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1. LE CORBUSIER
VILLA SAVOYE
BY: SAKHILE MNGADI
S212 447 653
MS NICOLA DARKE
2 APRIL 2012

2. BIOGRAPHY
Le Corbusier was born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, on October 6, 1887 in the
town of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Although born Swiss, he lived most
of his life in France. In 1900 Charles-Edouard Jeanneret started his studies at
the École d'Art in his birth town. He trained as an engraver and goldsmith but,
from 1904, he began his studies in architecture. His work as an architect
made him very famous amongst his colleagues and began his ascend towards
legendary status.
Undoubtedly one of the greatest architectural minds of the 20 th century, his
unique approach using reinforced concrete, separated him from ordinary
architects of his time.
In 1917 he moved to Paris and assumed the alias Le Corbusier. It was at this
point in time that the world turned its attention towards his work. In 1943 Le
Corbusier applied a similar interdisciplinary approach to developing "Modulor",
a system of quantity, based on the male figure and the Golden Mean, used to
determine the proportions of units in architecture and technology. This was
also the foundation of Le Corbusier's work in furniture design. There are
countless works of furniture, designed by Le Corbusier that are considered
modern day classics. “Modulor” is still used today
One of his most noted post-war housing complexes is Unité-d'Habitation in
Marseilles and his pilgrimage chapel, Notre-Dame-du-Haut, in Ron-champs.
These two structures were by all means some of his most radical work.
6/10/1887 – 27/08/1965
Le Corbusier died on August 27, 1965.

3. ANALYSIS OF THE SITE
The Villa Savoye, is a brilliant example of Le Corbusier's 5 points of new
architecture. The house is firmly driven into the ground with what seems to be
long narrow piles to which all weights are positioned on. This makes sense
because the site where the house is situated is a dark and often damp site.
The reinforced concrete piles, give us the sense that the house is floating, the
house could not be built on the land because of the type of soil and nature of
the ground. Le Corbusier has used his restrictions in the design of the house.
The house is built on a relatively flat surface. Geomorphology tells us that this
means that surface runoff is a minimum. In turn, the house cannot be built
directly on the ground with strip or raft foundations because waterproofing
these on a site like this would be a nightmare and there would also be a risk
of mass settling and movement. The soil is described as moist and dark, and
since it is always raining here (200/365) the design is suitable.
Having said all of this it is just, to say that the site is very wet and the sand/
clay soft and as a result pile foundations, which is what was used, are
necessary.

4. CONCEPT IDEA
To comprehend Villa Savoye and Le Corbusier‟s creative approach, one has to look back several year before its completion date. In the 1920s a new Architectural language was
developing that got to be known as „International Style‟. Developments at the time were emerging around the world adopting the new style and its purposes. The style concentrated on
the prevailing tendency of creating the building as a block and decorating the outside enclosure with ornaments. The new style took away the original views of the building and said that
the outside should work with the inside simultaneously. This new style aspired to represent what was thought to be the machine age. It used the new construction techniques based on
concrete, steel, and industrial glazing to build its hovering planes and interaction of the solid concrete and steel with the lighter glass. The Style wanted to project a utopian image of the
future where the Machine brought a higher level of living.
Having considered the above mentioned style and concepts, it becomes much simpler to describe Villa Savoye. Contrasting to the structures he designed before this one where he was
restricted by the structures urn surroundings Villa Savoye is located in a small town outside Paris. This liberated Le Corbusier to ingeniously build on his concepts to provide the most
powerful expressions of his ideas. He also added the element of time as a fourth dimension in the project.
He suggested that the approach towards the house be best experienced by a passenger in a car. Past the entrance gate, the visitors sight is
Le Corbusier conceived the approach towards the house to be best experienced by a car passenger. Past the entrance gate, the visitor‟s vision is obstructed by trees. The house
reveals itself all at once as a grand white box, hovering on columns.

5. ANALYSIS OF THE PLAN
Ground floor

6. 1st floor (A)

7. 1st floor (B)

8. ANALYSIS OF ELEVATIONS
North west elevation

9. South West elevation

10. South East elevation

11. North East elevation

12. ANALYSIS OF SECTION (A---B)
SECTION (A---B)

13. REFERENCES
ALL REFERENCES WERE MADE USING THE HARVARD REFERENCING SYSYTEM

14. THE END