DISJUNCTIVE DISCOURSE ON MATERIALITY: LE CORBUSIER, STANDARDIZATION AND CONCRETE
Carpenter Center from Quincy Street (Sekler and Curtis, 1978: 11)
Narratives of Modernity January 13, 2014 Caitlin Daly
History and Critical Thinking MA South door at Notre Dame du Haut Ronchamp (Samuel and Linder Gaillard, 2013: 68)
The dialectic between artists’ words and their built projects often accentuates the dichotomy between ideals, and desires for a utopian world, and the realities of the time. With a cursory reading of his work the same could be said of Le Corbusier, however, the very core design choices that were made, especially in regards to the material of construction, reject the essence of his theory. Pinpointing the foundation of Le Corbusier’s architectural philosophy, written or built, is in itself no easy task given the range and continuum of development exhibited throughout his extensive career. Nevertheless, there were a few key themes that manifested themselves throughout his manuscripts, Towards a New Architecture1 - published in French in 1923 and English in 19272, Precisions On the Present State of Architecture and City Planning3 - published in French in 1930 and English in 19914, and The Modulor5 - published 19506, including that of standardization7, not only of components but as a method of design through a standard unitized system of design measurement.8 Given the era in which Le Corbusier initially began his foray into the architectural field this desire for standardization is not unfounded, or lacking precedents9, the challenge he faced was applying the principles of a controlled factory setting to an unpredictable construction site. Going to the limit of our ideas, we shall tear the building industry away from its preindustrial methods; building will no longer be a seasonal industry, paralyzed by the effect of bad weather. We shall get to the house assembled from standard components, prepared in factories, 1 Le Corbusier. 1986. Towards a new architecture. 1st ed. English. New York: Dover Publications. 2Fondationlecorbusier.fr. 2014. Fondation Le Corbusier. [online] Available at: http://www.fondationlecorbusier.fr/corbuweb/morpheus. aspx?sysId=11&sysLanguage=en-en&sysParentId=11&sysParentName=home &clearQuery=1 [Accessed: 4 Jan 2014]. 3 Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 4 Fondationlecorbusier.fr. 2014. Op. Cit. 5 Le Corbusier. 2000. The modulor. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser. 6 Fondationlecorbusier.fr. 2014. Op. Cit. 7 Le Corbusier. 1986. Towards a new architecture. 1st ed. English. New York: Dover Publications. ; Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. ; Le Corbusier. 2000. The modulor. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser. All three of these books focus on the idea of standardization in some manner, either as the embodiment of a new method of constructing (Towards a New Architecture) or as part of a design system (The Modular). 8 Le Corbusier. 2000. The modulor. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser. 9 Le Corbusier. 1986. Towards a new architecture. 1st ed. English. New York: Dover Publications.
made perfect by industrialization, like an automobile body, and put up on the site by assembly workers and no longer by discouraging crowds of masons, carpenters, sheet metal workers, roofers, plasterers, joiners, electricians, etc., etc.. 10 Yet, despite that longing, Le Corbusier continually decided to utilize a material that relied heavily on the workmanship of various trades, reinforced concrete11. Reinforced concrete has been associated with the modern movement12 since its inception, however, the inherent material characteristics of concrete perpetuates a dilemma for any architect that requires exactitude and standardization. Although by 1925 concrete was wholly identified with modern architecture, this had been far from a foregone conclusion fifteen years earlier. Compared to steel, in many ways a much better qualified candidate to carry the message of modernity, it is not a little surprising that reinforced concrete, with its ambiguously modern and unmodern symptoms, should have taken on this role. Steel, lightweight, wholly reliant upon specialists from outside the traditional building trades, had many advantages in the modernity stakes over reinforced concrete - heavy, reliant upon carpenters to make the framework, and with a need for much unskilled labour to realize it. 13 10 Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p p91 “ Going to the limit of our ideas, we shall tear the building industry away from its preindustrial methods; building will no longer be a seasonal industry, paralyzed by the effect of bad weather. We shall get to the house assembled from standard components, prepared in factories, made perfect by industrialization, like an automobile body, and put up on the site by assembly workers and no longer by discouraging crowds of masons, carpenters, sheet metal workers, roofers, plasterers, joiners, electricians, etc., etc...” 11 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion p 34 “Concrete’s shame is that it is so dependent upon labour and upon such a variety of trades, to an extent far greater than its principal rival, steel.” This is an example of one of the many quotes throughout the book that address the issue of concrete’s dependence on labour. 12 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion p14 “CONCRETE is modern. This is not just to say that now it is here, when before it wasn’t, but that it is one of the agents through which our experience of modernity is mediated. Concrete tells us what it means to be modern.” Regardless of its modernity, there is a constructability issue inherent in any material. So, although a material might be modern, if its construction techniques aren’t, can it really represent modernity? 13 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion p21 “Although by 1925 concrete was wholly identified with modern architecture, this had been far from a foregone conclusion fifteen years earlier. Compared to steel, in many ways a much better qualified candidate to carry the message of modernity, it is not a little surprising that reinforced concrete, with its ambiguously modern and un-modern symptoms, should have taken on this role. Steel, lightweight, wholly reliant upon specialists from outside the traditional
