Outline
I. Introduction and Thesis
A. In the early twentieth century, there were many problems that arose in the industrial city. Complications, such as crowding out and dirtiness were becoming very problematic; it came to the point where it was almost became inhabitable to live in. Le Corbusier, a French architect and urban planner was influenced to find a solution to fix the difficulties in the cities. He wanted to use his views on modern architecture in order to find the design of the city of the future. Even though Corbusier offered some successes to the flaws in urban design, there were also many imperfections in the way Corbusier tried to fix the problem.
II. Body
A. Corbusier’s influences to help fix the flaws of urban planning of cities in both Europe and America.
1. Corbusier’s main influence was the poor living conditions in the industrial city.
a. Overcrowding of buildings were becoming very problematic and living conditions were unbearable.
i. “In Paris, about two fifths of the population were said to be dangerously housed; serious overcrowding and general deterioration of living conditions were common. Some 16,000 deaths, in the 1920s alone, were attributed to these conditions. The severity of the housing crisis threatened to drive traditionally stable middle-class supporters of the Third Republic into a precarious financial position as housing costs soared while income stagnated.”
ii. In Europe, buildings over a certain amount of levels were not allowed in this time period. This caused the crowding out of apartment complexes.
iii. Even though they had talked about allowing skyscrapers, the proposition had never actually been passed.
B. Corbusier’s plans and views on urban planning and what he wanted the city of the future to look like.
1.Corbusier’s plans on how to fight the crowding of buildings and to improve living conditions.
a. Corbusier wanted large-scale construction of low cost housing to try to improve living conditions and allow for low-income residents to reside in them.
i. An example of large-scale low cost housing is Immeubles Villas, which was constructed in 1922.
ii. Immeubles Villas was a huge block of apartments that were stacked on top of one another. Each building of apartments had an open courtyard in the middle for recreational activities for residents.
2. Corbusier’s plans for the “Contemporary City”, which was the model for the city of the future.
a. The “Contemporary City” was one of Corbusier’s urban plans that involved his goal of mass and large-scale production. It was also supposed to be the prototype for his “ideal city.”
i. The focus of Ville Contemporaine (Contemporary City) was in the form of many sixty-story skyscrapers.
In the 1950s Newcastle was known as a sleep city, Dan described it as “moribund” (1) decades had past and very little economic development had taken place between that time frame and families were left to suffer. In 1959, T. Dan Smith became Leader of Newcastle City Council, he set up his own independent planning department in the council and appointed Wilfred Burns as chief officer in 1960. They both wanted to re-modernise Newcastle for the better by undertaking new road plans to resolve the traffic congestion that plagued the city and breath new life into the city by clearing out the slum areas and rebuilding new homes to help improve peoples living conditions. One way Smith helped promote his grand scheme was through a series of models and held public gatherings to help fuel his passion to help change Newcastle, a method used by Richard Grainger who greatly strengthened Newcastle’s status as a regional capital. In order to achieve Grainger’s equivalent he set out to get renowned architects to develop the city, like Le Corbusier , Basil Spence, Leslie Martin, Robert Matthew and even Picasso to help reinforce his vision for the future “Brasilia of the North” (2). In this essay I will closely examine T. Dan Smith’s proposed plans for the new urban motorway system, that would help solve the traffic problem. Also the redevelopment of Eldon Sqaure that would come under scrutiny, but would later become a commercial success. I will also investigate the new Civic Centre that replaced the Old Town Hall and the intention from the local authorities to demolish the Royal Arcade and replace it with a roundabout.
Le Corbusier was a Swiss-French artist mostly known for his work in architecture, but also practiced some in painting, design, and writing. He was closely associated with the new “modern” architecture movement and was a leader in the new field of urban planning in the mid 20th century. The works he produced can be found in Europe, the United State, and India. His work was both widely praised and criticized throughout his life and after his death. In addition to producing many great works of architecture, Le Corbusier led a full and very interesting personal life.
The phrase Paris capital of modernity refers to the time in the second half of the nineteenth century when Paris was considered one of the most innovative cities in the world. This was largely a result of Haussmann’s renovation of the city between 1851 and 1869. A Prefect of Paris under Napoleon III, he transformed Paris into a city with wide streets, new shops and cafes, and a unified architecture.
The book, Towards A New Architecture by Le Corbusier is not at all what one would expect. Thinking that the great master architect would limit himself t...
In order to get into the minds of the working class it is important to fully understand the present living conditions at this time. The cities were vastly overcrowded and smoky, with wholly inadequate sanitation, per...
