le corbusier

• SUBMITTED BY
• ABHISHEK GUPTA
• HARPREET
• JYOTI
• PARVATI
• III-B
THEORY -
A HOUSE IS A MACHINE
FOR LIVING
PHILOSOPHY – HOUSE IS A MACHINE

 Charles – Edouard Jeanneret, better known as
Le Corbusier.
 He was born in Switzerland and became a
French citizen 1930.
 He was architect, designer urbanist and writer.
 His career spanned five decades, with his
buildings constructed throughout Europe, India
and America.
 INFLUENCES
 He saw this system as a continuation of the
long tradition of Vitruvius, Leonardo da Vinci’s
and, the work of Leon Battista Alberti.
 They used the proportions of the huan body to
improve the appearance and function of
architecture.
October 6, 1887-
August 27, 1965

LE CORBUSIER -

Steiner House - Vienna, Austria
 A house has to fulfill two
purposes.
 First it is a machine for living
in.
 That is, a machine to provide us
with efficient help for speed
and accuracy in our work.
 A diligent and helpful machine
which should satisfy all our
physical needs: comfort.
 But it should also be a place
conducive to meditation, and
lastly, a beautiful place,
bringing much needed
tranquility to the mind.

ADVANCES IN CONSTRUCTION
Advances in construction technics and materials allowed for a
shift in structural support.
Whereas walls were once weight-bearing, and thus massive,
support was now given by skeletal infrastuctures.
 This change provided greater flexibility in window placement
new possibilities, asymmetrical designs, arbitrary asymmetry
would be a decorative device
STEIN HOUSE LOVELL HOUSE SAVOYE HOUSE ALUMINIARE HOUSE

1. VILLA SAVOYE
by: Le Corbusier

 ARCHITECT: Le Corbusier
and Pierre Jeanneret.
 LOCATION: Poissy, FRANCE.
 PERIOD OF CONSTRUCTION:
1928 – 1931.
 FUNCTION: RESIDENCE
 CLIENT: Pierre and Emilie
Savoye.
 MATERIALS: RCC

 Villa Savoye, by Le Corbusier is the most prominent example of
house as a machine.
 In 1963, Villa Savoye was declared as “Architectural Heritage”
by the French government which then proceeded to restore.
 It is currently a museum dedicated to the life and works of Le
Corbusier and receives thousands of visitors per year.

 The Villa Savoye is a reflection of the
five points for a new architecture of Le
Corbusier:
 the building which rests on pilotis
(columns), leaving the area mostly free
so that the landscape is integrated to
the building.
 Instead of sloping roofs, terraces are
another garden more.
 Free interior space, not rigidly
distributed by fixed partitions.
 The continuous window developed
horizontally to achieve a profuse
natural lighting. The free façade, i.e.
independent of the supporting
structure.

5
THE FIVE POINTS OF ARCHITECTURE
1.Support of ground-
level pilotis, elevating
the building from the
earth and allowed an
extended continuity
of the garden
beneath.
2.Functional roof,
serving as a garden
and terrace,
reclaiming for nature
the land occupied by
the building.
3.Free floor plan,
relieved of load-
bearing walls,
allowing walls to be
placed freely and
only where
aesthetically
needed.
4.Long horizontal
windows, providing
illumination and
ventilation.
5. Freely-designed facades, serving only as a skin of the wall and windows
and unconstrained by load-bearing considerations.

Free surface mostly
with a hidden
volume
orchestrated by a
play of shadows
and glass walls.

FREE AND FLUID INTERNAL
SPACES.
NATURAL
ILLUMINATION OF
SPACES
ORGANIZATION
REVOLVES
AROUND
CIRCULATION.

FACTORING IN
THE ELEMENTS
OF NATURE AND
INTEGRATING
THEM INTO AN
ARTIFICIAL
SPACE ERECTED
BY MAN.

TERRACE
GARDEN

 The house appears to be floating supported
by slender pilotis that seem to dissolve
among the tree line, as the lower level is also
painted green to allude to the perception of
a floating volume.
 Within the Villa Savoye, the architect has
created a space that is dynamic. It contains
ramps, elegant curves, splashes of color,
and a clever interplay between interior and
exterior.
 The lower level serves as the maintenance
and service programs of the house.
 The curved glass facade on the lower level
that is formed to match the turning radius of
automobiles of 1929.
 Inside, there becomes a clear
understanding of the spatial interplay
between public and private spaces.
Typically, the living spaces of a house are
relatively private, closed off, and rather
secluded.
First floor plan Ground floor plan

 The ramp became an important
theme of modernism, not
because it was invented here but
because its purpose and
disposition in this design is so well
conceived.
 The ramp is a subtle spatial
experience that takes the
observer from the darker lower
level to the more brightly
illuminated main floor and then
on up to the completely exposed
roof garden.

