World Architecture free essay sample

I first decided to write about Alberti, but then seeing that we were allowed to write about any architect we’ve come across in this course, I thought to myself who would be better than Le Corbusier or Frank Lloyd Wright; cliche’ , but yet they’re the fathers of the modern Architecture. Alberti’s type of Architecture wasn’t in use and he’s only looked at as history. Modern Architecture is what we live in, what we breathe, what we see, it’s in our blood as Architects; it’s what people expect from us. I then went on to choose between Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright. I know much about Frank, but then I knew little about Le Corbusier. During my college years, his name was familiar, very famous between architecture students; we knew he was the god of modern architecture, we’ve heard about some of his buildings, yet we haven’t taken â€Å"architectural theories† – a college course that teaches us about modern architects among were Le Corbusier. It is very common that one doesn’t feel obliged learning about something unless it was homework. Doing this term paper about le Corbusier seemed about right; it was the only way I could learn much about him. Enough with un-useful chattering! Architecture is the masterly, correct, and magnificent play of masses brought together in light. † Le Corbusier, Toward a New Architecture, 1923 Le Corbusier’s original name was Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris. He was born in Switzerland in 1887. He was born to an artistic family which influenced him; his dad was an artist and his mother was a musician and taught piano. Le Corbusier was more into art, thus he left his school at the age of 13 in order to learn art and engraving. Le Corbusier love for art grew he was learning to paint and becoming more familiar with art history, he wanted to continue his study and become a painter. His master- L’Eplattenier, on the other hand, wanted him to become an architect. By the age of 20 he designed his first house- Villa Pallet, 1907. (Le Corbusier biography) Le Corbusier traveled to Italy in 1906 and got the opportunity to work with Auguste Perret, who was considered the French pioneer of reinforced concrete. This part of his life marked a great period for his development as an architect as he was famous for using steel and reinforced concrete; with the help of Perret. Le Corbusier continued his travel and later on worked with Peter Behrens from October 1910 until Match 1911. (Le Corbusier biography) Le Corbusier’s first works focused on residential villas; he wanted to create affordable prefabricated houses. After World War I, Le Corbusier returned to his homeland and worked at his old school. During his stay at Switzerland, he developed theoretical studies on how to use modern techniques. The Domino house project illustrated all of his theories as it became the foundation of his architecture. (Le Corbusier biography) In 1923, Le Corbusier published his book â€Å"Toward a New Architecture† which illustrated his five points of Architecture. These five points are found in his Villa Sovoye. Le Corbusier’s five point of Architecture are the following: †¢The Supports: Replacing walls with reinforced concrete columns †¢Roof Garden †¢Free designing of the ground plan †¢Horizontal window: allowing rooms to be lit equally †¢Free design of the facade (Le Corbusier ) Le Corbusier was also famous for his urban planning skills. His first attempt was the sixty-story Villa Contemporaine which was drawn on paper but yet never constructed. Another attempt was La Villa Radieuse (the Radiant City); a well improved version of Villa Contemporaine. Le Corbusier was now aiming towards bigger projects, his next project was Chandigarh; his planned city in India. (archdaily) Le Corbusier found inspiration in Mathematical Geometry, and was mostly fond of DaVinci and his Mathematical concepts; the golden ratio and Fibonacci series. (archdaily) Among his magnificent buildings, there were two projects that –I believe, stood out. Villa Savoye was definitely was one these projects; to me, Villa Savoye was a must-know. Villa Savoye is located in Paris, France, and was constructed in 1929. Villa Savoye is a great example of Modern country houses and is an example of international style. International style became famous in 1920’s and lasted for ten years; its main principles were set by the book of Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson. (International Style) International Style was very famous in Europe and America. Its most famous features were lights, plane surfaces, no decorations, and open interior spaces. The material that was used in the International Style was glass and steel, in addition to reinforced concrete which was a little less visible that the other two materials. Many factors contributed to the rise of International Style: †¢A need for commercial, residential, and civic buildings rose. †¢Architects are getting