Le Corbusier

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Le Corbusier: Assembly building in Chandigarh

Figure 114: Church of Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp, Fr., by Le Corbusier, 1950-55.

Savoye House, Poissy, Fr., an International Style residence by Le Corbusier, 1929–30

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Le Corbusier summary

Le Corbusier

Q: Why is Le Corbusier important?

Le Corbusier was an influential architect and city planner whose designs combined functionalism with bold sculptural expressionism. He belonged to the first generation of the so-called International school of architecture , which promoted such characteristics as clean geometric forms and open efficient spaces. Le Corbusier was also a recognized writer and artist.

Q: What is Le Corbusier famous for?

Some of Le Corbusier’s most well-known projects were the buildings Villa Savoye, Colline Notre Dame du Haut, and the Unité d'Habitation at Marseille, France; the unbuilt prototype for mass housing, Maison Dom-Ino; the master plan for Chandigarh , India; and the book Toward a New Architecture (1923) wherein he famously declared “a house is a machine for living in.”

Q: What was Le Corbusier’s family like?

Le Corbusier was born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris to a family of watchmakers. He later married the fashion model Yvonne Gallis, but they had no children.

Q: How was Le Corbusier educated?

Le Corbusier had no formal training as an architect. At 13 he left primary school to learn enameling and engraving of watch faces at the École des Arts Décoratifs at La Chaux-de-Fonds. There his teacher, Charles L’Eplattenier, decided that Le Corbusier should become an architect and gave him his first practice on local projects.

Q: How did Le Corbusier die?

At age 77, Le Corbusier died of a heart attack while swimming off the coast of the French Riviera .

Swiss architect

Also known as: Charles-Édouard Jeanneret

Written by Françoise Choay

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Nov 21, 2024 • Article History

Quick Facts

Byname of:: Charles-Édouard Jeanneret

Born:: October 6, 1887, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland

Died:: August 27, 1965, Cap Martin, France (aged 77)

Movement / Style:: Cubism; International Style; New Brutalism; Purism

Subjects Of Study:: Functionalism; Purism; Modulor; architecture; urban planning

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Why is Le Corbusier important?

What is Le Corbusier famous for?

What was Le Corbusier’s family like?

How was Le Corbusier educated?

How did Le Corbusier die?

Le Corbusier (born October 6, 1887, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland—died August 27, 1965, Cap Martin, France) was an internationally influential Swiss architect and city planner, whose designs combine the functionalism of the modern movement with a bold sculptural expressionism. He belonged to the first generation of the so-called International school of architecture and was their most able propagandist in his numerous writings. In his architecture he joined the functionalist aspirations of his generation with a strong sense of expressionism. He was the first architect to make a studied use of rough-cast concrete, a technique that satisfied his taste for asceticism and ...(100 of 2747 words)

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