Le Corbusier

Charles Edouard who later named

himself ‘Le Corbusier’ (pseudonym)

was born in 1887 in Switzerland. He

became a French citizen in 1930. He

then died in the year 1965.

His first work was Villa la Roche in

France and his last was Heidi Weber

Museum in Switzerland. In India, his

first work was Sanskar Kendra

Museum, Ahmedabad.

Villa la Roche Heidi Weber Museum Sanskar Kendra Museum

His Ideologies:

Le Corbusier had a set pattern in

which he designed most of his

buildings. He called ‘The Five Points

of Architecture’.

1) Free floor plan

2) Free façade: Façade walls only for

aesthetics, not for load bearing

3) Pilotis

4) Horizontal Window

5) Roof Garden

These features can be seen

prominently in The Villa Savoye (refer

pics).

Apart from these, he also often used

the colours red, green, blue and

yellow along with the raw concrete

finish in many of his works.

Chandigarh High

Court

Cite

Radieuse,

France

Heidi Weber

Museum,

Switzerland

Eglise Saint

Pierre, France

Le Corbusier loved to paint. He

painted abstract images which he

later has incorporated in many of his

buildings, ether in the form of murals

or even doors.

Pavilion Suisse at Cite Universitaire,

France

He used the Modulor Man

measurements as well as Fibonacci in

all of his works. He even painted the

Modulor Man in his own version.

Modulor Man

Le Corbusier designed the layout of

the city of Chandigarh. Its planned

layout is much talked about.

He has also constructed many Open

Hand Structures. But the biggest is

in Chandigarh. The Open Hand

Structure symbolizes both an open

hand and a flying bird.

Open Hand Structure in Chandigarh

Le Corbusier’s works are basically

subtle, solemn and mature. They

don’t express vibrancy.

His works are basically appreciated

across the globe because of the

structural and technical features of

the building. He has tried to

incorporate new structural ideas in

each of his works.

So only experienced and seasoned

architects could understand the logic

behind his creations.

Hill of Notre

Dame du Haut

Ronchamp district

Franche Comte

France

Satellite View of the hill:

Aerial View of the hill:

Site Plan:

There are five structures on this hill.

One is the ‘Ronchamp Tomorrow’, a

monastery and a gatehouse built by

Renzo Piano just in 2011. This

gatehouse acts as the tourist

entrance pavilion.

The fireplace inside this gatehouse,

separates the building into two.

On one side is a relaxation room with

the models of Le Corbusier and

Renzo Piano displayed.

On the other side is a reception

office and a souvenir shop

Ronchamp Tomorrow Monastery

There are two other buildings: Maison

des Pelerins and Maison du Gardien.

Maison des Pelerins (The House of

Pilgrims) and Maison du Gardien (The

Keeper’s House) were both built by

Le Corbusier in 1952 for the pilgrims

to stay.

Maison des Pelerins:

Maison Du Gardien:

Then comes La Pyramide de la Paix

(The Pyramid of Peace).

La Pyramide

The most important is the Chapel of

Notre Dame du Haut.

Chapel of Notre

Dame du Haut

The Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut

was constructed by Le Corbusier

in1955 to replace the old chapel

which was destroyed during the

World War II.

The old chapel

Floor plan: 30mx40m

Perspective View:

N

Wall height:

15 m

Tower height:

27 m

Front Façade (South Elevation)

The towers which are

the cylindrical spaces

in the plan are used

for lighting candles

Rear end (North Elevation)

South East elevation (To the East of

the façade)

West elevation with a well (to the

west of the front façade)

Main (S)

and

Service

(N)

Entries

South East Entrance (exterior chapel):

Rear End stairs (North):

Through the Main Entrance:

In the South east Elevation is an

external chapel for passersby to pray.

The Glass window above the plus sign

has a Virgin Mary statue. This statue

can also be viewed by people inside

the chapel.

There is also a flight of stairs

probably used for making

announcements. There is a door

beside the stairs.

Behind the well in the west, is a set

of bells installed later in the 1990s.

Inference:

The effort put in for fluidity and the

various slopes of the windows is

commendable.

Le Corbusier has retained his typical

concrete finished walls.

However, certain areas seem to be

slightly scattered inside the chapel.

But, that is a very negligible error

compared to the complexity of the

design.

-Harini.J

-Sweatha.K.C.

-Ameena Aafiya

-Pooja.B