Architect Le Courbusier's life , ideology and works

2. Le Corbusier
• Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, who chose to
be known as Le Corbusier.
• Born on October 6, 1887 and died on
August 27, 1965, was a Swiss architect,
designer, urbanist, writer and painter.
• He was famous for being one of the
pioneers of what now is called Modern
architecture or the International style.

3. IDEOLOGY
• THE PILOTIS
• ROOF GARDEN
• FREE FLOOR PLAN
• ELONGATED WINDOW
• FREE FACADE

4. PILOTIS
• Pilotis means columns.
• It helped to redefine the house
as a matter of form and function.
• Reinforced concrete gave us the
pilotis.
• It raised the building in the air,
far from the soil, with gardens
stretching beneath the building.
• Pilotis usually served as an
element of dramatization and
visual isolation.

5. THE ROOF GARDEN
• Usually known as hanging
garden.
• First realization of this idea was
in the small house that the
architect built for his parents
on lake Geneva in 1923 is
described in a hymnal tone.
• Reinforced concrete made the
structurally homogenous roof
possible.
• Reason of technique, economy
and comfort lead to the
adoption of the roof terrace and
roof garden.

6. THE FLOOR PLAN
• REINFORCED CONCRETE BROUGHT THE
INNOVATION OF THE FREE PLAN IN WHICH THE
INTERIORS WERE NO LONGER THE RIGIDLY
DETERMINED BY THE STRUCTURAL WALLS , THEY
HAD BECOME FREE.
• LE CORBUISER SUGGESTED A COMPLETE
INDEPENDENCE OF STRUCTURAL SUPPORT
ARCHITECTURAL “INFILL”.
• HE USED SLIDING WALLS THAT DIVIDED THE
LIVING ROOM INTO THREE BEDROOMS AT NIGHT.

7. THE ELONGATED WINDOW
• LE CORBUSIER’S
OBSESSION WITH THE
FORM OF THE FACADE
LONG WINDOWS THAT IS
TOTALLY INDEPENDENT OF
STRUCTURE
• ITS NO SURPRISE THAT THE
ARCHITECT ONCE AGAIN
PRODUCED A SCIENTIFIC
DEMONSTRATION IN ORDER
TO PROVE THE
SUPERIORITY OF THE NEW
WINDOW TYPE.

8. THE FREE FACADE
• SAPERATING THE EXTERIOR OF THE BUILDING
FROM ITS STRUCTURAL FUNCTION THE FAÇADE
BECOME FREE.
• PILLARS RETREATED FROM THE FACADE TO
THE INSIDE OF THE HOUSE I.E THE FACADE
BECAME NO MORE THAN LIGHT MEMBRANE
• FACADE WAS NOW FREE AND THE WINDOWS
COULD EXTEND WITHOUT INTERRUPTION
FROM ONE END TO THE OTHER

9. THE MODULAR
• ‘THE MODULAR’ , LE CORBUSIER WROTE, IS A
MEASURING TOOL BASED ON THE HUMAN BODY
AND ON MATHEMATICS. A MAN WITH AN ARM
UPRAISED PROVIDES, AT THE DETERMINING
POINTS OF HIS OCCUPATION OF SPACE- FOOT,
SOLAR PLEXUS, HEAD, TIPS OF FINGERS OF THE
UPRAISED ARM- THREE INTERVALS WHICH GIVE
RISE TO A SERIES OF GOLDEN SECTIONS CALLED
THE FIBNACCI SERIES.

10. Villa Savoye
 Location: Poissy, France
 Date: 1928 to 1931
 Construction System:
Reinforced Concrete and
plastered unit masonry
 Climate: Temperate
 Style: Modern

11. VILLA SAVOYE,POISSY- FRANCE
1928-31
• VILLA SAVOYE IS RELATED TO THE WHOLE RANGE OF LE
CORBUSIER’S ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING
• IT IS SITUATED ON SMOOTHLY SLOPING HILL TOP IN MIDST OF
FIELDS
• IT ILLUSTRATES WITH EXTREME CLARITY AND IS PERHAPS THE
MOST FAITHFUL IN ITS OBSERVATION OF HI FIVE POINTS I.E
PILOTIS, ROOF GARDEN, FREE FLOOR PLAN , ELONGATED
WINDOW, AND FREE FAÇADE
• PALLADIAN GRID IS FOLLOWED
• GOLDEN PROPOTIONS ARE ANALYSED
• COLUMNS OF THE BUILDINGS ARE DEFINED BY A SYSTEM OF
WALLS INDEPENDENT OF STRUCTURE
• ENTRY TO THE PROPERTY IS THROUGH A GATE AT ONE END OF
HIGH STONE WALL