This reliance on unskilled labor to create the framework14, which is only the first step in its construction, produces not only the opportunity, but also the necessity, for disposable temporary structure that could be formed and manipulated at whim. To a certain extent, the architect was at the mercy of these labors15 and their ability to fabricate the mold for the building structure16. Unlike the other industrial building materials coming to the fore, ‘Concrete’s shame is that it is so dependent upon labour and upon ... a variety of trades, to an extent far greater than its principal rival, steel.’ 17 . Steel required the utilization of standardized components which thus allowed for an inherent flexibility within a rigid system; concrete, on the other hand, is fluid and must be encapsulated before it can be defined and take shape 18 . Reinforced concrete was increasingly becoming defined as a building with no parts 19 . Perhaps the only solution possible for the use of such a malleable material was to ‘... press on towards the establishment of standards in order to face the problem of perfection.’ 20 , for by generating a set of rules from which to begin the design process the effects of the construction technique could be mitigated. Le Corbusier ’s first solution was to invent a structural system of design: building trades, had many advantages in the modernity stakes over reinforced concrete - heavy, reliant upon carpenters to make the framework, and with a need for much unskilled labour to realize it.” 14 Ibid. 15 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion p235 “The particular aspect of concrete where skill has never been in doubt is in fabrication of the formwork. From concrete’s nineteenth-century origins, formwork was the one stage of concrete production where it was impossible to dispense with skilled labour - and since this compromised the claims that concrete represented an ‘alternative’ mode of construction, advocates of concrete generally made no reference to this element of the work.” 16 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion p253 “This double process is fundamental to concrete: as is sometimes said, with concrete you have to build twice, first the formwork, and then the concrete. The fabrication of the formwork determines the finished result.” 17 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion p34 “Concrete’s shame is that it is so dependent upon labour and upon such a variety of trades, to an extent far greater than its principal rival, steel.” 18 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion p51 “ As a material, reinforced concrete is not dissociable from the works made from it one cannot take a piece of reinforced concrete, a ‘sample’, to show what the structure will be made of, for reinforced concrete only happens when the work is cast and the network of forces between steel and concrete becomes ‘live’. It is only through use, through the works made from reinforced concrete, that reinforced concrete exists.” 19 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion p34 Op. Cit. 20 Le Corbusier. 1986. Towards a new architecture. 1st ed. English. New York: Dover Publications. p133 “It is necessary to press on towards the establishment of standards in order to face the problem of perfection.”
Here you see that solution of 1914 called ‘the Dom-Ino houses’. I study the famous old houses of the architecture of Flanders; I draw them schematically; I discover that they are one glass houses... Then I imagine this: a construction firm will pour, without formwork but by means of ingenious site machinery, the framework of a house: six columns, three floor slabs, and the staircase...I tried innumerable combinations of plans within these structural frameworks. Everything was possible. 21 Essentially, Le Corbusier was trying to industrializing the ideal form of the Hennibique system by creating a rational method for utilizing columns (pilotis) and slabs to form a unified outline of a structure 22 that would be independent 21 Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p93 “Here you see that solution of 1914 called ‘the Dom-Ino houses’. I study the famous old houses of the architecture of Flaunders; I draw them schematically; I discover that they are one glass houses: fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth century. Then I imagine this: a construction firm will pour, without formwork but by means of ingenious site machinery, the framework of a house: six columns, three floor slabs, and the staircase...I tried innumerable combinations of plans within these structural frameworks. Everything was possible.” 22 Samuel, F. 2007. Le Corbusier in detail. 1st ed. English. Amsterdam: Elsevier/ Architectural Press. p21 “ Le Corbusier’s famous 1914 image of the domino frame, what Curtis calls ‘an industrialised equivalent of Laugier’s Primitve Hut’ is actually deceptive - the idealized smooth slabs and pilotis never built. The slabs of Le Corbusier’s concrete building were not in fact of a uniform flush thickness. The majority were built with the Hennibique system... Le Corbusier had observed that : ‘There is much to be learned from the study of material phenomena: unity of structure, purity of outline. A gradual but total distribution of all secondary elements; an infinite gearing down of the system to its furthest extremities. The result, an entity’. His work was not, however, always so rational.”
Dom-Ino Diagrams (Le Corbusier, 1991: 94)
the development of the various Villa projects, Le Corbusier worked to create ‘The horizontal window and finally the ‘window wall’...With the window wall, the scale of architecture is modified.’ 26 , although these windows could have been mass-produced; Le Corbusier specifically had them custommade in the style of mass-produced goods 27 . Le Corbusier would continually show an affinity to mask theoretical intentions through aesthetic proclivity.
