 12
Bacon, Mardges. Le Corbusier in America: Travels in the Land of the Timid.
p. 21 Photo: Research Library, Getty Research Institute, 86-B41
Cambridge: MIT Press, 2001.
p. 2 3 Fondation Le Cor busier, B2 (15)157, p.1
Tzonis, Alexander. Le Corbusier: The Poetics of Machine and Metaphor. London:
p.27 Fondation Le Cor busier, B2(15)67
Thames & Hudson, 2001.
p. 28 Fondation Le Cor busier, B2(15)165, p. 11
Moos, Stanislaus von, and Arthur Ruegg, eds. Le Corbusier before Le Corbusier:
p . 31 Fondation Le Corbusier, B2(15)87, p. 17
Applied A rts, Architecture, Painting, Photograph y, 1907-1922. Exh. car. New
p. 32 Photo: Alinari/Art Resource, New York
Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 2002.
p. 3 3 Fondation Le Cor busier, B2 (15)87, p. 15
Cohen, Jean-Louis. Le Corbusier, 1887- 1965: The Lyricism of Architecture in the
p.34 Fondation Le Corbusier, B2(15)87, p. 14
Machine Age. Cologne: Taschen, 2004.
p. 35 Fondation Le Corbusier, B2(15)87, p. 13
de Smet, Catherine. Le Corbusier, Architect of Books. Translated by Deke Dusinberre.
p. 36 Photo: Alinari/Art Resource, New York
Baden: Lars Muller, 2005.
p. 38 Fondation Le Corbusier, A1(16)114, p. 20
Cohen, Jean-Louis. Le Corbusier, la planete comme chantier. Paris: Textuel, 2006.
p. 39 Fondation Le Corbusier, B2 (15)155
p.44 Photo: Nai:ma and Jean-Pierre Jornod
p.46 Hans and Lily Hildebrandt Papers, 1899- 1979. Research Library, Getty Research
Institute, 850676 (box 41, fo lder 38)
p.59 Fondation Le Corbusier, B2 (15 )205
3 34
3 35
Index
Brazil, 57 competition, standards and, 180-81 doors, 111