12. ‘The reinforced
concrete
gives us the pilotis.
The house is up in the
air, far from the
ground: the garden
runs
under the house...’
Pilotis

13. 'The columns set back from the
facades, inside the house. The
floor continues cantilevered. The
facades are no longer anything
but light skins of insulating walls
or windows. The facade is free.'
Free
facade

14. 'Until now: load-bearing walls; …. forming the ground
floor and the upper stories, up to the eaves. The
layout is a slave to the supporting walls. Reinforced
concrete in the house provides a free plan!...’
Free
Plan

15. 'The window is one of
the essential features
of the house.
Reinforced concrete
provides a revolution
in the history of the
window. Windows can
run from one end of
the facade to the
other.'
Elongate
d
Windows

16. '...the garden is
also over the
house, on the
roof...’
Roof
Garden

17. Ground Floor Plan

18. First Floor Plan

19. Section Drawing

20. RAMP TOWARDS TERRACE
LIVING ROOM OPENING TOWARDS
TERRACE (INTERIORS)
ELONGATED WINDOWS

21. UNITE D’ HABITATION
• IT WAS LE CORBUSIER’S
BEST CONTRIBUTION TO A
MODERN TYPOLOGY OF
SOCIAL HOUSING
• THE BUILDING IS SITUATED
ON 9 ACRE SITE ON THE
OUTSKIRTS OF MARSEILLE
• IT HAS AN EAST WEST
ORIENTATION
• IT IS 450’ LONG, 80’ WIDE
AND 185’ HIGH
• 4 LIFTS EACH WITH A
CAPACITY OF 20,
TRAVELLING WITH A SPEED
AT 40 FT PER SECOND.

22. • IT HAS SKELETON OF REINFORCED CONCRETE AND
REST ON POWERFUL PILLARS WHICH LEAVS THE
GROUND FREE
• ALL PIPING PASSES THROUGH THESE PILLARS (PILOTIS)
• ALL APARTMENTS ARE BUILT IN TWO LEVELS
• THE NORTHEN FAÇADE IS BLANK, WHILE THE OTHER
FACADES ARE ANIMATED WITH GLASS WALLS AND
SUNBREAK LOGGIAS OF LIVING AREA
• THE PLAN IS NOT COMPLETELY FREE ; THE PARTITION
WALLS BETWEEN THE APARTMENTS ARE LOAD BEARING
• STRONG SOUND PROOFING BETWEEN APARTMENTS
• IT IS 9 STOREYS HIGH
• THEY ARE DIVIDED INTO TWENTY THREE DIFFERENT
TYPES OF APARTMENTS
• RECREATIONAL ROOMS ARE ON THE ROOF

24. HUGE PILOTIS
LEAVING THE
GROUND FREE
CONCRETE AS NOBLE MATERIAL
DOUBLE HEIGHT LIVING ROOM
WITH GLASS WALL
GLASS WALL OF
12’ X 16’
DOUBLE HEIGHT
BALCONIES TOO

25. ROOF
COLOURFUL
WALLS IN
BALCONIES
NARROW ROOMS
( 8’ HIGH ROOMS)
OPEN TERRACE

26. NOTRE- DAM-DU-HAUT

27. • IN THIS CONTEXT, LE CORBUSIER HIMSELF SPOKE OF
LANDSCAPE ACOUSTICS THUS CREATING AN ECHO IN
THE HALL
• IT IS COVERED WITH MUSHROOM SHAPED ROOF
• THE ROOF IS INDEPENDENT OF WALLS
• A THIN STRIP OF DAYLIGHT IS REVEALED BETWEEN
THE CHAPEL WALLS AND THE ROOF
• IT CREATES A STRONG TENSION BETWEEN THE
INDOORS AND OUT DOORS

28. • THE MAIN HALL HAS A CAPACITY OF
200 PEOPLE
• IT WAS THIS CHAPEL THAT HE FIRST
FORMULATED THE IDEA
ARCHITECTURALLY IN THE FORM OF
PERISCOPE LIGHT SHAFTS
CAPTURING THE SUNLIGHT AND
SPILLING IT OVER THE ALTARS OF THE
THREE SIDED CHAPEL
• HE PLAYED WITH MASS AND VOID ON
THE EXTERIORS OF THE WALLS
MASS VOID APPEARANCE