 Entrance to the house.
 Dropped off by the chauffeur, the car proceeded
around the curve to park in the garage.
 The four column at the entrance leads the visitor to
the ramp.
 Ramp placed at the axis of entrance invites the user
to go to the upper floor.
 It can be seen from almost anywhere in the house.
 It travels up to the first floor and continues from first
floor garden to the solarium from outside.
 The ramp makes the inhabitants to slow down and
experience the movement between spaces.
 Within the Villa Savoye, the architect has created a
space that is dynamic. It contains ramps, elegant
curves and a clever interplay between interior and
exterior.

• The first floor is fitted with ribbon windows that blend
seamlessly into the stark, white facade. The ribbon
windows begin to play with the perception of interior
and exterior.
 Intentionally leaving voids within the wall spaces and
roof meant that he could open the structure up to
frame the surrounding environment.
 Rooftop windows form voids in the ceiling are
employed to bring light into the structure in calculated
spots to create specific pools of light.
• Le Corbusier uses this void
- to frame the top of his architectural promenade
- and allow it to extend outward from the physical
form into the environment.

 Pilotis perform a number of functions around the
house, both inside and out.
 On the two longer elevations they are flush with the
face of the façade and imply heaviness and
support, but on the shorter sides they are set back
giving a floating effect that emphasizes the
horizontal feeling of the house.
 The wide strip window to the first floor terrace has
two baby piloti to support and stiffen the wall above
 He used wooden framed windows to allow for the
glass to be pushed near the edges and to allow the
wall to be seen as a series of parallel planes.

 Villa Stein, designed by Le Corbusier, was built in 1927 at Garches, France for
Michael Stein.
 Also Stein wanted the Villa to be a sort of a mini museum where they could
display the arts they had collected.
 Later House belonged to Gabrielle Monzie, a close friend of Stein and a faithful
supporter of Le Corbusier.
 . The building is also known as Villa Garches, Villa de Monzie, and Villa Stein-de
Monzie.

• This is an exercise in which the intuition of the exterior of the building is
secondary to the space and functional elements.
• Since Le Corbusier also believed that the primary geometric forms should be
used to embody the Architecture and established the relationship between
the plan and its surroundings.
• "The second shows an understanding of the
organisms inside the rigid packaging,
absolutely pure. The difficult problem, perhaps
to the delight of the mind, is the cost to spiritual
energy tied in the middle of the restrictions
imposed.“(quoted by Le Corbusier).

Villa Stein-de Monzie is a building of isolated space and surrounded by gardens, with the
servants quarters located next to the iron access gate. Like the Villa Savoye, it features
open spaces formed by the various terraces and levels.
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
• The ground floor was mainly for the servants that lived in the house.
• The ground floor has two main entrances-one for the servants which is enclosed and the
other for the guests and a garage.
• The enclosed stairs would enable the servants to be separated from the main building.
• The servants would use the smaller door to the left
- CIRCULATION SPACE
SERVANTS

FIRST FLOOR PLAN
• The servants would use the enclosed stair(It is the half oval shaped stair to the left) to go
through the whole building.
• Servants would have access to the whole building but would not have to be seen by the
guests.
• The planning here would let the Steins achieve their goal, the goal to make the Villa Stein as a
small museum of their collections, more efficiently.
• Most of the "real" space would start from the first floor. The residents would come through the
entrance on the right side and would use the mini stair that connects to the second floor
KITCHEN

SECOND AND THIRD FLOOR PLAN
• The second floor and the third floor are mainly for private rooms for the
residents and for guests.
• The second floor
also has a smaller
terrace
• The third floor has
a roof garden

• Villa Stein sharply separates the spaces and is well designed in such a way that functioning of
one does not cause any hindrance.
• It shows of glimpse of “Five points of architecture” out of which only 3 have been followed
- presence of long ribbon of windows
- free facade
- roof terrace
• And another highlighting feature about Villa Stein is that how within a rigid shape or a structure,
flexibility in the functions can be achieved as he emphasised in the concept of house as a
machine.
• But it can be rightly concluded that Villa savoye is much more expressive in terms of justifying
house as a machine due to :
- the smooth movement inside the house
- and most importantly following the “5 Points of Architecture”

 Le Corbusier exhibited a model
of his Maison Citrohan in 1920.
 As he did with many of his Purist
works, Le Corbusier designed the
Citrohan house to be both
aesthetically pleasing and
functional.
 Le Corbusier designed the
Citrohan home with the intention
of creating a space that was not
only efficient but also affordable.
3.MAISON CITROHAN
By making the house orderly and
available to the masses, Le Corbusier
envisioned creating a space that was
uplifting and offered a solution to the
chaos resulting from the war.
His plans for the Maison Citrohan
reflect his attempt to improve the
standard of living after World War
I.(1914-18)

 This prototype house was intended
for mass production for urban
living. Thus, to be easily produced
and replicated in linear series,
fabricated and assembled similar
to machines
 In essence, Maison Citrohan was to
work efficiently like an automobile
and function effectively as a
machine for living.
Le Corbusier envisioned the Citrohan
house as being efficient like a car. In
Le Corbusier: An Analysis of Form,
Geoffrey H. Baker states that the
relationship between the house and
cars is evidenced by Le Corbusier’s
name for the home:
“He named it the Maison Citrohan as an
intended compliment to the Citroën
automobile manufacturing company and
because he believed it to be as efficient as
the new machines which are transforming
twentieth century life.”