Index Breton beds, 184, 321 composition, of outside as an inside, Doric sryle, 234, 238, 239, 243, 247
brick, 200 224 Dormoy, Marie, 52
Bruckmann, Hugo, 45 concrete engineering, 48, 52, 125, Dorner, Alexander, 45
brute fact, 101-2 129; in liberation of construction, Du Bois, Max, 6, 309
Budry, Jean, 42 303-4; in mass-produced hous- Ducros, Fran,;-oise, 17
Buenos Aires, 8, 30, 45 ing, 256- 57, 264; in postwar Dymaxion house (Buckminster
Bugatti engine, 302 modernization, 6 Fuller), 55
Bursa, 216, 217 cone of maximum penetration, 190
businessmen, 96-97 conservatism, 25 Ecole des Beaux-Arts, 10, 50, 106,
Byzantine architecture, 20, 201 - 3 construction, 97, 130, 162, 195; 172,215
"Byzantine Rome" (Le Corbusier), 35 architect's mastery of, 244- 45; economy, law of, 88, 92, 258
liberation of, 303-4; mass- Eescere.n, Cor van, 54
Page references to illustrations are in three reminders to, 85-86 Aventinum, 45 Cahiers d'aujourd'bui (periodical), 3 production of, 255, 259; plan L'Effort Moderne gallery, 54
italic. architectural abstraction, 101-2 axial body analogy, 20 Capitol (Rome), 140 in implying methods of, 216 Egyptian architecture: forms in, 102,
architectural emotion, 97 axis, 221, 233-34, 238 Caproni-Exploration, 187 construction site, industrialization 105; regulating lines in, 137;
Abraham, Pol, 50, 316 architecture: "beautiful face " anal- Caproni tricellular hydroplane, 165, of, 259,278 temples, 119- 20
Abramovitz, Max, 57 ogy of, 20; beauty in, 187- 88; Banham, Reyner, 58 186 constructivism, 54 Ehrenburg, llya, 45
abstraction, 101-2 clients' negative role in, 96- 97; Bardi, Pietro Maria, 323 Caproni triplane, 165, 166, 319 contour modulation: in Parthenon, Eidgeniissische Technische
accencuators, 109, 111, 311 defined, 195; as embodied in baroque period, 20 Ca rpenter, Rhys, 57 246- 49; as pure creation , 88; Hochschule, 45
Achaemenid domes, 138 ocean liner, 156- 57; ends of, basilica, 201 Caryatids, 237 translation of term, xii, xiii, 22 Eiffel, Gustave, 5
Acropolis, 10, 115,121, 250; axis of, 162- 63; engineers' aesthetic in, Basil ica of Constantine, 207 Casa del Nace [Casa delle Nozze Corinthian style, 206,243 electric turbine, 291
221; outside as an inside, 224- 25; 85; gothic, 105; of interior, ele- Basilica of Saint Peter, 20 d'Argento], 218-19 craftsman housing, 280-81 emotion: brute face and, 102; houses
sketches of, 23 ments of, 219-20; p urpose of, vs. Baths of Caracalla, 207 cathedrals, 105 crane, 298 and, 84; intention as source of,
Addleshaw, G. W. 0., 49 "style," 101- 2; Roman vs. Greek, battleship, 296 cavedium, 218 Crawford's Advertising Agency, 49 236; Parthenon as machine for
"Aesthetic of the Engineer" (Le Cor- 17, 18, 19, 20; standardization as Baudot, Anatole de, 13 cavity "cement gun" walls, 264 Cres, Georges, 40, 41, 4 7 stirring, 22, 241; passion, in art,
busier): the plan in, 10; reminders revolution in, 292; standards in, La bea11te rationnelle (Souriau), 14 cement, 89, 200, 269 Cree, Paul-Philippe, 55 204; plastic, architecture in pro-
to architects in, 6, 8; typescript 178, 189; in stirring emotions, 93, beaury: in arch itecture, 187- 88; as Cendrars, Bla ise, 40 cubic sensation, 224 voking, 92, 95, 97; in Propylaea,
with handwritten additions, 9 95, 97; as urgent need, 93; as vol- human creation, 189; of human center of gravity of sire, 224 cubic volume, 224 235,236
ag(iculrural labor, 2 77 ume, as first principle, 49 face, 233, 325; of mass-produced central hearing, 258 cu bism, 97n Empress of Asia liner, 157
Air Express, 162, 167, 169, 171 Architecture (Lur~at), 51 housing, 267 Cercle Militaire, 43 culture, 184 Empress of France liner, 15 6
airplanes, 53, 87; of the future, 303; "Architecture or revolution" (Le Beaux-Arts plan, 20 Cezanne, Paul, 11 cylinders, 218- 19, 220 engine, 302
Goliath, 15, 163, 170, 173, 175; Corbusier), 39; sketch for cover Behne, Adolf, 52 chairs, 168, 186 engineers: aesthetic of, 85, 95;
as housing analogy, 161- 76, 173; of, 27; typescript with handwrit- Behrens, Peter, 11 Chedanne, Georges, 13 De Stijl (periodical), 3 American, Le Corbusier's admira-
lesson of, 161-62 ten note, 28 Bellanger sedan, 188 Choisy, Auguste, xii, 10, 20, 22, 23, decoration, 186-87 tion for, 7, 8; architects and,
Alinari, photographs, 30, 34, 36, argument: architecture, 87- 88; eyes Benes, Eduard, 50 130,311,312 decorative arcs, 147-48, 184, 317 opposition between, 5-6, 94- 95;
322,323 chat do not see, 86-87; regulating Berlage, Hendrik Petrus, 11 circulation network, 12 7, 129 Delage brake, 16 law of economy and, 92
Also sprach Zarathustra (Nietzsche), lines, 86; three reminders, 85- 86, Besson, George, 3, 40, 41 Une cite industrielle (Garnier), 10 Delage Grand-Sport, 181 English translation of Vers une archi-
4,26 96 Bignan-Sport automobile, 183 Citroen, 327 Delaunay, Robert, 52 tecture, 48-50
America: architect and engineer in, 7, Arsenal of Peiraeus, 11, 137, 138 Blanc, Charles, 20 Cirrohan house, 266, 267 Demag crane, 298 entrepreneurial morality, 303
8; Frank Lloyd Wright on superi- arc: defined, 95; as fo r elites, 156-57; Blanche, Jacques-1:mile, 50 city plans: circulation network in, 12 7, density sensation, 224 equalizatio n, 119
ority of, 55; housing developments natural objects as, 242- 43; Bleriot, Louis, 14, 319 129; grandeur in, 120; fo r indus- depth, 54 Equitable Building, 294
in, 269; skyscrapers in, 125 passion in, 204; vs. decoration, Blonde!, Jacques-Fran,;-ois, 10, 131 trial city, 121-22; infra structure Der Blaue Reiter (almanac), 3 Erechtheum, 115,221, 237
anaphora, 29 186- 87 Bl unt, Anthony, 57 needs in, 126-27, 150; Karlsruhe, Dermee, Pau l, 1 Etchells, Frederick, xi, 49-50
"Ancient Rome" (Le Corbusier), 19 arc historians, response to Towa rd an Boeken, Alfred, 54 213, 229; need fo r, 111- 12; for determinism, 136 Etude sur le mo1111ement d'art deco-
Ansermet, Ernest, 42 Architecture, 57-58 Boesiger, Willi, 42 pilotis city, 126- 27, 127, 129; for Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 47 ratif en Allemagne (Jeanneret), 3
apartments, villa, 272-75, 283 artist's home, 264 Boissonnas, Frederic, 22, 249 rower cities, 122, 124, 124- 26, 125 diagonal lines, 11 experimental psycho logy, 13-14
Apollinaire, Guillaume, 1, 29 asbestos cement, 269 Bongard, Germaine, 17 class hierarchies, 329 D ictionnaire d'architecture "eyes that do not see," 156; in argu-