Window Evolution (Le Corbusier, 1991: 53)
of the interior spaces. Yet, even within Le Corbusier ’s statement there is a blatant contradiction, to envision the possibility that reinforced concrete could be ‘...pour[ed], without formwork...’ 23 demonstrates a keen lack of understanding, or perhaps a willful disregard, for the actual material attributes of concrete. Nevertheless, this system allowed the interior partitions to be freed from their structural roles, they could become dynamic within the space 24 , furthermore the facade became a tabula rasa, freed to suit the requirements of site and design not the structural necessities of the building 25 . Consequently, throughout 23 Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p93 Op. Cit. 24 Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p42 “ For we shall not build walls but partitions - in earth, in cinder block, in straw, in woodchips, in anything you like. These partitions have no weight; they can be built on the reinforced concrete slab of the floor. They can stop halfway up. They needn’t lean on the columns. They can be straight or curved at will. For everything function, an exactly proportioned surface.” 25 Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p40 “Where, in our reinforced concrete houses, are the walls carrying the floors and painfully pierced with windows? There are no walls. But, on the contrary, if I want to I can have windows or the entire surface of a facade ... If by chance I need an opaque surface on an elevation instead of a transparent one, it is no more than a screen, it is the floors that will carry it, a complete reversal of traditional practice.”
As Le Corbusier continued to develop his methodology for standardizing architectural design the mantra shifted from the utilization of the structural shell - the Dom-Ino form28 to the search for a way of ‘Standardization... the principle capable of serving as a rule.’ 29 . In other words, Le Corbusier was looking for the way to standardize the choices made within architectural design and construction thus eliminates any sense of arbitrariness or inadequacies that might arise30. By conceiving 26Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p56 “The horizontal window and finally the ‘window wall’ have brought us to a point that has nothing in common with the past. With the window wall, the scale of architecture is modified.” 27Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p205 “The visual arts center, for all its ideological intent of standardization, was strictly a “one-off” building, requiring the highest level of handicraft. The same architect who in the early 1920s had had a studio window custom-made to look like an industrialized, mass-produced factory one, encountered the country whose mass-production techniques he had always admired on entirely his own formal terms forty years later: aérateurs had to be specially mad, ondulatoires were elaborately precast off site, formwork for walls was reused minimally for fear of staining, and even the Sonotube of the cylindrical pilotis had to be made to Le Corbusier’s dimensions.” 28Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p93 Op. Cit. 29 Le Corbusier. 2000. The modulor. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser. p109 «Standardization: to obtain the status of a rule; to uncover the principle capable of serving as a rule.” 30 Le Corbusier. 2000. The modulor. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser. p107 To harmonize the flow of the world’s products. These products are going to be prefabricated on a world-wide scale: a great event now taking place in the
Villa Stein-de-Monzie (Samuel, 2007: 160)
of the Modulor system, Le Corbusier imparted further regulations to a process of design. The Modulor had three principle aims: the first practical - to facilitate standardisation through Modulor manufacturing and building practices; the second aesthetic linking to well-known standards of beauty such as the Golden section, and the third more spiritual- to link people and the environment together within a rational web of number. 31 Although beauty and spirituality will always be matters of debate, these principles proved far easier for Le Corbusier to maintain than that of practical manufacturing did; Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut Ronchamp demonstrates this dichotomy exquisitely. Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut Ronchamp was designed utilizing the Modulor system in all of the dimensions, and components, even if those individual elements appear to be disjointed32. That said, Ronchamp is exceedingly peculiar when glimpsed from the exterior; the south wall is concaved and punctuated with windows set at a variety of angles meant to excite an awareness of space within the visitor33. The north entry serves as a mute chamber to prepare the visitor for the spectacle of light awaiting them within the chapel that filters through from the southern facade34. Le Corbusier, history of humanity. To standardize, which is to run the risk of arbitrary choice, and the reverse of that risk: a wonderful freeing of the methods of economic production. More: to avoid the deadly error of making short cuts to standardization, of standardizing by mutual concessions.” 31 Samuel, F. and Linder Gaillard, I. 2013. Sacred concrete. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser. p42 «The Modular had three principle aims: the first practical - to facilitate standardisation through modular manufacturing and building practices; the second aesthetic - linking to well-known standards of beauty such as the Golden section, and the third more spiritual- to link people and the environment together within a rational web of number.” 32Samuel, F. and Linder Gaillard, I. 2013. Sacred concrete. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser.p94 «Le Corbusier laid down the following challenge - “Modular everywhere. I defy a visitor to give, off hand, the dimensions of the different parts of the building.” This game of scale, we argue, was designed more to inspire meditation on the meaning of ineffable space than on the literal mechanics of laying the building.” 33 Samuel, F. and Linder Gaillard, I. 2013. Sacred concrete. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser. p87-90 « Nothing can prepare the visitor for their first view of the chapel up close. The scale is very strange. The south wall is oddly concave. It is punctuated with windows, some with large splayed reveals set at odd angles, some deep and some not. These serve to make the depth of them wall confusing, heightening the pilgrim’s sensitivity to space.” 34 Samuel, F. and Linder Gaillard, I. 2013. Sacred concrete. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser. p92 “ If seen in terms of the Ronchamp north entry, the charged zone in the middle encompasses some kind of union, like a funnel or ear, here two sets of timber doors warm and pleasant to touch form a constructed space of entry lined in yellow - sun and spirit in Le Corbusier’s theogony - that propel the pilgrim into the splayed funnel that is the chapel itself. The intense light penetrating the interior at the south facade and the scale of the interior feel all the more spectacular when experienced in contrast with the mute and gloomy
