Le Corbusier
From Philosopedia
Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (6 October 1887 - 27 August 1965)
Jeanneret, the Swiss-French architect and city planner who called himself Le Corbousier (an assumed name from the surname of an ancestor), was born in La Chaux-deFonds, Switzerland.
Called by many the most influential 20th century architect, he began studying enameling and engraving of watch faces when 13. His teacher encouraged him to become an architect, and many of his ideas were developed during his travels from 1907 to 1911 through Europe.
Settling in Paris with the painter Amédée Ozenfant (1886-1966), he formulated the ideas of Purism, an aesthetic based on modern technology. He had theoretical plans at the start for skyscraper cities and housing that was mass-produced, saying that "a house is a machine for living in."
The Villa Savoye at Poissy (1929 -1930), with a structure raised on slender pillars, embodied the Purist approach. Later works included the Unité d'Habitation and the lyrical chapel at Notre-Dame-du-Haut at Ronchamp (1950-1955).
In 1950, he built in India government buildings with swooping rooflines, sculptural facades, and concrete sunshades.
Critics
Jane Jacobs, in New York City's Greenwich Village, wrote a scathing critique of Le Corbusier The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Her criticism was that his ideas had produced public housing projectrs that isolated poor communities in monolithic high-rises. This, she lamented, broke the social ties that are integral in a city's small communities.
Theodore Dalrymple said that "Le Corbusier was to architecture what Pol Pot was to social reform," concluding that the architect turned his great talent to destructive social ends.
Of the many authors who wrote against him, Simon Richards wrote The Antisocial Urbanism of Le Corbusier (2007).
Death
When, against his doctor's orders, he went for a swim in the Mediterranean Sea at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, he drowned. His body was found by bathers, and he might have suffered a heart attack at the age of 77.
His death rites took place at the courtyard of the Louvre Palace on September 1, 1965, under the direction of writer, thinker, and humanities humanist [André Malraux, who was at the time France's Minister of Culture.
Corbusier is buried in the Cimetière de Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes Maritimes, France.
(See the official Corbusier website.)