Apres le cubisme (Jeanneret and Athena parthenos, 115 Bonnevay, Laurent, 176 classification o f elements, 199- 200 (Quatremere de Quincy), x ii, 22 ment, 86- 87; source of phrase,
Ozenfant), 4 Athens, 20 Bonnier, Louis, 22 client, 96-97 Dieulafoy, Marcel, 11, 138 13-14
Aquitania liner, 149, 150, 152, 154, austerity, 234 book cover of Vers une architecture, Cocteau, Jean, 3, 40, 56 dirigible hanger, 305, 329- 30
318 automobiles: in argument, 87; as 2 7, 58, 59 collective spirit, 296 division of labor, 329 facades: of Achaemenid domes, 138;
Arch of Constantine, 197 mass-produced housing analogy, Bordeaux-Pessac housing develop- Collignon, Maxime, 22, 249 Doesburg, Theo van, 3, 54 of Arsenal in Peiraeus, 137, 138;
architects: engineers and, opposition 37, 178- 89, 190, 191; as metaphor ment, 278- 79 Colosseum, 105, 197 domes, 105; Achaemenid, 138; of of Capitol in Rome, 140; embra-
between, 5- 6, 94- 95; national for architecture, 17, 20; standardi- Borissavlievitch, Miloutine, 50 columns, 218-19, 220 Saint Peter's, 2 09, 228 sures in, 149; of Notre-Dame de
schools and, 94; response of, to zation of, 182- 83; temples and, brakes, 16, 177 Compagnie des Chemins de fer du Domino house, 24, 256-57, 260- 61, Paris, 139; of Petit Trianon, 141;
Toward an Architecture, 56-57; concordance with, 17 Bramante, Donato, 107, 113 Nord, 258 262,263 regulating lines in, 137-42, 143;
336 337
Index In de x
of Saint Peter's, 209 grain silos, 99, 101, 102-6; photo- illustrations, 29- 30, 37, 40; manipu- Lainoriciere liner, 151, 155 Mallarme, Stephane, xi, 13, 29, 37 Nenot, Paul-Henri, 43, 45
factory: client as in harmony with, graphic falsification of, 8 lations made to, 30; photographic Laugier, M arc-Antoine, 329 man, 205; modern, 315- 16 Netherlands, 52
97; construction sites as, 259; sur- Grand Palais, 13 falsifications, 8; provenance of, 30 law of economy, 88, 92,258 mannerism, 57 New York City, 296
face modeling in, 112 Great Sulemaniye Mosque, 216 indents, 10, 128, 129 law of penetration, 183 Maple & Company, 318 Nietzsche, Friedrich, 4, 22, 26
facts, as poetry, 187 Greek architecture: contour modula- industrial city, 121-22 law of selection, 189 marble, 200 N itzchke, Oscar, 50
Fagus factory, 8 tion in, 247-49; forms in, 102, industrialists, 96- 97 Le Corbusier, 18; adoption as pen Marc, Franz, 3 N otre Dame de Paris, 11, 12, 139
family life: industry's impact on, 105; as plastic system, 238; as industr y and industrialization, 25; name, 1; political positions of, marketing, 42
295-98; as killed by bad housing, pure creation of mind, 20; regu- of construction site, 259, 278; 25- 26; on printers' reaction to mass-prod uced housing, 24; airplane ocean liners, 14, 42, 86, 149- 58
171; in natural system, 294; spe- lating Jines in, 137; vs. Roman, of farming, 276- 77; in mass- layout, 30; on regulating lines, 13; as analogy for, 176; automobile as Oldenburg Pavilion (Behrens), 11
cialization in transforming, 295 17, 18, 19, 20 produced housing, 88, 254; as sketch for book cover, 2 7; solids analogy for, 37, 178- 89, 190, 191; Orly dir igible hangers, 304, 305,
Farman Goliath, 15,163,170, 173, Greeks, Friedrich Nietzsche on, 22 new aesthetic, 14 7; ownership against voids, 31; writing style of, beauty and proportion of, 2 67; 329- 30
175 Green Mosque, 217 patterns in, 300- 301; problem 26, 29. See also Jeanneret, Citrohan house, 266, 267; for order: in ancient Rome, 196; axis in,
Farman, Henri, 319 Gropius, Walter, 8, 45 , 52 solving in, 293; shift work, 296 Charles-Edouard craftsmen, 280- 81; Domino 221; measurement in, 133- 34;
Farman Moustique, 168 Gruppo 7, 56 infrastructure needs, 150; in city Le Corbusier-Saugnier, 1, 40 house, 260-63; garden-city house, plan as basis of, 10, 118; regulat-
farming, 276-77 Guadet, Julien-Azais, 10 p lans, 126- 27; in mass-produced Le Parthenon (Collignon), 249 276-79; in industrial city, 121- 22, ing lines in, 13, 96
Faure, Elie, 37, 50 Guilbert, Jacques, 50 houses, 258 League of Nations competition, 41, 123; industrialization in, 254; ordonnance, 92 ; defined, 88; in
Fiat factory, 3 06 Ingersoll-Rand cement gun, 283 43 Mono! house, 268- 69, 271; ocean Hadrian's Villa, 198; as hierarchy
Fischer, Theodor, 11 Hadrian's Villa, 105, 193, 198,219, inside, plan's procession from, Leger, Fernand, 52 liner as analogy for, 14 9- 58; of axes, 221; rhythm of, 117, 119;
Fordism, 24 220; outside elements in, 226 216-19 Lemaresquier, Charles, 43 orthogonal lot division, 282; rela- translation of term, xi-xii
foreman, 98 Hagia Sophia, 105, 118, 217, 228 insulation, 281 Les grands inities (Schure), 4 tionship to machines, 17; seaside Oud, J. J. P., 54
forms, 88, 92, 95-96; accentuators harmony, 186, 189; axis in origina- intellectual cl ass, 298-301 L'Esprit nouveau (periodical): arti- villas, 270, 271; state of mind for, outside elements: as an inside,
of, 109, 111; geometric, 100; pri- tion of, 238; defined, 239; of Doric intention: in plan, 215; strength of, cles from, in Vers une architec- 255; for students, 286; villa apart- 224- 27; center of gravity, 224
mary, 100, 106; seeing, in light, style, 239; inner sense of, 233 199-200; unity of, as source of ture, 4-5; book series based on, ments, 272- 75. See also house ownership patterns, 300- 301
102 Haugdahl, Sigurd O lson, 329 emotion, 236 41- 42; founding of, 1 and housing Oxford, University of, 286
forum in Pompeii, 222-23, 227 Henard, Eugene, 10 Invalides, 105, 112 Lethaby, William Richard, 4 9 mathematics, 184; in Santa lvlaria in Ozenfant, Amedee: as coauthor, 40,
France liner, 153 Herriot, Edo uard, 120 Ionic style, 23 7 light: in houses, requirements for, Cosmedin, 201 43; Jeanneret break with, 43, 44,
France ou Allemagne? (Jeanneret), 4 hierarchy of axes, 221 iron , 89 168; in Roman architecture, 200; Mau clair, Camille, 14 45 ; as L'Esprit nouveau founder,
Fruges, Henry, 50 H igginson, W illiam, 8 Istanbul, 105,216 volumes and, 102; walls in reflec- Maurras, Charles, 22 1; on photographic falsifications,
Fruges quarter, 2 76, 278-79 Hildebrandt, Hans, 46, 4 7, 48, 49 Italian translation of Vers une archi- tion of, 220 measurement, 133-34 8; review by, 42
Freyssinet et Limousin, 303-5 Hildebrandt, Lily, 52 tecture, 55 lighting util ities, 258 mechanical sensations, 18 8 Ozenfant atelier, 11