Chapel Norte Dame du Haut Ronchamp plan (Samuel and Linder Gaillard, 2013: 91)
Using tools of perspective, texture and colour, and the judicious choice and positioning of frames, he would, increasingly, play games with the perceived depth of window reveals...In the south wall at Ronchamp the perspective is skewed and the chamfers uneven...The sweep of space from interior to exterior provided by the openings is barely obstructed by the minimal frames. The viewer sees the window head on, but the chamfers reveal the window as though experienced from an entirely different position. The shift in perspective causes a heightened awareness of geometry in the viewer whilst creating an unnerving sensation of dynamism and tension. 35 proscenium of the north facade.” 35 Samuel, F. 2007. Le Corbusier in detail. 1st ed. English. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Architectural Press. p117 “ Using tools of perspective, texture and colour, and the judicious choice and positioning of frames, he would, increasingly, play games with the perceived depth of window reveals...In the south wall at Ronchamp the perspective is skewed and the chamfers uneven. Here the colour of the reveals works with the paintings on the glass to create a story in the manner of Le Corbusier’s Poem of the Right Angle where text, colour and imagery combine to create meaning. The sweep of space from interior to exterior provided by the openings is barely obstructed by the minimal frames. The viewer sees the window head on, but the chamfers reveal the window as though experienced from an entirely different position. The shift in perspective causes a heightened awareness of geometry in the viewer whilst creating an unnerving sensation of dynamisim and tension.”
Chapel Norte Dame du Haut Ronchamp eastern elevation (Samuel and Linder Gaillard, 2013: 81)
All of these subtle plays and detailing along the windows mirrored Le Corbusier’s affirmation that ‘Architecture is judged by eyes that see, by the head that turns, and the legs that walk. Architecture is not a synchronic phenomenon but a successive one, made up of pictures adding themselves one to the other, following each other in time and space, like music.’36, however, given that the building was constructed out of reinforced concrete, each change required that the formwork being built be more complicated, and utilize additional, new forms. Reuse of any of the formwork was less, and less of a possibility; hardly the components for a standardized building practice, even if the material utilized is a standard material. Even the style of concrete construction (Brutalist) required an exceptional level of workmanship that defies the conception of standardization by its very nature and appearance; the roughly finished surface of the concrete perpetuated a vision of haphazardness37, 36 Le Corbusier. 2000. The modulor. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser. p72-73 « Architecture is judged by eyes that see, by the head that turns, and the legs that walk. Architecture is not a synchronic phenomenon but a successive one, made up of pictures adding themselves one to the other, following each other in time and space, like music.” 37 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion p234 “In
Interior view of the South Elevation (Samuel and Linder Gaillard, 2013: 95)
Window in South Elevation (Samuel and Linder Gaillard, 2013: 12)
not one of exactitude and mechanized finesse of standardized components. The fact that Le Corbusier dedicated a portion of his book on Ronchamp to the craftsmen38, indicates the finesse required to actually complete such a building. By continuing to only truly fulfill the aesthetic and spiritual requirements of the Modulor system at Ronchamp - even though the building was built utilizing the Modulor dimension, standardized it was not Le Corbusier demonstrates concrete’s usefulness, and defects, as a material.
would otherwise be beyond their means. Its defect, though, in that the results are likely to be stigmatized as ‘cheap’. Because, supposedly, anyone can do it, the work of making concrete carries little prestige; compared to things made out of materials whose workmanship relies upon crafts with long traditions and established patterns of training, concrete has for most of its history been looked down upon as inferior. 40 Religious buildings, no matter their significance, require a certain level of dignity and decorum. Transitioning became the fundamental detail for Le Corbusier, the utilization of materiality, specifically concrete, captures an essence that would be lost with the use of any other form, or material. The pulpit stair at Ronchamp are the quintessential example of this type of detailing, 40 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion p225 “To make things out of concrete has, since its nineteenth-century beginnings, customarily been seen as needing little or no skill. This has been both its gift and its defect. Its gift, in that it empowers people with no more than a rudimentary knowledge of construction to produce durable and salubrious structures on a scale that would otherwise be beyond their means. Its defect, though, in that the results are likely to be stigmatized as ‘cheap’. Because, supposedly, anyone can do it, the work of making concrete carries little prestige; compared to things made out of materials whose workmanship relies upon crafts with long traditions and established patterns of training, concrete has for most of its history been looked down upon as inferior.”
