SESSION XI: Le Corbusier and Modernism

Many questions have been raised pertaining to art, its definition, what it encompasses and the distinctions between movements. The modern era invited audiences and creators of all areas to explore and challenge these and many more questions. Between the 18th and 19th centuries, the world engaged in abstract art, representations of intangible concepts that also defy existing conventions of creation, bringing a new meaning to art itself; while on another hand, jazz birthed a new way to conceive music favoring improvisation and spontaneity over previously written material, a stark contrast to earlier movements.

Architecturally speaking, Modernist architecture saw to blend classical structure elements with an emerging technological society, establishing new postures between form and function. These postures may vary within a designer’s works, such as Le Corbusier’s abstractions in his Maisons Jaoul, finished in the late 1956. The Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts and the Mill Owners’ Association Building

also allow us to appreciate the use of series. Together, both abstractions and the use of evolutionary series have facilitated a wider definition of modernism in all its

senses.

The Maisons Jaoul, two similar villas located in Paris, are a curious opposite of Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye, completed in 1929. Instead of the more materialistic purity and floating appearance, the Maisons Jaoul opts for more compact structures with varying materials and contrasting shapes like the gridded window frames and the concave geometries formed by the concrete on the top levels. Le Corbusier’s linear and curved shapes are present in its interior: both main longitudinal walls are crowned with catalan vaults, suggesting a reinterpretation of train station vaults. With special divisions, the vaults break free from his previous work on open space plans as none of his Five Points of Architecture are present in the twin villas. Not only are they an interpretation of classical vaults, but an abstraction of his history in architecture.

Despite abstracting himself from earlier stances, Le Corbusier still repeats the use of certain elements. For instance, the Mill Owner’s Association Building, MOA (1954), located in Ahmedabad, India, used curved distribution of space within an

orthogonal floor plan. Containing a brutalist approach with a homogenous appearance, the building balances solid concrete versus the colors and textures

present in the building’s vegetation and its arboreal surroundings.

Nonetheless, a standing characteristic feature in the building is its implementation of of brises-soleil, a series of slanted openings to deviate direct sunlight and allow ventilation,

all while adding visual depth to the main façade.

About a decade later, Le Corbusier produced the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, located in Cambridge, Boston, similar in concept to the MOA Building but oriented around educational purposes. Like the Mill Owner’s Association headquarters, the

Carpenter Center features a ramp that leads the way towards the building’s interior. In this case, the brises-soleil serve as windows for the studio areas, thus being larger than those in Le Corbusier’s MOA Building.

Throughout Le Corbusier’s career, recurring themes, both abstracted and

reimagined, such as the ones previously mentioned, ultimately characterized his

work. Conversely, the same happens in virtually any art be it film, music or visual

arts, everything possesses a posture, reactionary in nature, representative of an

evolution of past iterations. Arguably, every creator becomes defined by the result

of their own constant exploration of their deep mind and creativity.

References:

• Angel, J. F. (n.d.). Maison Jaoul. Retrieved November 01, 2020, from http://jessica-f-angel.com/maison-jaoul

• Jones, R. (2014, January 07). AD Classics: Mill Owners' Association Building / Le Corbusier. Retrieved November 01, 2020, from https://www.archdaily.com/464142/ad-classics-mill-owners-association-building-le-corbusier?ad_medium=gallery

• Kroll, A. (2011, March 13). AD Classics: Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts / Le Corbusier. Retrieved November 01, 2020, from https://www.archdaily.com/119384/ad-classics-carpenter-center-for-the-visual-arts-le-corbusier

Videos:

• The Case for Abstraction | The Art Assignment | PBS Digital Studios [Video file]. (2016, July 28). Retrieved November 1, 2020, from The Case for Abstraction | The Art Assignment | PBS Digital Studios

• The Case for Jackson Pollock | The Art Assignment | PBS Digital Studios [Video file]. (2017, December 14). Retrieved November 1, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U19VOF4qfs