Fry, Maxwell, 56 Hindu temple, 117, 119- 20 Ligorio, Pirro, 322 mechan ization, 147, 176
Fry, Roger, 4 9 Hispano-Suiza automobile, 182 Janak, Pavel, 26 limousine, 184 Medici Chapel, 211 Paestum, 180
Fuller, Richard Buckminster, 55 historical eclecticism, 20 Japanese translat ion of Vers une line, straight, 264 meditation, 98, 170 painting, 97-98
furniture, standards for, 186 Hitchcock, Henry-Russell, 49, 57 architecture, 45 , 57 liners. See ocean liners merchants, 96- 97 paintings, 170
Haeber, Fritz, 11 Jeanneret, Charles-Edouard: activi- Lissitzky, El, 13 Meyer, Adolf, 8 Palace in Amman, 120
Gair Building, 8 honeycomb clusters, 276,277 ties prior to L'Esprit nouveau, Loos, Adolf, 3, 24 M ichelangelo, 33, 139, 204 - 11 Palais de bois, 50
Garabit viaduct, 5, 6, 7, 91, 309 house and housing: of artist, 264; 3-4; on American engineers, 7, 8; Loucheur, Louis, 176 modernist reaction, 52, 54 Palissy, Bernard, 151, 318
garden-city house, 276- 79 dissatisfaction with, 297; intellectual influences on, 4, 6; Loucheur program, 185 modernization: revolution and, 25; Palladianism, 57- 58
garden terraces, 287 Dymaxion factory-produced, 55; Ozenfant break with, 4 3, 44, 45; Louis XIV, 229 strategy of, in rationalist order, 10 Pantheon, 105,198, 199
Gare d'Orsay, 13, 42 of facto ry worker, 25,297; pen name of, 1. See also Le low-cost housing. See mass-produced modular proportion system, 13 Paris-Orleans Railroad Company, 258
Garnier, Tony, 10, 120, 122 as furniture warehouse, 171; Car busier housing modulation, 120 Parthenon, 16, 21, 105, 181, 184,
Gates of Samarkand, 105 in industrial city, 121- 22, 123; Johnson, Philip, 49 low-pressure ventilator, 38, 2 90 moldings, 20 9, 248, 249 185, 231; in argument, 87; auster-
generator: accentuators as, 109, 111; of intellectual, 298-301; as Julius II, 195 Lupo, Giovanni-Maria, 308 M ono! houses, 24, 268- 69, 271 ity of, 234; axis and, 221; contour
plan as, 10, 86 machine for living in, 87, 15 1; in Lun;at, Andre, 50, 51 M oos, Stanislaus van, 4 modulation in, 246- 49; Doric
geometric forms, 100 modern architecture, 83- 84; as Kallikrates, 247 Lutyens, Edwin, 56 morality: entrepreneur ial, 303; lying state of mind in, 243, 247; as
geometry, 122, 135; in Achaemenid poems, fa llacy of, 263; problem Kandinsky, Wassily, 3 Lux, Joseph August, 6, 14 and ,93 machine for stirring emotion, 20,
domes, 138 of, posing, 165-68, 170- 72, 174; Kanemitsu, M iyazaki, 45 Luxor, 105, 133 Morance, Albert, 191 22,241; pediment, 251 ; perfec-
German translation of Vers une sacred cult of, 94; standard for, Karlsruhe, 213, 229 Moser, Karl, 45 tion of, 188, 191 ; as plastic sys-
architecture, 45, 46, 4 7- 48 172, 185; as tool, 259. See also Karnak Temple, 23 machines: 40,000-kilowatt turbine, mosques, 105, 216-17 tem, 238, 240; as product of
Ger many, 11, 14 mass-produced housing Kauffmann, Emil, 5 7 300; Bugatti engine, 302; Delage Mumford, Lewis, 37, 55 selection, 180, 185; square mold-
Giedion, Sigfried, 5, 41 House of the Tragic Poet, 223- 24 Ku lturarbeiten (Schultze- brake, 16; electric tur bine, 291; Muthesius, Hermann , 6, 48 ings, 248, 249
Gilbert, Cass, 8 housing developments, 268 N aumburg), 3 houses as, 87, 15 1; low-pressure Paschetto, Paola, 308
Gilliard, Edmond, 4 2 housing manual, 172 ventilator, 38, 290; Parthenon as, national schools of architecture, 94 passion, 204, 209
Ginsburger, Roger, 45 Humbert [Humber] automobile, 180 La R oche-Jeanneret House, 11, 55 22,241; standardization of, 292; nati onalism, 25 Pavillon de !'Esprit Nouveau, 2 83
Ginzburg, Moisei, 53, 54 Laffitte, Paul, 40, 41 temples and, con cordance with, natural systems, 293- 94 pedestrian bridge, 126, 127
Giovannoni, Giuseppe, 55 Iktinos, 247 Lalo, Charles, 14 17; ventilators, 38,290,301 nature, Doric column and, 238 penetration: law of, 183; maximum,
Gothic architecture, 105 illusion, 229- 30 Land subdivisions, 282, 326- 27 M agritte, Rene, 3 7 naves, 105 cone of, 190
338 3 39
Index I ndex
perfection: of Parthenon, 188; stan- proportion: in facade of Arsenal of right angle, 139 Societe des applications du beton dance with, 17; Hindu, 117; regu- Valery, Paul, 40
dards in achieving, 179, 183, 190 Peiraeus, 138; in mass-produced Ritter, Wi ll iam, 6 arme (SABA), 4 laring lines in, 133- 34, 135; vanity, 228, 230
peristyle, 219, 220 housing, 267; plan in, 117; regu- Roche, Henri Pierre, 8 "Sol ids against voids" (Le rhythm in, 119- 20; of Thebes, ventilator, 38, 290, 301
Perret, Auguste, 10, 122, 126 lating lines in, 13; in Sama Maria Rodin, Auguste, xii Corbusier ), 31 119. See also Parthenon Vera, Pau l, 148, 318
Petit Trianon (Versailles), 141 in Cosmedin, 201; vs. decoration, Rodker, John, 49 solomite, 281, 283 Terragni, Giuseppe, 56 Versailles, as transgression of plan,
Pheidias, 189,247,248 186-87; of well-lit walls, 220 Roman architecture: forms in, 102, Souriau, Etienne, 14 Thebes, temple of, 119 229- 30
photograph ic falsifications, 8, 30 proportion grids, 11 105; lessons of, 87, 211- 12; vs. Souriau, Paul, 14 Thiersch, August von, 11 viaduct, 5, 6, 7
photographs, provenance of, 30 Propylaea, 225, 234, 235, 236, 242 Greek, 17, 18, 19, 20 SPAD, 33, 164 391 (periodica l), 3 Victor-Emmanuel, 195
Piacentini, Marcello, 55 psycho!Of,'Y, experimental, 13-14 Rome, 195-96 SPAD XIII, 169 three reminders, 85- 86, 96 Vidler, Anthony, 58
Picabia, Francis, 3 publication process, 40-41 "Rome and us" (Le Corbusier), 32 Spanish translation of Vers une toilet, 172 Vie de Jesus (Renan), 4
pillars, 220 publicity, 42 "Rome of horrors," 21 .1 architecture, 45 tools: as expressions of progress, villa, seaside, 2 70, 271
pilotis-cities, 10, 126-27, 127, 129 Pyramid of Caius Cestius, .196 roof terraces, 127, 130 specialization, 295 93- 94; state of mind in under- villa apartments, 24, 272- 75, 283
pipe, 37,307, 330 pyramids, 105 roofs, 150, 258 sports fields, 276 standing, 293 Villa Medici, 212
Pisa, 98, 105 rooms, 165- 66, 266 Spreckels Building, 8, 45 Torpedo-Sport, 189 Villa Schwob, 11
Pite, Arthur Beresford, 49 quantities, 203 Roux-Spitz, Michel, 50 square moldings, 248, 249 Torres Clave, Josep, 57 visual effecrs, 29- 30, 37, 40
Pitti Palace, 111 Rowe, Colin, 57 stan dardization, 89; of automobile, Toward an Architecture (Le Voisin, Gabriel, 319