Amid the destruction of World War II, the need arose for new, economically built churches throughout post-war Europe, and concrete was the material of choice for many of these buildings 39 . However, To make things out of concrete has... customarily been seen as needing little or no skill. This has been both its gift and its defect. Its gift, in that it empowers people with no more than a rudimentary knowledge of construction to produce durable and salubrious structures on a scale that the 1950s and ‘60s, the skill/no skill debate took on a particular architectural manifestation with the ‘Brutalist’ fashion for roughly finished concrete. While raw surfaces were meant to signify an engagement with the ‘as-found’ - the alleged lack of skill on the contemporary building site - the roughness of Brutalist architecture, as architects were well aware, generally required an unusually high standards of workmanship.” 38 Samuel, F. 2007. Le Corbusier in detail. 1st ed. English. Amsterdam: Elsevier/ Architectural Press p8 “Later in his career Le Corbusier himself wrote of the way that he designed certain parts of the Unité to be modelled with a trowel by a particularly talented Sardinian concreteor. Indeed, a whole section of Le Corbusier’s book on Ronchamp is devoted on the team of workmen that played such an active role in its creation.” 39 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion p185 “ Whether or not concrete actually is cheap, cheapness - whether real or apparent - is double-edged in relation to religious buildings. The principle of sacrifice dictates that in church building nothing but the best will do - but, and this was particularly the case in post-war Europe, there were strictures against profligate expenditure on church building: many cheaply built churches, it was said, would serve the purposes of religion better than a few magnificent ones.”
Pulpit Stairs at Ronchamp (Samuel and Linder Gaillard, 2013, 2007:96)
exploiting the seamlessness of concrete to cantilever them off the wall while forming an ostensibly thin, and precarious outline41; the stair then hovers above the floor seeming ‘to symbolize a separation between earthly and spiritual realms’42 accentuating the vertical moment of transition which, when combined with the seamless exchange with the wall that the concrete has already achieved, emphasizes the dynamics of subtle detailing. This detailing not only provides the chapel with a sense of dignity required for a religious building, but in part works against the stigma that concrete is a cheap material requiring little skill to assemble43. With all the dynamics of subtle detailing, at the chamfered windows44 and stairs at Ronchamp45 the question becomes has Le Corbusier abandoned his notions of standardization completely or perhaps, The establishment of a standard involves exhausting every practical and reasonable possibility, and extracting from them a recognized type conformable to its functions, with a maximum output and a minimum use of means, workmanship and material, words, forms, colours, sounds 46. Thus far having tested the implications of a structural system47 in his Villa projects of the ‘20s and ‘30s, and then creating a mathematical process for delineating all of the elements of the building48 Le Corbusier’s endeavored to combine the two methodologies in one 41 Samuel, F. 2007. Le Corbusier in detail. 1st ed. English. Amsterdam: Elsevier/ Architectural Press p153 “For want of a better name one of Le Corbusier’s stair types could be called precarious. The precarious stair is steep. It is made of thin concrete or steel and has the appearance of folded paper. It is usually supported on a diagonal beam hidden in the shadows or cantilevered off a wall. If any, its railings are very minimal. Ronchamp has three, for example built on the north facade. The stair up to the pulpit is particularly unnerving, especially if negotiated under the eyes of an entire congregation. Here the space between the ground and the first tread seems to symbolize a separation between earthly and spiritual realms. It begs comparison with Le Corbusier’s description of the ‘balanced silence’ of the pulpit where the ‘two quiet oblique lines’ of the handrail and the stone book rest are ‘fused in the perfect movement of a spiritual mechanics’.” 42 Ibid. 43 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion p225 Op. Cit. 44 Samuel, F. 2007. Le Corbusier in detail. 1st ed. English. Amsterdam: Elsevier/ Architectural Press. p117 Op. Cit. 45 Samuel, F. 2007. Le Corbusier in detail. 1st ed. English. Amsterdam: Elsevier/ Architectural Press. p153 Op. Cit. 46 Le Corbusier. 1986. Towards a new architecture. 1st ed. English. New York: Dover Publications. p137 “The establishment of a standard involves exhausting every practical and reasonable possibility, and extracting from them a recognized type conformable to its functions, with a maximum output and a minimum use of means, workmanship and material, words, forms, colours, sounds.” 47 Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p93 Op. Cit. 48 Le Corbusier. 2000. The modulor. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser.
View from Quincy Street at night (Sekler and Curtis, 1978:24)
of his last, and only American, building the Carpenter Center at Harvard University. Although Le Corbusier had always admired America and American innovation49, until his commission to design the Carpenter Center he had been denied the chance to make a physical impression on the landscape. Having thus gained this opportunity, Le Corbusier dedicated this occasion to culminate a plethora of his theories within the compacted site50. Maintaining each of his Five Points of Architecture51, albeit in vastly different arrangements, Le Corbusier strove to formalize the technical potential he saw being squandered within the American city52. By reversing the relationship between the structure and veiling facade53 Le Corbusier constructed facades that tried the skill of both contractors and the nerves patrons. There are disturbing tectonic shocks in this facade: a heavy cliff of brise-soleil rests visually on plate glass and flimsy aérateurs at ground level; or, again, the bulk of the curved 49 Le Corbusier. 1986. Towards a new architecture. 1st ed. English. New York: Dover Publications. 50 Le Corbusier, Boesiger, W. and Girsberger, H. 1999. Le Corbusier, 1910-1965. Basel: Birkhäuser. p164 “The structure of concrete and glass is a demonstration of Le Corbusier’s theories and contains a wealth of his lifelong basic ideas: the mutual interpenetration of exterior and interior space, the use of rough concrete, a ramp which connects two streets above the third floor, free-standing structural columns on each of the five floors and brise-soleil.” However, it does not address the idea of standardization. 51 Le Corbusier, Boesiger, W. and Girsberger, H. 1999. Le Corbusier, 1910-1965. Basel: Birkhäuser. p41 The columns, roof-gardens, free plan, long window, free facade. 52 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p58 53 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p98 “In Le Corbusier’s structures of the twenties the free plan was scarcely legible from outside because it was discretely hidden from view by the lightweight exterior box of the buildings; in this case, though, a rectangle was at the center of the composition with the curves rippling freely outwards from it. The positions, speaking purely formalistically, had be reversed.”