This three storey maisonette unit comprised of parking, garage and boiler
room at ground level. Second floor double height living and dining space gets
flooded with light by a double height window that was manufactured with
industrial glass. Attached is garden space.
A large balcony wraps around the front and sides on the first floor level. The
Kitchen and maid’s room are at the rear. Some sleeping accommodations are
on the gallery of the living room which is accessed by an internal spiral stair.
The roof level encompasses sun terrace at the front and bedrooms and
bathrooms at the rear.

Parking, garage and boiler room
at ground level.
Second floor double height living and
dining space.
A large balcony wraps around the front
and sides on the first floor level.
Attached is garden space.

Le Corbusier envisioned prefabricated
houses, imitating the concept of
assembly line manufacturing of cars,
for instance.
Maison Citrohan displayed the
characteristics by which the architect
would later define modern
architecture: support pillars that raise
the house above the ground, a roof
terrace, an open floor plan, an
ornamentation-free facade and
horizontal windows in strips for
maximum natural light.
The interior featured the
typical spatial contrast
between open living
space and cell-like
bedrooms.

Each unit was to be stacked vertically or horizontally to create small housing
blocks, planned for standardization but with flexibility for mass production.
Domino structural system is applied in reinforced concrete construction. The
cylindrical posts or pilotis frees the ground plane, frees the external walls to
be non-load bearing walls. Thus frees the façade, allowing variation in
location and flexible sizes of windows.

Spatial continuum of above elements, pure form and volume,
rectangular floor plan, aesthetically sparse interior, built-in furniture
other than chairs and tables are few main characteristics of this house.
Movable furniture were made with tubular frames. Interior and
exterior displays modernist white stucco walls.
Roof garden connects inhabitants directly with nature.

Introduction
The Pavilion de L'Esprit Nouveau was a temporary building constructed in 1925 within
the framework of the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris. For Le
Corbusier was a chance to show so provocative, his ideas on architecture and urbanism
that had begun to develop with Pierre Jeanneret since 1922
4. L'Esprit Nouveau Pavilion (Paris)

Meaning
This was a unique four plants, which together could cover all his height. The curved wall,
and bulging of the outer hull suspended maintained a close relationship with the landscape
of Finland.

Spaces
The pavilion is composed of four floors for a total of 16 meters in height. The upper part
of the exhibition shows the country. The following people. The third below the job. The
area below summarizes these three conditions and presents the products.
Thanks to a very free and available architectural inclined panels, the hearing could
include images and objects away with the same ease that cimacios of inclined planes.
This had a vertical and horizontal relationship between the graphical information and the
objects themselves
"Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau" was accordingly designed as a typical cell-unit in just such a
block of multiple villa-flats.
It consisted of a minimum dwelling with its own roof-terrace. Attached to this cell-unit was
an annexe in the form of a rotunda containing detailed studies of town-planning schemes;
two large dioramas, each a hundred square meters in area, one of which showed the 1922
"Plan for a Modern City of 3,000,000 Inhabitants"; and the other the "Voisin Plan" which
proposed the creation of a new business centre in the heart of Paris.
On the walls were methodically worked out plans for cruciform skyscrapers, housing
colonies with staggered lay-outs, and a whole range of types new to architecture that were
the fruit of a mind preoccupied with the problems of the future .

Floor Plans
GROUND FLOOR FIRST FLOOR
TERRACE FLOOR
ELEVATION

The "Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau" was a turning point in the design of modern interiors and
a milestone in the evolution of architecture. A new term has replaced the old word furniture,
which stood for fossilizing traditions and limited utilization.
That new term is equipment, which implies the logical classification of the various elements
necessary to run a house that results from their practical analysis.
Standardized fitted cupboards, built into the walls or suspended from them, are allocated to
every point in the home where a daily function has to be performed - wardrobes for hanging
suits and dresses; cupboards for underclothes, household linen, plate and glass; shelves
for ornaments and shelves for books - have replaced all the innumerable varieties of
superannuated furniture that where known by half-a-hundred different names.
This new domestic equipment, which is no longer of wood but of metal, is made in the
factories that used to manufacture office-furniture. To-day it represents the entire
"furnishing" of a home, leaving a maximum of unencumbered space in every room, and only
chairs and tables to fill it.
The scientific study of chairs and tables has, in turn, led to entirely new conceptions of what
their form should be : a form which is no longer decorative but purely functional. The
evolution of modern manners has banished the old conventional ritual that used to dictate
our sitting posture. Since we can sit in many different positions, the new shapes of chair
which a tubular-steel or strip-metal framework make possible ought to provide for all of
them. Wood, being a traditional material, limited the scope of the designer's initiative

le corbusier

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