29. INTERIOR OF THE CHAPEL
IRREGULAR VOIDS

30. Plan

31. 1954 MILLOWNERS’
ASSOCIATION, AHMEDABAD,
INDIA

32. • IT IS THE HEADQUATERS OF ONE OF THE MOST
PROMINENT OF INDIAN COTTON MILLOWNERS’
ASSOCIATIONS.
• THE BUILDING WAS REQUIRED TO BE BOTH AN
ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER AND A MEETING AND A
CEREMONIAL CENTER.
• IT SERVERS AS A SORT OF CLUB, THE SOCIAL RITUAL OF
ITS MEMBERS IS STRONGLY EXPRESSED IN ITS DESIGN.
• CLIMATE CONTROL WAS TAKEN IN CONSIDERATON AND
THERE WAS EXPRESSION OF MATERIALS.
• THE EAST AND WEST FACADES, OF ROUGH-SHUTTERED
EXPOSED CONCRETE ARE MADE UP OF SUN-BREAKERS,
CAREFULLY DESIGNED TO SHIELD THE INTERIOR.
• THE NORTH AND SOUTH SIDES, ALMOST UNBROKEN ARE
OF ROUGH BRICKWORK.

33. VIEW FROM 3RD FLOOR LEVEL LOOKING EAST
OVER THE RIVER
SUN
BREAKERS

35. THE CAPITOL COMPLEX
• THE AREA OF THE GREATEST SYMBOLIC
SIGNIFICANCE IN CHANDIGARH WAS THE CAPITOL
COMPLEX , WHICH IN ITS FINAL FORM WAS BASED
ON THE DESIGN OF A GRAET CROSS AXIS
• THE MOST IMPORTANT GROUP OF THE BUILDINGS
CONSTITUTING THE CAPITOL- RIGHT, THE
PARLIAMENT, LEFT,IN THE BACKGROUND, THE
SECRETARIAT
• IN THE FOREGROUND, THE POOL OF THE PALACE
OF JUSTICE
• ALTHOUGH THE SCENE IS HARMONIUS IN EFFECT,
THERE ARE STILL MISSING THE BUILDINGS THAT
BELONG HERE ,SUCH AS , FOR INSTANCE, THE
TOWERS OF SHADOWS

36. SITE PLAN
SECRETARIAT
ASSEMBLY
HIGH COURT
GOVERNOR,S PALACE
OPEN HAND

37. THE SECRETARIAT,1958

38. THE SECRETARIAT
• THE FIRST DESIGN FOR THE SECRETARIAT PRESENTS THE
BUILDING AS A TALL THIN SLAB CARRYING A SURFACE BRISE SOLEIL
DIVIDED BY A CENTRAL HORIZONTAL BAND.
• THE DESIGN WHICH WAS ACCEPTED, ESTABLISHED THE BUILDING
FORM AS A LONG ,HORIZONTAL CONCRETE SLAB.
• THE SECRETARIAT, THE LONGEST BUILDING IN CHANDIGARH, 254M
LONG,AND 42M HIGHFORMS THE ADMINSTRATIVE CENTER,WITH
MINISTERAL OFFICES GROUPED IN THE CENTER AND OFFICES FOR
EMPLOYEES ARRANGED ON EITHER SIDE.
• THE BUILDING WAS COMPLETED IN 1958.
• THE CENTRAL PAVILION, BLOCK 4, CONTAINS THE OFFICES OF THE
MINISTERS.

39. FREE
FACADE
RAMP ENCLOCURE
ROUGH CONCRETE
FINISH
SQUARE WINDOWS
PROJECTED PORTICOS
SMALL ENTRANCE
BIG ENTRANCE

40. • THE ROUGH CONCRETE AGAIN INTERPOSES IN THE FENESTRATION
OF THE TWO MAIN FACADES ; MORE THAN 2000 UNITS OF UNIQUE
DESIGN
• APPRAOCH TO THE BUILDING IS THROUGH ROADWAYS BELOW
GROUND LEVEL TO A LARGE PARKING AREA IN FRONT OF THE
CENTRAL BLOCK, AND A FLOOR IS LEFT OPEN AT THIS LEVEL TO
FORM AN ENTRANCE HALL
• BLOCK 1 AND 2 RISES DIRECTLY FROM THE GROUND
• BLOCK 3,4 AND PART OF 5 FACE ON THE EXCAVATED AREA OF THE
PARKING LOT AND HAVE THE LOWER STOREY OPEN BETWEEN
PILOTIS
• FOR THE REST PART OF BLOCK 5 AND WHOLE OF 6 THE LEVEL GOES
TILL PLAZA HEIGHT, AND LOWER PORTION OF THESE BLOCKS ARE
LEFT OPEN TO A HEIGHT OF TWO STORYES
• THE TOP OF THE BUILDING IS DEVELOPED AS A ROOF GARDEN
CONTAINING THE SERVICE BLOCKS AND CAFETERIA FOR
EMPLOYEES