studio is supported by pilotis so slender it seems miraculous they do not crumble or topple. The necessary structural adjunct to these fine cylinders is a bastard pier, on the transversal axis of the building’s grid. 54 One of the reasons for this ‘tectonic shock’ 55, was the use of the Modulor system in relating the key features of building, including the floor-to-floor height, column thickness and brise-soleil forms56; but maintaining a strict adherence of the Modulor system was virtually impossible. In order for the pilotis to support the cantilevered slab and ramp many varied in size57; yet each still had to be erected with 54 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p22 “ There are disturbing tectonic shocks in this facade: a heavy cliff of brise-soleil rests visually on plate glass and flimsy aérateurs at ground level; or, again, the bulk of the curved studio is supported by pilotis so slender it seems miraculous they do not crumble or topple. The necessary structural adjunct to these fine cylinders is a bastard pier, on the transversal axis of the building’s grid. One may read this either as a wall (the missing second level is scored upon it), or else as the continuation of a brisesoleil out of bounds.” 55 Ibid. 56 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p158 57 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p208 “ The curves were made from a series of vertical planks laid side to side forming a series of chords sufficiently slender for a pure curve to be the apparent result. To avoid any buckling or movement, strong horizontal stiffeners were applied lengthwise while pouring took place.... Thus the curves - always antimechanistic in association - were constructed by pure handicraft methods.”
View from Prescott Street (Sekler and Curtis, 1978:23)
such precision, and grace as to evoke the image of ‘Columns of reinforced concrete called “women’s thighs” poured in half forms of metal (with crossed joints) the concrete is so smooth, so seductive “that one puts one’s hand there” (say the above designation is not official).’ 58 . Le Corbusier ’s desire for such seduction begins to hint at the problematic, and contradictory, construction the Carpenter Center is to pose. Now although the pilotis are, in and of themselves, problematic, the true challenge lies in constructing, and designing, the brise-soleil; Le Corbusier, in essence, created the dilemma by focusing the circulation through the center of the building and then formalizing the spiral motion that created in the two exterior volumes. Still maintaining the notion of a “promenade architecturale” 59 the 58 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p194 “Columns of reinforced concrete called “women’s thighs” poured in half forms of metal (with crossed joints) the concrete is so smooth, so seductive “that one puts one’s hand there” (say the above designation is not official).” 59 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p59 “By running the ramp up through the heart of the main volumes, providing showcases of activities and architec-
ramp and studio curves clashed volatility only seem to come to a rest at the final approach 60 . Without this formalization of movement, the design of the brisesoleil would have been a far simpler task. However, given the curvature of the building the fins had to be calculated so they would not only integrate with the sculptural form of the building, but so that they still function efficiently 61 ; for ‘...I use light freely; light for me is the fundamental basis of architecture. I compose with light.’62. Precision became vital for the design of the brise-soleil and fin system, the bay size and angle had to not only work within the Modulor system, maintain a meticulous aesthetic, while allowing the sunlight to hit the glass at precisely the right time of day63. Given the fact that many of these were formed along a curve, each would necessarily be slightly different in order to maintain a consistent interior environment. Thus, The visual arts center, for all its ideological intent of standardization, was strictly a “one-off ” building, requiring the highest level of handicraft. The same architect who in the early 1920s had had a studio window custom-made to look like an industrialized, mass-produced factory one, encountered the country whose mass-production techniques he had always admired on entirely his own formal terms forty years later: aérateurs had to be specially made, ondulatoires were elaborately precast off site, formwork for walls was reused ture, his “route touristique” (“tourisitic route”) became a “promenade architecturale” (“architectural promenade”).” 60Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p12 “Ramp curve and studio curve come into violent opposition. A point is reached where the energy of curves and diagonals is felt at a maximum; then onwards the building begins to unfold, eventually seeming to relax when faced frontally.” 61 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p147 “Brise-soleil angles were calculated and the fins integrated with the curves of the building to concur with its main sculptural tensions.” 62 Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p132 “...I use light freely; light for me is the fundamental basis of architecture. I compose with light.” 63 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p151 “This left two principal variable areas for continued experiment and definition: the fin lengths and the position of the glass panes, which were to be set normal to the diagonal fins. On two imposed onion skins he experimented with these two variables and discovered that he could not make his fins too long if he wanted to avoid impinging on the structural grid, and that he could not make them too short without letting in too much light and without leaving too little brise-soleil surface for the joint with the glass panes. A solution was eventually found which also satisfied another requirement - that the brise-soleil surface area should harmonize with the overall proportional scheme of the building.”
