Le Corbusier

Who is Le Corbusier?

Le Corbusier, born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, was a pioneer of modern architecture and one of its most influential figures. He later took French citizenship and worked primarily in France. He co-founded the Purism movement and articulated influential principles of modern design, including his 'Five Points of a New Architecture' and the concept of the house as 'a machine for living in,' set out in his manifesto 'Toward an Architecture' (1923). His buildings, such as the Villa Savoye near Paris, the Unité d'Habitation in Marseille, and the chapel of Notre-Dame du Haut at Ronchamp, became landmarks of the modern movement. He devised the Modulor, a proportional system based on human measurements, and shaped mid-20th-century urban planning, including his work on the city of Chandigarh in India. In 2016, seventeen of his works across seven countries were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Sources: Le Corbusier, 'Toward an Architecture' (Vers une architecture), 1923 · UNESCO World Heritage List, 'The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier', inscribed 2016