plan, 115-30; as basis of order, 118; racing car, 296 Rozer, Georges, 13 182-83; as break from past, 292; Corbusier): aesthetic vs . machinist volume, 13, 49, 99-106; cubic, 224;
Beaux-Arts, 20; in Casa de! Noce Ramuz, Charles Ferdinand, 42 rue de Rivo li , 111 of building materials, 258; of b locks in, 5; a rchitects' response in H ouse of the Tragic Poet, 223;
[Casa delle Nozze d'Argento], Raphael, 107, 113 Ruskin , John, 26 train stations, 258 to, 5 6-57; arr historians' response light in bringing together, 102; of
218-19; dogmatization of, 215; as Rasmussen, Steen Eiler, 55 Russia, 3, 10, 54 standards, 87; in achieving perfection, to, 57- 58; authorship of, 40, 43; ourside site, 224; plan in deter-
generator, 10, 86, 117; illusion of, Rateau ventilator, 38, 301 Russian tra nslation of \lers une 179, 183, 190; in a rchitecture, first edition of, xi; impact on mining, 117; reminder on, 85, 96;
88, 214, 229- 30; in mosques, Rathenau, Walther, 47 architecture, 45 189; competition a nd, 180- 81; young architects, 56-5 7; L'Esprit in Roman architecture, 200
216-17; outside as an inside, Rava, Carlo Enrico, 56 establishing, 182; experimentation nouveau articles in, 3; as markering
224- 2 7; primary rhythm of, regionalism, 255 Saint Peter's, Rom e, 18, 34; apses, in fixing, 178; for furniture, 186; catalog, 50; modernist reaction walls, 220; cavit y "cement-gun,"
119- 20; procession of, from the regions devastated by war, 17, 24, 204, 205, 207, 210; atric story, in villa apartments, 2 75 to, 52, 54; negative reaction to, 264; enclosing, disappearance of,
inside out, 216- 19; reminder on, 255 206; design of, 209; lesson of, standart, 17, 322 55- 56; positive reaction to, 50, 269; in university housing, 286
86, 96; transgressions of, 22 7-30. regulating lines, 11, 133- 44; on 212; Michelangelo and, 204-11 ; state of mind: for building mass- 52, 54; publication process, 40-41; war: airplane perfected in, 14, 161;
See also city plans Achaemenid domes, 138; in argu- Porra Pia, 2 08; as transgression of produced housing, 255; for publicity flyer, 2; publicity for, 42; lands conquered by Rome, 199;
Plans (periodical ), 10 ment, 86; on facades, 137-42, plan, 228 understanding tools, 293 reviews of, 42; revisions to 1923 regions devastated by, 17, 24, 255
plastic system: in Doric style, 238, 143; on Notre-Dame de Paris, 12, Saint Peter's Square, 209 steel, 125, 304 edition, 11; rhetorical tactics in, Warchavchik, Grigori, 57
239; Parthenon as, 240; unity of, 139; on primitive temples, San Damaso courryard, 8 steel construction, 295 26, 29; structure of, 4 - 5, 26; water utilities, 258
234 133- 34, 135; purpose of, 13, 96, Sandberg, Willem, 54 Stil' i epokha (Ginzburg), 53 translations of, 45, 47- 48; visual Welch, Herberr A., 49
plastic emotions, 309. See also emo- 137; transla tion of term, xi Santa Maria in Cosmedin, 30, 36, Storch-Marien, Otokar, 45 effects in, 29- 30, 3 7, 40 Westheim, Paul, 52
tion Reid, J ames, 8 201- 3 Storonov, Osca r, 42 rower-cities, 10, 122, 124, 124- 26, window construction, 302
plasticity, 243- 44 Reid, Merritt, 8 Sauvage, H enri, 13 straighr line, 264 125, 313 windows, 111, 149, 152, 168, 170
playgrounds, 276 reinforced concrete, 25 6-57, 2 58, Scarpa, Carlo, 56 street indents, 10, 128, 129 Towers of Babylon, 105 word-image relationship, 30
Plumer, Charles, 13 264 Schultze-Naumberg, Paul, 3 street layout, 129 train stations, 105, 258 work week, 25, 296
poches, 47, 105- 6, 310 relationships: in beautiful face, 233; Schure, Edouard, 4 streets, 111- 12 translations: English, 48- 50; of working class housing, 25, 89, 122,
Poete, Marcel, 50 of quantities, 203; in Sanra Maria Scully, Vincenr, 1 student housing, 286 Frederick Etchells, 49- 50; 123, 264
poetry: of facts, 187; houses as, in Cosmedin, 201 sculpture, 98 style: purpose of, vs. architecture, German, 45, 4 7; of Hans wor kshop spirit, 296
fallacy of, 263 reminders: on plan, 86; on surface, seaside villa, 2 70, 2 71 101-2; standards and, 183; state Hildebrandt, 47- 48; Italia n, 55; Wright, Frank Lloyd, 49, 54, 327
Pompeii, 198,218; forum in, 222- 23 , 86; on volume, 85 selection, 184, 189 of mind in, 87 Japa nese, 45, 57
227; House of the Tragic Poet, Renaissance Rome, 202, 212 Semper, Gottfried, 13 "styles;' as lie, 150 transportation: airplanes, 14, 15, 17, Yavorskaia, Nina, 54
223-24 Renan, J oseph-Ernest, 4, 20 Senger, Alexander von, 55 Summerson, John, 56 161- 76, 173; automobiles, 17,
Pont de Tanus, 51 "Renouveau clans l'architecmre" sensations, 186, 188 Sun King (Louis XIV), 229 178- 89; difficulties in, in housing Zeppelin ZR III, 48
Pont du Gard, 105 (Jeanneret ), 6 Serr, Josep Lluis, 5 7 surface, 108-13; accentuators, 109, construction, 24; ocean liners, 14,
Pont-Royal, 105 Renzio, Tony de!, 58 servants, in villa aparrmenrs, 2 74 111; door s and windows, 109, 42, 86, 149-58; Zeppelin Z R Ill,
Por ta Pia, 208 reviews, influence on L'Esprit nou- Shchusev, Alexei, 55 111; mass and, 54; modeling of, 48. See also specific types
Porte Saint-Denis, 131, 140, 316 veau, 3 shift work, 296 112; plan in determining, 117; transportation crisis, 259, 268
Posener, Ju Ii us, 5 6 revolution, 25 sh ips' coalers, 299 remi nder on, 86, 96; in Roman travertine stone, 200
poured concrete, 256-57 rhetorical tactics, 2 6, 29 silos, 8, 30, 55, 99, 101, 102- 6 architecture, 2 00 trees, 238
Prague, 149 Rhodoid jacket for Vers une archi- site center of gravity, 224 turbine, 300
primary forms, 100, 106 tecture (Le Corbusier ), 58, 59 Sizeranne, Robert de la, 6 Tange, Kenzo, 57
Prix de Rome, 212, 215 rhythm, 119- 20, 135, 217 skyscrapers, 125 Taylorism, 24, 259 university housing, 286
progress: standards as, 181; tools as Ribot Law, 300- 301, 329 social contract, 182 Teige, Karel, 13, 45 University of Oxford, 286
expression of, 93-94 Richards, J. M., 56 social equilibrium, 290 Temple of Luxor, 105, 133 urban density, 124
promenade, 154 Rietveld, Gerrit Thomas, 52 socialism, 25 temple(s): automob iles and, concor- urban plans, 111- 12
340 341
Other Translations Published in Texts & Documents
A Series of the Getty Research Institute Publications Program
Le Corbusier
Introduction by Jean-Louis Cohen
Translation by John Goodman
Johann Joachim Winckelmann, History of the Art of Antiquity (1764 )

