Vogt's investigation of LC's early life and education not only reveals important, previously unacknowledged influences on specific projects such as the League of Nations headquarters and the Villa Savoye, but also suggests why LC throughout his career preferred to lift buildings above the ground, to give them the appearance of "floating." This tendency had decisive consequences for buildings associated with the modern movement and continues to influence architecture today.
In this important and original study, the myth of the Noble Savage is an altogether different myth from the one defended or debunked by others over the years. That the concept of the Noble Savage was first invented by Rousseau in the mid-eighteenth century in order to glorify the "natural" life is easily refuted. The myth that persists is that there was ever, at any time, widespread belief in the nobility of savages. The fact is, as Ter Ellingson shows, the humanist eighteenth century actually avoided the term because of its association with the feudalist-colonialist mentality that had spawned it 150 years earlier. The Noble Savage reappeared in the mid-nineteenth century, however, when the "myth" was deliberately used to fuel anthropology's oldest and most successful hoax. Ellingson's narrative follows the career of anthropologist John Crawfurd, whose political ambition and racist agenda were well served by his construction of what was manifestly a myth of savage nobility. Generations of anthropologists have accepted the existence of the myth as fact, and Ellingson makes clear the extent to which the misdirection implicit in this circumstance can enter into struggles over human rights and racial equality. His examination of the myth's influence in the late twentieth century, ranging from the World Wide Web to anthropological debates and political confrontations, rounds out this fascinating study.
In this study of Le Corbusier's American tour, Mardges Bacon reconstructs his encounter with America in all its fascinating detail. It presents a critical history of the tour as well as a nuanced and intimate portrait of the architect.
Filosofische analyse van het zelfconcept van de Zwitsers-Franse architect (1887-1965), herwaardering van zijn motieven als stadsplanoloog en nieuwe inzichten met betrekking tot zijn intellectuele relaties met andere leden van de avantgarde van de twintigste eeuw.
Originally published in Germany in 1968, this first comprehensive and critical survey of Le Corbusier's life and work soon became the standard text on the architect and polymath. French, Spanish, English, Japanese and Korean editions followed, but the book has now been out of print for almost two decades. In the meantime, Le Corbusier's archives in Paris have become available for research, resulting in an avalanche of scholarship. Von Moos' critical take and the basic criteria by which the subject is organized and historicized remain surprisingly pertinent in the context of this recent jungle of Corbusier studies. This new, completely revised edition is based on the 1979 version published in English by the MIT Press but offers a substantially updated body of illustrations. Each of the seven chapters is supplemented by a critical survey of recent scholarship on the respective issues. An updated edition of this acclaimed book, an essential read for students of architecture and architectural history.
This is a revealing book which, for the first time, investigates the central influence of feminism in the work of Le Corbusier; one of the most important and revered architects of all time. The text covers Le Corbusier’s upbringing and training and sets this in the context of the cultural atmosphere of his time, covering issues of gender and religion. It reveals aspects of his private life such as personal relationships, which have barely been explored before as no biography currently exists. Furthermore, the author reveals, for the first time in print, a previously undiscovered and unpublished Le Corbusier building, making this book an incredibly significant addition to existing literature on the great man. In short, the new evidence and theories contained in this volume amount to major revelations about this hugely revered and central architectural figure of the 20th Century.
The Getty Research Journal features the work of art historians, museum curators, and conservators around the world as part of the Getty’s mission to promote the presentation, conservation, and interpretation of the world’s artistic legacy. Articles present original scholarship related to the Getty’s collections, initiatives, and research. This issue features essays on works by Bolognese painter Guido Reni and his studio; a collection of late nineteenth-century images by one of Iran’s most prolific photographers, Antoin Sevruguin; Le Corbusier’s encounters with and monumentalization of the konak, a type of Ottoman house; the correspondence between René Magritte and his wife while he stayed at the London home of patron and collector Edward James; the activities of Belgian surrealist Édouard Léon Théodore Mesens as art dealer and collector; and art historian and critic Leo Steinberg’s unpublished research on Titian. Shorter texts include notices on three joining fragments of an Urartian bronze belt; a sketchbook newly attributed to Florentine architect, engineer, and set designer Giulio Parigi; photo albums documenting the plague pandemic in late nineteenth-century Bombay; four scrapbooks produced by Neue Sachlichkeit photographer Albert Renger-Patzsch; and the correspondence between Swiss curator Harald Szeemann and Russian artist Lev Nusberg.
Set within an insightful analysis, this book describes the genesis, ideas and ideologies which influenced La Construction des Villes by Le Corbusier. This volume makes the important theoretical work available for the first time in English, offering an interpretation as to how much and in what way his ‘essai’ may have influenced his later work. Dealing with questions of aesthetic urbanism, La Construction des Villes shows Le Corbusier’s intellectual influences in the field of urbanism. Discontent that the script was not sufficiently avant-garde, he abandoned it soon after it was written in the early 20th century. It was only in the late 1970s that American historian H. Allen Brooks discovered 250 pages of the forgotten manuscript in Switzerland. The author of this book, Christoph Schnoor, later discovered another 350 handwritten pages of the original manuscript, consisting of extracts, chapters, and bibliographic notes. This splendid find enabled the re-establishment of the manuscript as Le Corbusier had abandoned it, unfinished, in the spring of 1911. This volume offers an unbiased extension of our knowledge of Le Corbusier and his work. In addition, it reminds us of the urban design innovations of the very early 20th century which can still serve as valuable lessons for a new understanding of contemporary urban design.
By assessing the historical, personal and intellectual influences of two of the greatest figures in modern architecture - Le Corbusier and Alvar Aalto, this study offers an understanding about the diversity at the heart of modernism.
A unique collection of contemporary writings, this book explores the politics involved in the making and experiencing of architecture and cities from a cross-cultural and global perspective Taking a broad view of the word ‘politics’, the essays address a range of questions, including: What is the relationship between politics and the making of space? What role has theory played in reinforcing or resisting political power? What are the political difficulties associated with working relationships? Do the products of our making construct our identity or liberate us? A timely volume, focusing on an interdisciplinary debate on the politics of making, this is valuable reading for all students, professionals and academics interested or working in architectural theory.