Isometric section of the ramp (Sekler and Curtis, 1978:17)
East and North facade from Prescott Street highlighting the conflicting forms and motion (Sekler and Curtis, 1978:20)
View towards Prescott Street (Sekler and Curtis, 1978:17)
Brise-soleil design for Prescott Street (Sekler and Curtis, 1978:150)
minimally for fear of staining, and even the Sonotube of the cylindrical pilotis had to be made to Le Corbusier’s dimensions. 64 Albeit the curvaceous form of the Carpenter Center would require dedicated manufacturing or fabrication techniques regardless of material choice, the structural components (pilotis and slab), as well as brise-soleil, could have become standardized components simply by deciding to utilize a material that was not reinforced concrete, such as steel or even a system of standardized precast concrete components. Reinforced concrete simply is not an industrial material, and for an American building, or even one that proclaims to be one, the myth of industry and industrial pride65 is far more important than aesthetic merit. Nevertheless, for Le Corbusier, who has spent the majority of his career striving to prove that reinforced concrete can create a unified, industrial, architectural language,66 those were modifications he would not endure. 64 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p205 Op. Cit. 65 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion p108-109 66 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p223
View through brise-soleil towards Prescott Street (Sekler and Curtis, 1978:34)
The Carpenter Center, instead of being Le Corbusier’s crowning achievement in bring together theory and building, reveals the shortcomings of a relentless pursuit to a attain such a goal through one medium. Le Corbusier’s vision was so exacting on this particular project, especially in regards to the concrete’s appearance, that ‘Only a limited reuse of formwork was possible because eventually the wood absorbed chemicals from the wet concrete which in turn led to slight changes of color if the same panel were reemployed too often.’67. This desire for consistency in an inherently tempestuous material blatantly contradicts its innate character in order to impose an aesthetic vision. Furthering the gap between his vision for standardization and the actuality of built form, in order to realize the curved form, ‘Nova Scotia shipbuilders were eventually employed to make the formwork for the awkward curves, a regionalist touch that he must have enjoyed; and the elegant plankwork of New 67 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p207 “Only a limited reuse of formwork was possible because eventually the wood absorbed chemicals from the wet concrete which in turn led to slight changes of color if the same panel were reemployed too often.”
England buildings had been a cause for comment among many of his architectural friends.’ 68, although this use of local trades for nontraditional uses was something Le Corbusier appreciated69 as a way of designing an entire building, or large portion thereof, it is not practical, nor readily applicable to any standard, mass-production technique. Furthermore, in order to maintain the curves in the proper fashion, The curves were made from a series of vertical planks laid side to side forming a series of chords sufficiently slender for a pure curve to be the apparent result. To avoid any buckling or movement, strong horizontal stiffeners were applied lengthwise while pouring took place.... Thus the curves always antimechanistic in association - were constructed by pure handicraft methods 70.
68 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p167 “However, Le Corbusier was not averse to using local “trades” to achieve the “nontrade” feeling of elegant finish - indeed, one of the things he avowedly liked about the material was its flexibility, because poured into molds, in fitting the local situation and local technical methods. Nova Scotia shipbuilders were eventually employed to make the formwork for the awkward curves, a regionalist touch that he must have enjoyed; and the elegant plankwork of New England buildings had been a cause for comment among many of his architectural friends.” 69 Ibid. 70 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cam-
Construction of curved formwork at Prescott Street (Sekler and Curtis, 1978:209)
plastic event - is entirely different. I say ‘the event’. The event does or does not take place. This lyrical consequence is the manifestation, by a palpable object, of a character thenceforth imparted to it by an inventor: this character, this attitude, this stature are visible at a glance, proceeding from the optical phenomenon. The intimate point of this emotion is a consonance, and musical terms have to be used in order to express its nature. 73 Le Corbusier, in the end, disregarded most of what he has said throughout the years regarding standardization and mass-production to leave this, one of his last buildings, prey to the elements and built by ‘...discouraging crowds of masons, carpenters, sheet metal workers, roofers, plasterers, joiners, electricians, etc.,
Construction of curved formwork at Quincy Street (Sekler and Curtis, 1978:208)
Every aspect of the construction of the building required the upmost skilled on-site labor. Standardization, even in its most basic form, removes the need for much of that skilled labor from the work site71 to factories, refineries, etc., even if that is not the point, it is at least one of the benefits by reducing on site error, or casting mishaps72 - not that construction errors can ever be completely eliminated. Precast concrete could provide a solution for a standardized system of building while still utilizing concrete as a material, furthermore being a manufactured material the ability to control the aesthetic appearance is a far simpler prospect than the prospects of quality control in the field. This, however, did not appear to be an option for Le Corbusier,
73 Le Corbusier. 2000. The modulor 2. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser. p148 « The nature of creation- that is to say, the act which provokes poetic impact - the plastic event - is entirely different. I say ‘the event ’. The event does or does not take place. This lyrical consequence is the manifestation, by a palpable object, of a character thenceforth imparted to it by an inventor: this character, this attitude, this stature are visible at a glance, proceeding from the optical phenomenon. The intimate point of this emotion is a consonance, and musical terms have to be used in order to express its nature.”