Jean-Louis Cohen was trained as an architect and received a doctorate in his-
Introduction by Alex Potts
tory a t the Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales. Since 1993, he has
ISBN 978-0-89236-668-2 (paper)
held the Sheldon H. Solow Ch air in the History of Architecture at New York
University's Institute of Fine Arts. From 1998 to 2003, he led the p roject for
Jacob Burckhardt, Italian Renaissance Painting according to Genres
the Cite de l' Architecture, a cultural center that opened in 2007 in Paris.
(1885-93 )
Cohen's research activity focuses on twentieth-century architecture and plan-
Introduction by Maurizio Ghelardi
ning in Germany and Russia, as well as on colonialism in North Africa. He
ISBN 978-0-89236-736-8 (paper)
has written extensively on Le Corbusier's work.
Gottfried Semper, Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts; or, Practical
John Goodman is a translator and art historian. H e has rendered some thirty
Aesthetics (1860- 63 )
books from French into English, nota bly work by Denis Diderot, Hubert
Introduction by H a rry Francis Mallgrave
Damisch, and Georges Didi-Huberman. Goodman has published widely on
ISBN 978-0-89236-597-5 (hardcover)
the visual culture of eighteenth-century Europe and is currently preparing a
synthetic study of neoclassicism fo r Thames and Hudson's \Xforld of Art
Julien-David Le Roy, The Ruins of the Most Beautiful Monuments of Greece
series.
(1770)
Introduction by R obin Middleron
ISBN 978-0-89236-669-9 (paper)
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Observations on the Letter of Monsieur Mariette;

