About Buildings + Cities

26 – Le Corbusier – 1 – Have Formwork, Will Travel

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We’re taking on the origin story of (for better or worse) the most important architect of the 20th century — Charles-Edouard Jeanneret aka Le Corbusier. His origins — petit bourgeois, Swiss, provincial — can make his eventual rise to world-enveloping notoriety and era-defining influence seem all the more unlikely. We’re digging into his childhood, family, education and travels as a young man before taking on a couple of early projects.

We discuss — 

  • La Chaux de Fonds
  • Charles L’Eplattanier, his teacher
  • Jugendstil & Art Nouveau

    • Early projects — 

    • Villa Fallet
    • Villas Stotzer & Jacquemet
    • Villa Jeanneret
    • Villa Favre-Jacot

      • Travels, and meetings with — 

      • Otto Wagner
      • Josef Hoffmann
      • Vienna Secession Building
      • Auguste Perret
      • Rue Franklin Apartments
      • Peter Behrens
      • Mount Athos

        • And a more detailed look at — 

        • Villa Schwob (including Colin Rowe’s ‘Mannerism and Modern Architecture’)
        • Maison Domino

          • We've been reading —

          • Nicholas Fox Weber ‘Le Corbusier: A Life’ (2008)
          • Jean-Louis Cohen ‘Le Corbusier: Le Grand’ (2014)
          • Oppositions 15-16 (1980)

            • Music — 

            The final part of Beethoven’s 9th — the Ode to Joy

            An excerpt from — 

            Mahler: Symphony No. 3: iii. Comodo. Scherzando. Ohne Hast
            from archive.org

            Britt Brothers — ‘Alpine Milkman Yodel’ (1933) from archive.org

            Thanks for listening!

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            About Buildings + CitiesBy Architecture, History + Culture, with Luke Jones & George Gingell