42. • THE PLASTIC EMPHASIS IS
GIVEN TO THE BUILDING BY
FREE STANDING EXTERIOR
RAMPS ENCLOSED IN ROUGH
CONCRETE WALLS
• FOR SUPPLEMENTARY
COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE
BUILDING , EACH OF SIX
BLOCKS IS EQUIPPED WITH
INTERIOR STAIRWAYS AND
LIMITED ELEVATOR SERVICE
• HORIZONTAL CIRCULATION IS
BY MEANS OF A CENTRAL
CORRIDOR.
• FOR MINISTER’S BLOCK THE
BAY SIZE IS INCREASED AND
THE COLUMN IS THICKENED
HT OF 2
STOREYS
LEFT OPEN
COLUMNS SUPPORTING
1 ½ BLOCK

43. THE HIGH COURT

44. THE HIGH COURT,
• THE HIGH COURT FORMED A PART AS “ A GREAT ARCHITECTURAL
VENTURE USING VERY POOR MATERIALS AND A LABOUR
FORCEQUITE UNUSED TO MODERN BUILDING TECHNIQUES
• AN ENTIRE STUCTURE HAS RESULTED IN THE USE OF DOUBLE
ROOF
• THE UPPER ROOF CANTILEVERED OUT OF THE OFFICE BLOCK IN
THE MANNER OF PARASOL SHADING THE LOWER ROOF
• THE SPACE BETWEEN THE TWO ROOFS IS LEFT OPEN TO ENABLE
CURRENTS OF AIR TO MOVE BETWEEN THE FLAT ROOF OF THE
OFFICE BLOCK AND THE UNDERSIDE OF THE PARASOL ROOF
WHICH SLOPES TOWARDS CENTER IN THE FORM OF ROWS OF
ARCHES
• IN THE PLAN THE BUILDING TOOK THE FORM OF ABBREVIATED L –
SHAPED WITH LONG FAÇADE FACING THE CAPITOL PLAZA TO
CONTAIN COURT ROOMS
• THE BUILDING IS A RECTILINEAR FRAME WITHIN WHICH THE
INTERIOR FUNCTIONS ARE DEFINED

45. COLOURED MASSIVE PILLARS
PARASOL ROOF
FORMING ARCHES
DOUBLE ROOF
GAP LEFT BETWEEN
TWO ROOFS
FULL HT ENTRANCE
ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES

46. REAR VIEW
ROUGH CONCRETE FINISHED RAMP
DOUBLE ROOF
APPROACHED THROUGH ROADS

47. THE ASSEMBLY HALL

48. THE ASSEMBLY HALL
• THE ASSEMBLY WAS CONCEIVED AS A RECTILINEAR
STRUCTURE
• IT IS SQUARE IN PLAN WITH A MONUMENTAL PORTICO
FACING THE MAIN PLAZA
• ON THE LATERAL FACADES BOTH THE PORTICO AND THE
OFFICE BLOCK WOULD BE DEFINED BY SOLID END WALLS
• THE LARGE CHAMBER IS IN HYPERBOLIC FORM OF THE
COOLING TOWER WITH AN AVERAGE THICKNESS OF 15 CMS
• THE SMALL COUNCIL CHAMBER ARE IN RECTILINEAR FRAME
• THE UPPER PORTION OF THE TOWER IS EXTENDING ABOVE
THE ROOF LINE
• AN ASSEMBLY CHAMBER IS 128 FT IN DIAMETER AT ITS BASE
AND RISES TO 124 FT AT ITS HIGHEST POINT
• THIS TOWER WAS DESIGNED TO INSURE THE NATURAL
LIGHT, VENTILATION AND PROPER ACOUSTICS

49. • OF ALL BUILDINGS OF THE CAPITOL
COMPLEX , THE ASSEMBLY IS THE
MOST INTRICATE IN PLAN
• SEPARATE CIRCULATION
ACCOMMODATION OF ALL GROUPS
IS PROVIDED
• EMPLOYING A SYSTEM OF
INDIVIDUAL ENTRANCES,
STAIRWAYS, LIFTS AND RAMP A
COMPLETE SEGREGATION OF
MEMBERS IS PROVIDED
• THER ARE TWO SEPARATE
GALLERIES FOR MEN AND WOMEN
IN COUNCIL CHAMBER
INTERIOR VIEW OF A
CHAMBER
MUSHROOM COLUMN SUPPORTING
ROOF

51. Thank you