with Opinions on A rchitecture, and a Preface to a New Treatise on the
Introduction and Progress of the Fine Arts in Europe in Ancient Times
(1765)
Introduction by John Wilton-Ely
ISBN 978-0-89236-636-1 (paper )
Carl Gustav Carus, Nine Letters on Landscape Painting, Written in the Years
1815- 1824; with a Letter from Goethe by Way of Introduction (1831)
Introduction by Oskar Batschmann
ISBN 978-0-89236-674-3 (paper )
Karel Teige, Modern Architecture in Czechoslovakia and Other Writings

(1923- 30)
Introduction by Jean -Louis Cohen
ISBN 978-0-8 9236-596-8 (paper)
Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand, Precis of the L ectures on A rchitecture (1802-5)

with Graphic Portion of the Lectures on Architecture (1821 )
Introduction by Antoine Picon
ISBN 978-0-89236-580-7 (paper)
Walter Curt Behrendt, The Victory of the New Building Style (1927) Heinrich Hu bsch, Rudolf Wiegmann, Carl Albert Rosenthal, Johann
Introduction by Detlef Mertins Heinrich Wolff, and Carl Gottlieb Wilhelm Botticher, In What Style Should
ISB 978-0-89236-563-0 (paper) We Build? The German Debate on A rchitectural Style (1828- 47)
Introduction by Wolfgang Herrmann
Alois Rieg!, The Group Portraiture of Holland (1902) ISBN 978-0-89236-199-1 (hardcover), ISBN 978-0-89236-198-4 (paper)
Introduction by Wolfgang Kemp
ISBN 978-0-89236-548-7 (paper) Nicolas Le Camus de M ezieres, The Genius of Architecture; or, The Analogy
of That Art with Our Sensations (1780)
Aby Warburg, The Renewal of Pagan Antiquity: Contributions to the Introduction by Robin Middleton
Cultural History of the European Renaissance (1932) ISBN 978-0-89236-234-9 (hardcover), ISBN 9 78-0-89236-235-6 (paper)
Introduction by Kurt W. Forster
ISBN 978-0-89236-537-1 (hardcover) Otto Wagner, Modern Architecture: A Guidebook for His Students to This
Field of Art (1902 )
Adolf Behne, The Modern Functional Building (1926) Introduction by Harry Francis Mallgrave
Introduction by Rosemarie Haag Biener ISBN 978-0-89236-938-4 (hardcover), ISBN 978-0-89236-939-9 (paper)
ISBN 978-0-89236-363-3 (hardcover), ISBN 978-0-89236-364-3 (paper)
Hendrik Petrus Berlage: Thoughts on Style, 1886- 1909