bored of the buildings of that era as nothing of its decorative elements was contributing to its function; one of the many features of modern architecture is that the shape of the building should go along with its function, and no additional element should be added unless it was important to its function. †¢New building technologies were constructed especially after the industrial revolution; for example: cast plate glass. (International Style) Villa Savoye was built on the international modern style, and it followed Le Corbusier’s five important points to architecture. The design of Villa Savoye was affected by Le Corbusier’s love for ships; he loved that you could feel free moving from deck to deck and this contributed to his spatial planning and as he came with his five point toward architecture. Villa Savoye has a spacious ground floor and allowed the movement from one room to another freely, as if you’re on a ship. Another feeling of ships is that when you approach the Villa is appears as if it’s floating; Le Corbusier worked on achieving this by painting the exterior walls of the ground floor green which blended in nicely with the environment and made the first floor appear to be floating. (archdaily) Le Corbusier used horizontal windows following his five points and this made the facade look very simple; very undistinguished. Despite having too much windows, Le Corbusier was very clever by separating the Villa into public and private areas; the private areas were closed off yet these areas were somehow connected. (archdaily) Le Corbusier created a roof garden that you can get to from the second floor plan through a series of ramp; a roof garden was another point listed among Le Corbusier’s five points. The entire villa was constructed with concrete and Le Corbusier made sure to keep it as simple as possible; he used only white color for exterior walls and a subtle color in the inside. Le Corbusier’s Villa was very dynamic; it was easy to move from one story to another with the use of stairs and ramps. Le Corbusier’s passion in Mathematics shows in his design for Villa Savoye as he used the Golden Section, and Human Proportions. Another great example of Le Corbusier’s architecture is Notre Dame du Haut. Notre Dame du Haut was constructed in 1950 south east of Paris and is classified as the most important religious building of the 20th century. This project was a little different for the city of Ronchamp; Ronchamp was not into international style yet, thus building something as modern as Notre dame du Haut was something extraordinary and it might meet some critics. Le Corbusier was up for this challenge, he wanted to bring change to this site, and he wanted something to stand out; something feminine. Notre Dame du Haut was a catholic chapel that took Mary as it symbol; both Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene. It is said that this catholic chapel represents Le Corbusier’s relationship with feminism; Le Corbusier combined between Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene to produce a unified Mary that expresses all aspects of feminism. (Le Corbusier Women; The Feminist Voyeur?. ) One of the most common features of Le Corbusier’s designs is the spatial relationship, which can also be seen in this chapel. Le Corbusier was seeking something meditative and respective in purpose; as lights enter the chapel, sensation takes over you. (archdaily) Le Corbusier chose this irregular shape to indicate feminism; irregular sculptural walls and roof. As complicated as the form is, the plan of this chapel is very simple; it was two entrances, and inside there’s an alter and three chapels. (archdaily) Le Corbusier’s irregular shape and the way the walls were sloping toward the center of the chapel made it very important to choose the construction method very precisely; nothing can go wrong. Le Corbusier chose concrete as it is an excellent material in holding the structure together, but this required thick walls; the thickness of the walls had to be 4’-12’ thick. (archdaily) The curved appears to be hanging above the building, while instead it rests on columns that are hidden inside the thick walls; however, this creates a space of 10 cm between the walls and the roof. On the other hand, the design of the windows was very creative. Having thick walls, a solution had to be made when it got to the lighting; windows aren’t going to be enough; fortunately for Le Corbusier, they more than just enough. Carved windows into such thick walls helped achieving the effect that Le Corbusier looked for; meditative and reflective in purpose. (Archdaily) Corbusier was truly the father of modern Architecture; his designs were different and unique, and each design brought something new to the architecture. Corbusier depended on the function to work its way to the final form. You can’t but admire his intelligence and his dedication to his work and to the Architecture; I wish they can teach us this at College.