CH- II (Characteristics of modern architecture in the

world wars)
Introduction:

Based upon new technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel and reinforced

concrete, Modern architecture continued to be the dominant architectural style for institutional and
corporate buildings into 1980s, when it was challenged by Postmodernism, and then by "Neo-
modernism" and other schools.

Notable architects important to the history and development of the modernist movement
include Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Konstantin
Melnikov, Erich Mendelsohn, Joseph Eichler, Richard Neutra, Louis Sullivan, Gerrit Rietveld, Bruno
Taut, Gunnar Asplund, Arne Jacobsen, Oscar Niemeyer and Alvar Aalto.

LE CORBUSIER:

Biography:

 Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbusier (French: [lə kɔʁbyzje]; October 6, 1887 –

August 27, 1965), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one
of the pioneers of what is now called modern architecture.

 He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930. His career spanned five
decades; he constructed buildings in Europe, Japan, India, and North and South America.

 Like his contemporaries Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier did not have
formal academic training as an architect. He was attracted to the visual arts and at the age of
fifteen he entered the municipal art school in La-Chaux-de-Fonds which taught the applied arts
connected with watchmaking.

 Dedicated to providing better living conditions for the residents of crowded cities, Le Corbusier
was influential in urban planning, and was a founding member of the Congrès International
d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM).
 Le Corbusier prepared the master plan for the city of Chandigarh in India, and contributed
specific designs for several buildings there.
 On July 17, 2016, seventeen projects by Le Corbusier in seven countries were inscribed in the list
of UNESCO World Heritage sites as "an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement"
Modular theory:

 The Modulor is an anthropometric scale of proportions devised by the Swiss-

born French architect Le Corbusier (1887–1965).
 It was developed as a visual bridge between two incompatible scales, the imperial and the metric
system. It is based on the height of a man with his arm raised.
 It was used as a system to set out a number of Le Corbusier's buildings
  Le Corbusier developed the Modulor in the long tradition of Vitruvius, Leonardo da
Vinci's Vitruvian Man, the work of Leon Battista Alberti ( a painting), and other attempts to
discover mathematical proportions in the human body and then to use that knowledge to improve
both the appearance and function of architecture.
 The system is based on human measurements, the double unit, the Fibonacci numbers, and
the golden ratio.
 Le Corbusier described it as a "range of harmonious measurements to suit the human scale,
universally applicable to architecture and to mechanical things".

 Le Corbusier used his Modulor scale in the design of many buildings, including Unité
d'Habitation a Marseille, Church of Sainte Marie de La Tourette, Carpenter Center for the Visual
Arts.
5 point of architecture:

During his career, Le Corbusier developed a set of architectural principles that dictated his
technique, which he called "the Five Points of a New Architecture" and were most evident in his Villa
Savoye.

The five points are:

1. Pilotis – Replacement of supporting walls by a grid of reinforced concrete columns that bears

the structural load is the basis of the new aesthetic.
2. The free designing of the ground plan—the absence of supporting walls—means the house
is unrestrained in its internal use.
3. The free design of the façade—separating the exterior of the building from its structural
function—sets the façade free from structural constraints.
4. The horizontal window, which cuts the façade along its entire length, lights rooms equally.
5. Roof gardens on a flat roof can serve a domestic purpose while providing essential
protection to the concrete roof.
Some important works done by le Corbusier:

Villa savoye:

Ground floor plan

First floor plan

 Villa Savoye is a modernist villa in Poissy, on the outskirts of Paris, France. It was designed

by Le Corbusier and his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, and built between 1928 and 1931
using reinforced concrete.
 A manifesto of Le Corbusier's "five points" of new architecture, the villa is representative of the
bases of modern architecture.
  An early and classic exemplar of the "International Style", which hovers above a grass plane on
thin concrete pilotti, with strip windows, and a flat roof with a deck area, ramp, and a few
contained touches of curvaceous walls.

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.
 On the ground floor he placed the main entrance hall, ramp and stairs, garage, chauffeur and
maid's rooms.
 At first floor the master bedroom, the son's bedroom, guest bedroom, kitchen, salon and external
terraces.
 The salon was oriented to the south east whilst the terrace faced the east.
 The son's bedroom faced the north west and the kitchen and service terrace were on the south
west.
 At second floor level were a series of sculpted spaces that formed a solarium.
 The plan was set out using the principal ratios of the Golden section: in this case a square divided
into sixteen equal parts, extended on two sides to incorporate the projecting façades and then
further divided to give the position of the ramp and the entrance.
Unite d’Habitation:

Plan
 site plan

 After World War II, the need for housing was at an unprecedented high.
 The Unite d’Habitation in Marseille, France was the first large scale project for the famed
architect, Le Corbusier.
 In 1947, Europe was still feeling the effects of the Second World War, when Le Corbusier was
commissioned to design a multi-family residential housing project for the people of Marseille
 The Unite d’Habitation was a first, both for Le Corbusier and the ways in which to approach such
a large complex to accommodate roughly 1,600 residents.
 Especially since Le Corbusier did not have many buildings of such a substantial scale when
compared to the villas.
 When designing for such a significant number of inhabitants natural instinct is to design
horizontally spreading out over the landscape, rather Le Corbusier designed the community that
one would encounter in a neighborhood within a mixed use, modernist, residential high rise. 
 The building is constructed in rough-cast concrete, as the hoped-for steel frame proved too
expensive in light of post-War shortages.
 It comprises 337 apartments arranged over twelve stories, all suspended on large piloti. The
building also incorporates shops with architectural bookshop, [5] sporting, medical and educational
facilities, a hotel which is open to the public,[6] and a gastronomic restaurant
 Inside, corridors run through the centre of the long axis of every third floor of the building, with
each apartment lying on two levels, and stretching from one side of the building to the other, with
a balcony.
 Corbusier's design was criticised by US architect Peter Blake for having small children's rooms
and some of those rooms lacked windows.
Chandigarh town planning:
 Le corbusier is a Legendary Architect. He is the trendsetter of the Modern Architecture. He
designed various different types of structures where he has proved his uniqueness in design.
 He designed residences, offices, villas, structures such as Parliament building, high courts etc.
 Each of his designs are very much different from one another. Every building of his talks about
his unique character and the purpose it is made for.
 Even today, his designs are considered modern and Legendary.
 In 1950, India’s Prime Minister Jawharlal Nehru invited Le Corbusier to India to design a city,
Chandigarh.
 Chandigarh is the provincial capital of Punjab. It became symbolic of the newly independent
Indian nation.
 Commencing work from 1951 until Le Corbusier’s death in 1965, he shaped the city and gave it
its image.
 The design of the city is based on a grid-iron plan based on the hierarchy of movement from
highways to pedestrian walkways.
 The metaphor of a human being was being employed in the plan – the ‘head’ contained the
capital complex, the ‘heart’ the commercial centre, and the ‘arms’, which were perpendicular to
the main axis, had the academic and leisure facilities.
 The plan incorporated Le Corbusier’s principles of light, space and greenery.
 He divided the city into different Sectors. Every sector had residential and commercial zones.
 He planned the city in such a way that even a tourist can easily find his own way.
 There are maps displayed along the walkways and footpaths.
Roads in Chandigarh:
 The roads are designed and oriented in such a way that most of the time during the day, they are
under shadow.
 There are huge parking areas for the commercial zones so that the Parking problems don’t create
a havoc on the main roads. The Parking lanes are as broad as the main roads.
 There are pedestrian walkway roads that are segregated from the main road with the help of a
wide lawn strip. There are huge gardens along the main roads.
Residence Design in Chandigarh:
 Le Corbusier believed in creating harmony by using the Design principle of Symmetry.
 He designed clusters of bungalows together sharing a common playground for kids and they also
had a garden of their own, apartments for middle class families where a couple of apartments
could share a common garden or playground.
 The design of the residences is symmetrical. Residences in a cluster look similar from the exterior
but they have different planning as per the user’s requirement. The advantage of emphasizing on
symmetry makes the environment look balanced and organized.
Parliament Design in Chandigarh:
 The Parliament or Assembly was designed as a large box with the entrance portico on one side,
concrete piers on the other, and a repetitive pattern on the façade. Sculptural forms on the roof, a
dramatic ‘funnel’ top light over the Assembly, and a tilted pyramid over the Senate chambers
completed the composition.
 The Assembly Hall has a square plan. The Assembly chamber, in the form of a hyperbolic shell,
is surrounded by ceremonial space.
 This circulation space is planned as a dimly lit, triple height, columned hall for informal meetings
and discussions.
 The side of the hall facing the high court has a great portico and has eight thin piers.
 These piers frame a view of glimpses of the Shivalik Hills.
 A ceremonial pivoting door is placed in an off-centre bay of the portico.
 Le Corbusier was inspired by the form of the cooling towers of a power station near Ahmedabad.
 The architect designed the hyperbolic shell of the Assembly chamber with a base diameter of
39.6m.
 This shell is 38m and terminates in an oblique section with a metallic framework at the top.
 This framework directs the interplay of natural and artificial lighting, ventilation, and acoustics.
 The hyperbolic shell is only 15cm thick, which helped in reducing the cost and the weight of
structure.
 The Assembly chamber has a seating capacity for 252 persons. Additional galleries are provided
for ladies, journalists, and officials.
 Acoustical treatment has been given to the Assembly Chamber to modulate and control the sound
levels by providing sound absorbing panels in bright colours and random curvilinear shapes.
 The Council chamber, with a capacity of 70 seats is crowned by a pyramid, which admits light
from the north into its interior.
 A ladies gallery with 90 seats, a men’s gallery with 104 seats, and a press gallery with 24 seats
are also provided in this chamber.
 Staircases, lifts and ramps provide various means of circulation and access to different levels of
the building.
 The construction of the entire structure is in exposed reinforced concrete.

Le Corbusier designed various buildings in Chandigarh. He designed Play Parks and Gardens, recreations
clubs etc.
Chandigarh’s Rock Garden is a famous tourist attraction which was developed after the death of Le
Corbusier.
Later on, after his death, the development of Chandigarh was carried on as per his plan and today,
Chandigarh is known as one of the best planned cities in the world.