Though the Modern style continued to dominate high class business environments, designers were becoming more experimental, conforming less and less to the principles laid out by the pioneers of the Modernist movement. The free thinking masses of the new decade somewhat clashed with the rational and functional mind of dominant Modernist force Le Corbusier, who throughout his career detailed numerous guidelines, including his ‘Five Points Of Architecture’ which were to be followed in order to create a successful piece of design.
Cities during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century showed great increase in population in Britain and created terrible conditions for the poor working class and their families. These unbelievably harsh living conditions can be seen on image 1 and 3 where families are forced to live in an overcrowded and inadequate room. There was a very high demand of houses and many were constructed in terraced rows that can be seen in image 4. Some of these houses had just a small yard at the rear where an outside toilet was placed. Others were ‘back to back’ without yard as shown in image 2. The people who lived in cities needed cheap homes as the Industrial Revolution continued to grow.
Henri Lefebvre was a French social theorist and philosopher who had been appropriated into the world of urban studies by a generation of geographers, architects and urban planners. The Production of Space is often cited as Lefebvre’s best-known work despite the English translation not being issued until 1991, 17 years after its first publication in French (1974). In France, Lefebvre is known as a “Marxist philosopher cum rural-urban sociologist” who “brought an accessible Marx to a whole generation of French scholars” (Merrifield 2006: xxxvii). During Lefebvre’s career he penned 67 books; however, to this day the majority have not been translated into English, which explains why The Production of Space is his most influent work in English speaking countries. The book itself takes in a vast array of disciplines and is informed by the “project of a different society, a different mode of production, where social practice would be governed by differe...
Wolf, Peter M. Eugene Hénard and the beginning of urbanism in Paris 1900-1914. New York: P.M.W., 1968. 29-33.
Le Corbusier’s Vers Une Architecture (Towards a New Architecture) is focused on the architectural qualities of “the machine”. He states that “the house is a machine for living in,” where the principles of architects should be to make the house suited for its purpose, as if it was a machine. This restates the argument that functionalism is more important than appearance, and that progress comes from architects abandoning the concept of traditional styles and decorative effects. Le Corbusier understood that architecture has nothing to do with various styles because functionality will always come before the subjectivity of appearance; he saw the aesthetic, not as just another style but the substance of architecture. In which he drew parallels
In his book, Precisions on the Present State of Architecture, Le Corbusier breaks down the construction of the modern house. Following functionalist ideals, he states, “There is really not a square centimeter lost here; and that’s not a small job!” (Le Corbusier 130). This idea of making the most of every centimeter ties back to functionalist thought. In Le Corbusier’s house, there is no excess space, no grandiose rooms or decoration, and no elements that are not essential for living. Each centimeter has a purpose. Later in the passage, Le Corbusier proclaims, “Monsieur will have his cell, Madame also, Mademoiselle also. Each of these cells has floors and a ceiling carried by freestanding independent columns” (130). By reducing each room to simply a cell, Le Corbusier removes the excess of a dwelling; the inhabitants do not have designated rooms or spaces, but cells. Evoking ideas of prison cells, the rooms described by Corbusier appear only large enough to sleep. There will be few extravagancies. Combining the two quotes, functionalisms influence on Corbusier’s planning and thought become strikingly
Le Corbusier. The City of Tomorrow and Its Planning. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1987
From 1907 to 1911, on his advice, Le Corbusier undertook a series of trips that played a decisive role in the education of this self-taught architect. During these years of travel through central Europe and the Mediterranean, he made three major architectural discoveries. The Charterhouse of Ema at Galluzzo, in Tu...
At age 13 Le Corbusier had finished and left grade school to move on to attend Arts Decoratifs in his home city of La Chaux-de-Fonds. Here a young Le would learn the art of facing watches, just like his father, through enameling and engraving. While attending Arts Decoratifs Le Corbusier was under the influence of his teacher L’ Eplattenier who he would later refer to as his “Master” and only teacher. Under L’ Eplattenier’s instruction a young Le Corbusier would learn the history of art, drawing and the naturalistic attributes of newly developed art. With his in depth teachings of art Le Corbusier soon abandoned his previous career of watch making and further continued his education in decoration and art intending to eventually...
In this essay I will discuss how concrete regionalism was presented in the work of Le Corbusier who is the most classic example of this movement, Oscar Niemeyer, and Antoine Predock . With each architect having a highly individual vision that has created unique buildings for people and their environment. These architects each has combined vernacular buildi...