Le Corbusier was a Swiss-French architect, designer, urban planner, writer and painter. Some of his most notable works include the Villa La Roche, Pavillon Suisse, Mill Owners' Association Building in India. He is known for developing the Modular system and the concept of the Five Points of Architecture. In the 1950s, he designed the city plan for Chandigarh, the first planned city in India, applying his principles of modern architecture and urban planning. The presentation provided details on Le Corbusier's early life, career, key buildings before Chandigarh and his master plan for Chandigarh, highlighting his modular design approach and use of open spaces.

1. JAGANNATH UNIVERSITY
FACUTLY OF
ARCHITECTURE
PRESENTATION
ON LE CORBUSIER

2. Le Corbusier
 Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, better
known as Le Corbusier.
 He was born in Switzerland and became
a French citizen in 1930. October 6, 1887 –
August 27, 1965)
 He was architect ,designer urbanist
and writer.
 His career spanned five decades, with
his buildings constructed throughout
Europe, India and America.

3. EARLY LIFE AND CARRER(1914-
1930)
Le Corbusier taught at his old school in La-
chaux-de-Fond during World War I.
 Until the end of the first world war he
worked in switzerland.
 Were he worked on theoretical
architectural studies using modern
techniques.
 Among these was his project for the
Domino House (1914–1915)

4.  In 1908, He studied architecture
in Vienna with Josef Hoffmann.
 Between October 1910 and March 1911, he
worked near Berlin for the renowned
architect Peter Behrens.
 Soon he would begin his own architectural
practice with his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret (1896–
1967), a partnership that would last until the
1950s.
In 1918, Le Corbusier met the Cubist
painter Amédée Ozenfant.

5.  After World War II, Le Corbusier attempted to realize his
urban planning schemes on a small scale by constructing a
series of "unités" (the housing block unit of the Radiant City)
around France.
 The most famous of these was the Unité d'Habitation of
Marseilles (1946–1952).
 In the 1950s, a unique opportunity to translate the Radiant
City on a grand scale presented itself in the construction of
the Union Territory Chandigarh.
 The new capital of Indian states of Punjab
and Haryana and the first planned city in
India.
Unité d'Habitation France Le
corbusier Marseille or Cité Radieuse .

6. LE CORBUSIER – THE MODULAR
 Le Corbusier explicitly used the golden ratio in
his Modulor system for the scale of architectural
proportion.
 The Modulor is
an anthropometric scale of pr
oportions devised by him.
 It is based on the height of
an English man with his arm
raised.

7. 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
human body to improve the
appearance and function
of architecture.
 Le Corbusier described it as a
"range of harmonious
measurements to suit the human
scale, universally applicable to

8. BUILDING WITH MODULAR
SYSTEM
 Unité d'Habitation in Marseilles
 Church of Sainte Marie de La Tourette
 Carpenter Centre for the Visual Arts

9. CHANDIGARH PLANNING
 Historical Background
 Selection of site
 Planning
To select a suitable
site, the Govt. of
Punjab appointed a
Committee in 1948
under the
Chairmanship of P.L
Verma, Chief Engineer
to assess and evaluate
the existing towns in
the State for setting up
the proposed capital of

10.  The present site was selected in 1948 taking into account various
attributes such as its Central location in the state, proximity to the national
capital & availability of sufficient water supply, fertile of soil, gradient of
land for natural drainage.
 An American Firm, M/s. Mayer, Whittlessay and Glass was commissioned
in 1950 to prepare the Master Plan for the new City
 Albert Mayer and Mathew Novicki evolved a fan shaped Master Plan and
worked out conceptual sketches of the super block.
 The super block was designed as a self –sufficient neighborhood units
placed along the curvilinear roads and comprised of cluster type
housing, markets and centrally located open spaces.

11. Le Corbusier's Master Plan
 The Master plan prepared by Le
Corbusier was broadly similar to the
one prepared by the team of planners
led by Albert Mayer and Mathew
Novicki.
 Except that the shape of the city plan
was modified from one with a curving
road network to rectangular shape
with a grid iron pattern for the fast
traffic roads, besides reducing its
area for reason of economy.

12.  Due to economic constraints, the master plan was to be
realized in two phases, catering to a total population of half a
million.
 . Phase-I consisting of 30 low density sector spread over an
area of 9000 acres (Sector 1 to 30) for 1,50,000 people .
 Phase-II consisting of 17 considerably high density Sectors (
Sectors 31 to 47) spread over an area of 6000 acres for a
population of 3,50,000.

13.  The primary module of city‟s design is a Sector, a neighborhood unit of
size 800 meters x 1200 meters. It is a self-sufficient unit having shops,
school, health centers and places of recreations and worship.
 The population of a sector varies between 3000 and 20000 depending
upon the sizes of plots and the topography of the area.

17. The open hand
 The Open Hand (La Main Ouverte) is a
recurring motif in Le Corbusier's
architecture.
 This is a sign of relief and reconciliation.
 It is open to give and open to receive.
 The largest of the many Open Hand
sculptures that Le Corbusier created is a
The Open Hand Monument in
28 meter high version in Chandigarh, Chandigarh
India. , India

18. Buildings by le corbusier before
Chandigarh planning.
 Villa Roche.
 Pavillon Suisse (Swiss Pavilion).

19. location Paris
function
VILLA ROCHE private
house, museum, gallery
Project Year: 1923-1925
 The Villa La Roche is a perfect showcase for Le
Corbusier's new architecture.
 The house would serve as a private gallery to display La
Roche's extensive art collection.