The nature of creation- that is to say, the act which provokes poetic impact - the bridge: Harvard University Press. p208 “The curves were made from a series of vertical planks laid side to side forming a series of chords sufficiently slender for a pure curve to be the apparent result. To avoid any buckling or movement, strong horizontal stiffeners were applied lengthwise while pouring took place.... Thus the curves - always antimechanistic in association - were constructed by pure handicraft methods.” 71 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion. p21 Op.Cit. 72 Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p208 Op. Cit.
Construction of northeast corner (Sekler and Curtis, 1978:212)
etc...’74, in order to pursue architecture of geometric relationships75. Such a pursuit is, in and of itself, admirable, and yes, perhaps it is unfair to force a person to try to live up our expectation of them, to ask them to remember an idea that they should live up to some 40 years later. Here is the catch; Le Corbusier never fully gave up on that idea either. Perhaps, he thought he found a better way to represent this idea through a system of design76 instead of a system of structural form77, but Le Corbusier never alleviated his pursuit for a way to standardize architecture. Le Corbusier first described architecture as the noble art governed by standards based on logic, and analysis viewed through the lens of a particular problem then solved through the means for mathematics, concept and innovation78. Thus when ‘The ‘Modulor’ is a working tool, a scale to be used in composition...for the massproduction of manufactured articles, and also for the creation, through unity, of great symphonic works of architecture.’ 79 became the definition for standardization Le Corbusier was quintessentially refining his earlier intentions; yet his built work still reflected a proclivity towards customization. Concrete is not an industrial material80. Le Corbusier made choices in materiality based more on aesthetic qualities than based on the constructability of it; the vision of the building, the method of design, was far more important than the standardized construction, for if the later was true there would be far more utilization of standard manufactured parts than experimentation of custom details81. Without this inclination, however, much of the dynamics 74 Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p91 Op. Cit. 75 Le Corbusier. 2000. The modulor 2. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser. p21 76Le Corbusier. 2000. The modulor . 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser. 77 Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p91 Op. Cit. 78 Le Corbusier. 1986. Towards a new architecture. 1st ed. English. New York: Dover Publications. p145-148 “Architecture is governed by standards. Standards are a matter of logic, analysis and precise study. Standards are based on a problem which has been well stated. Architecture means plastic invention, intellectual speculation, higher mathematics. Architecture is a very noble art. Standardization is imposed by the law of selection and is an economic and social necessity. Harmony is a state of agreement with the norms of our universe. Beauty governs all; she is of purely human creation; she is the overplus necessary only to men of the highest type.” 79 Le Corbusier. 2000. The modulor . 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser. p185 «‘ The ‘Modulor ’ is a working tool, a scale to be used in composition...for the mass-production of manufactured articles, and also for the creation, through unity, of great symphonic works of architecture.” 80 Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion p108-109 81 Samuel, F. 2007. Le Corbusier in detail. 1st ed. English. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Architectural Press.
and interplay between the interior and exterior of Le Corbusier’s buildings would be lost; the drive to challenge traditional structural systems lead to the creation of window walls and redefined the facade82; refusing to allow the visitor to remain stagnant83 forced the creation of views, and pathways throughout his projects (such as Ronchamp and the Carpenter Center) that permitted light to play within the space as never before. Nevertheless, the greatest question, that can never be answered, is just what would have happened had Le Corbusier chosen to design these buildings using an industrialized building material, like steel? Would they still be great? Though imagining the villas, and even the Carpenter Center to a certain extent, constructed in steel, glass, etc. is quite easy, Ronchamp could be nothing other than concrete; so the real question is could Le Corbusier have gotten to Ronchamp without using concrete beforehand, and are we willing to lose it if the answer is no.
82 Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p56 Op. Cit. 83 Le Corbusier. 2000. The modulor . 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkhäuser. p7273 Op.Cit.
References Fondationlecorbusier.fr. 2014. Fondation Le Corbusier. [online] Available at: http://www. fondationlecorbusier.fr/corbuweb/morpheus. aspx?sysId=11&sysLanguage=en-en&sysParentId=1 1&sysParentName=home&clearQuery=1 [Accessed: 4 Jan 2014]. Forty, A. 2012. Concrete and culture. 1st ed. London: Reaktion. Le Corbusier, Boesiger, W. and Girsberger, H. 1999. Le Corbusier, 1910-1965. Basel: Birkh채user. Le Corbusier. 1986. Towards a new architecture. 1st ed. English. New York: Dover Publications. Le Corbusier. 1991. Precisions on the present state of architecture and city planning. 1st ed. English. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Le Corbusier. 2000. The modulor. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkh채user. Le Corbusier. 2000. The modulor 2. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkh채user. Samuel, F. 2007. Le Corbusier in detail. 1st ed. English. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Architectural Press. Samuel, F. and Linder Gaillard, I. 2013. Sacred concrete. 1st ed. English. Basel: Birkh채user. Sekler, E. F. and Curtis, W. J. R. 1978. Le Corbusier at work. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.