Introduction by Iain Boyd Whyte
Sigfried Giedion, Building in France, Building in Iron, Building in

Ferro concrete (1928)
Introduction by Sokratis Georgiadis
Hermann Muthesius, Style-Architecture and Building-Art: Transformations

of A rchitecture in the Nineteenth Century and Its Present Condition (1902)
Introduction by Stanford Anderson
ISBN 978-0-89236-282-0 (hardcover), ISBN 978 -0-89236-283-7 (paper)
Friedrich Gilly: Essays on Architecture, 1796- 1799

Introduction by Fritz Neumeyer
Robert Vischer, Conrad Fiedler, H einrich Wolfflin, Adolf Goller, Adolf

H ildebrand, and August Schmarsow, Empathy, Form, and Space: Problems
in German Aesthetics, 1873- 1893
Introduction by H arry Francis Mallgrave and Eleftherios Ikonomou
ISBN 978-0-89236-260-8 (hardcover ), ISBN 978-0-89236-259-2 (paper)
Claude Perrault, Ordonnance for the Five Kinds of Columns after the
Method of the Ancients (1683)
Introduction by Alberto Perez-Gomez
ISBN 978-0-89236-2 32-5 (hardcover ), ISBN 978-0-89236-233-2 (paper)
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INTRODUCTION BY JEAN-LOUIS COHEN

TRANSLATION BY JOHN GOODMAN

Frances Lincoln Ltd ix Acknowledgments

Printed and bound in China

T he idea of publishing a new translation of Vers une architecture goes

T he first English translation of Vers une architecture was published in

Les traces regulateurs. The only alternative renderings I could come up

F ew books have had an effect comparable to that of Vers une architecture.

The L'Esprit nouveau Test Bed

marked interest in international matters, most notably rhe recent artistic

Raphael," and also as conclusion, in an image mocking the overdecorated

The Canal jnd Notre Dame

Rekindling "Deadened Eyes"

implicit in a number of earlier texts about industrial culture, and L'Esprit

une architecture. In his Ingenieurdsthetik, Lux introduced the slogan of �

Werkbund evidenced this outlook in its publications, notably in tbe almanac

they nicknamed me 'ocean liner.' That hasn't changed." 69 This celebration of

:•,:- .. ·,.:·-.. .· . : . ...................... . . ...._. . . . -

Return to the Antique

Fig. 7. Amedee Ozenfant Fig. 8. Le Corbusier

Beaux-Arts plans are subsequently identified as the enemy by Le Corbusier,

He reproduced photographs by the Genevan Frederic Boissonnas, used as illus-

Le Corbusier took this apparently mysterious concept from Choisy's Histoire

An Ambiguous Political Position

The Book's "Physique"

The rhythm of the page assemblages suggests cinematographic montage,

Fig. 13. Le Corbusier

fig. 14. Le Corbusier fig. 15. Le Corbusier

Fig. 17. Le Corbusier

~111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111~1111111111111111111111'.111111111111 @ ·1111111111 111111111 111111111111111111 1111 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111~

bl'bit~ Pr~ ~ u 11!a

Fig. 20. Le Corbusier

that "would be of the greatest interest in German-language countries and that

informed Le Corbusier of a query from the English magazine Country Life

benevolent necessity" of Le Corbusier's effort to investigate the capacity of

A Rallying Point for the Moderns

the influence of Le Corbusier "has been principally achieved through the

Fig. 25. Le Corbusier

Notes 12. Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, "France ou Allemagne? Enquete sur un cote de

254. Graham Whitham, "Chronology," in David Robbins, ed., The Independent

VERS UNE ARCHITECTURE

LES EDITIONS G. CRES ET C'"

is to recover human foundations : the human scale, t he typical need,

This book is written in bold strokes. How to talk about archi-

journey this year flanked by two far-flung supports - on one side,

EYES THAT DO NOT SEE A RCHITECTUR E

LI NE R S THE L ES S OC\' OF R OME

Garabit Bridge (E iffe l, engineer)

AfSTHfTIC Of THf fNBINf fR

Aesthetic of the Enginee1; Architecture: two things firmly allied,

Aesthetic of t he Engineer, Architectu re: two things firmly allied,

A question of mor ality. Lying is intoler able. We per ish by lying.

longer tells stories, it prompts meditation; after labor, it is good to

Our eyes are made for seeing forms in light.

Architect ure has nothing to do wit h the "styles."