20.  The Villa acted as an exhibition space for Mr.
Roche‟s collection of avant-garde artwork, and is
a pure assemblage of spatial volumes that
interlocks the dual programs of domicile and
gallery.
 It including a north orientation and existing trees
and height and boundary limitation.
 Inside the building, to display the art, an
„architectural promenade‟ was made.
 A theme inspired by Le Corbusier's visit to the
Acropolis in 1911.
 The promenade goes up and down staircases,
leads through tight spaces, in-between balconies,
open surveys, down ramps and into a beautifully
lit library.

21. INTERIOR OF VILLA ROCHE

22. BUILDING FEATURES OF
VILLA ROCHE.
 The Villa was imagined as a “spatial
experience” and consists of a specifically
deliberate path which guides the inhabitant
and unveils the artwork as an itinerary through
history.
 The promenade lead us into a succession of
wonderfully illuminated spaces which were
perceptibly designed to be experiential and
viewed from a single, fixed point.
 Precisely placed wall openings, stairs, ramps,
and balconies divide the space into three
dimensional grid-like layers which are
permeable to stunning illumination.
 In contrast to the entirely white façade, the
vivid internal color palate harmonizes the
otherwise asymmetrical arrangement of the
Villa.

23. Pavillon Suisse (Swiss Pavilion)
Pavillon Suisse (Swiss Pavilion)
7 boulevard Jourdan
75014 Paris
France
 Citi university was founded in 1921 to provide accommodation and support
for foreign students in Paris.

24. BUILDING DETAILS
 The free facade and horizontal
window have become a continuous
glazed curtain wall, on the south side
of the building.
 The pilotis have developed from thin
columns to six massive reinforced
concrete.
 The plan accommodates them in a
separate block sitting on the earth.
its curvaceous form contrasting with the
simple slab of the student
accommodation.

25.  Building form
 The work consists of two volumes clearly differentiated.
 On the one hand, the flag-shaped parallelepiped containing
the student dormitories, and the other containing the free
areas of reunion, all the individual spaces and the social
space
 . The volume of rooms is separated from the soil through
large columns of concrete.

26.  Structure
System of beams and
columns of reinforced
concrete.
 Materials
Concrete, stone and glass.

27. MILL OWNERS' ASSOCIATION BUILDING
location Ahmedabad
function auditorium, meeting room,
office
 A ceremonial ramp makes for a grand approach into a triple-
height entrance hall.
 Arrival is on the first floor, where (as per the original design)
the executives‟ offices and boardroom are located

28. Building characteristic
 The ground floor houses the work
spaces of the clerks and a
separate, single-storey canteen at the
rear.
 On the third floor is a high, top-lit
auditorium with a roof canopy and a
curved, enclosing wall, in addition to a
generous lobby.
 The east and west façades are in the
form of sun breakers , one of Corbusier‟s
many formal inventions.
 while avoiding harsh sun, permit visual
connection and air movement.

29.  On the second floor of the
Mill Owners‟ Building, the
lobby is treated as “an open
space defined by
harsh, angular forms.
 And the auditorium as an
enclosed space delineated
by soft, curvilinear forms.
 While the brise-soleil act as
free facades made of rough
shuttered concrete, the
north and south sides, built
in rough brickwork, are
almost unbroken.

30. SECRETARIAT BUILDING
location Chandigarh
function government
 The Secretariat building is a long, horizontal concrete slab
form, 254 meters long and 42 meters high

31.  The building is composed of block divided by expansion joints
and measures over 800 feet long, bookended by two sculptural
ramps providing vertical circulation throughout the facilities‟
levels.
 The massive, horizontal
complex is comprised of 8
stories of rough-cast
concrete.
 The building has notable
similarities with Corbusier‟s
Marseille block and had an
equally lofty goal: to
revolutionize the modern
office building.

32.  The whole structure is constructed in „beton brut‟ (rough-
cast concrete) with Corbusier‟s signature „brise-soleils‟
facade.
 Over 800 feet long, the
extensive facade of the
building gives a sculptural
aesthetic with exposed
concrete ramps, punctured
with small square windows
dictating the front and rear
views
 The cafeteria rests atop the
terrace, where one can have
a spectacular view of the
city.

33.  Similarly, the roof garden and its promenade set
against the surrounding landscape, which constantly
changes as the observer‟s angle of vision changes..
 To maximize natural lighting
and increase cross-
ventilation, a long and narrow
plan was implemented.
 The Secretariat is a simpler
and more conventional form
where variations of structure
and internal distribution do
not interrupt its compact
volume.

34. FAMOUS QUOTES BY
LE CORBUSIER
 “To create architecture is to put in order. Put
what in order? Function and objects.”
 Space and light and order. Those are the
things that men need just as much as they
need bread or a place to sleep.”
 A house is a machine for living in.”

35. Thank you