Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret)

Le Corbusier – Indirect route to architecture; first innovations

Le Corbusier was born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris on 6 October 1887 in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland. His father owned a workshop in which he designed clock cases, whilst his mother worked as a music teacher. Le Corbusier took an apprenticeship in goldsmithing and engraving at the art school in his hometown before turning to painting and architecture, influenced by his teacher Charles L’Éplattenier. He undertook several study trips between 1907 and 1911, for a time with his friend, the art historian Arnold Klipstein, and visited the leading architect’s offices of the great European metropoles. He reached his first milestone in 1914 with the design of his reinforced concrete skeleton system Dom-Ino which enabled the stable construction of multi-story buildings whilst dispensing with load-bearing walls. Following the design of a villa for the watch manufacturer Auguste Schwob - which already exhibited many of the features of his later characteristic style – Le Corbusier moved to Paris in 1917. 

A new name for the artist and new rules for art

Le Corbusier chose the pseudonym under which he would become world famous in the 1920s in memory of his great-grandfather – its first use is recorded in the magazine L’Esprit Nouveau which he co-founded with the poet Paul Dermée and the painter Amédée Ozenfant. During this time, the famous five rules of modern architecture were written which Le Corbusier based the majority of his architectural work on. He published his ideas in numerous manifestos and also put them into practice by building modern buildings which his contemporaries conceived as almost revolutionary. He calculatedly discarded all embellishments he deemed unnecessary and reduced it to a simple objectivity. Characteristic of these designs are the free-standing supports, as also seen in the Weißenhof model housing estate built during this period. The world-famous architect celebrated one of his greatest successes, however, as a furniture designer: The steel furniture collection created in collaboration with Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret is considered a milestone in furniture history and is still one of the most iconic collector’s pieces today. 

A glittering world career with dark moments

Le Corbusier strove for proximity to dictatorial rulers such as Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin in the implementation of his revolutionary-seeming and often controversial ideas, and positioned himself as a supporter of the Vichy regime in France. The redesign of entire cities that Le Corbusier had in mind was most likely in the eyes of the ambitious master builder to be realised in a totalitarian regime. However, none of the projects that were so intensively discussed at the time came to fruition – a stroke of luck in the long run for the architect who, due to his sympathies for the political right, saw himself exposed to fierce criticism after the fall of the fascist regimes. He wasn’t lacking in prestigious contracts following the Second World War, however: The controversial master was involved in the construction of the UN headquarters in New York as planner, and designed several buildings for the government seat in the Punjab region at the special request of the Indian Prime Minister Nehru. He also designed the Marseille residential complex Unité d’habitation and the pilgrimage church Notre Dame de Haut in Rochamp. With seventeen of his buildings listed as World Cultural Heritage status since 2016, the impact of his theoretical writings is still felt.

Le Corbusier died on 27 August 1965 in Roquebrune Cap Martin in France.