Voyage d'Orient - Corbusier

 At the age of 23, Corbusier embarked on his Voyage d’Orient (click here for voyage d'orient) -- a seminal 6 month trip that took him from his home in Switzerland through Italy, Greece, Turkey and the Balkan States. His boyhood teacher at art school, Charles L’Eplattenier discouraged Corbusier from following his father and grandfather’s watchcase engraving career paths since it was a dying art. Instead, L’Eplattenier advised Corbusier to trace architecture’s origins to the East and helped him develop the itinerary for the trip. Like Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe, Corbusier did not have formal training in architecture. He used his observations, writings, and drawings from his travels to inform his ideas and develop new approaches to architecture. Throughout his career, Corbusier repeatedly mined his travel sketchbooks for ideas in writing and architecture. After his death, in 1962, the sketchbooks from his trip were published.

In my studies in school, my history of landscape architecture professor advised me to look into Corbusier’s Voyage d’Orient travels. So far, I’ve only visited two meh Corbusier buildings, the Carpenter Center at Harvard and the United Nations and his urban planning principles have been devastating to the American landscape. But his writing on the other hand, like “Towards a New Architecture” and “Le Modulor” I find inspiring. They are instructional in how to make architectural arguments and develop theories.

During my architecture fellowship after school, I focused on Corbusier’s travels through the ancient ruins of Rome, Pompeii, Greece, and Tuscan monasteries and their impact on his spatial planning and housing in particular. I thought, in looking at what Cobusier looked at, I may become similarly inspired and the trips would propel my career to amazing heights. Things haven’t turned out as expected. While I remain gainfully unemployed, I will flesh out my ideas about Corbusier and his Voyage. After 16 years, my sketchbooks collected dust but now, I will start resurrecting them to make comics.

In returning to my research into Corbusier I was surprised to find out 2 facts. First, his architectural education came from his travels and two, Istanbul was the main interest in his Voyage d’Orient. He devoted 50 days of his 6 month sojourn there. I was so focused on Roman and Greek precedence that Corbusier looked at that I missed out on Turkey.

Corbusier was so impressed by Turkey, that one of his first houses he made in Switzerland after his trip was nicknamed the Turkish villa. When he offered his urban planning services for free to Ataturk in 1936, he proposed to retain the historical character of Istanbul, (click here for Corbusier's big regret) rather than raze it like his 1925 Plan Voison for Paris.(click here for the disaster that was luckily avoided Corbusier lamented he should have been less sentimental for his Istanbul planning efforts to gain the position of urban planner under the Turkish revolutionary. 

When Corbusier arrived in Istanbul, the simple modular cube/sphere geometry of the mosques that were aligned to Paul Cézanne’s analysis of forms: "We must treat nature according to the cube, the sphere and the cone.”

Corbusier on Voyage

Corbusier watch engraving efforts pre-architecture

Corbusier's Apartment - Part 1 the Painting Studio

I’ve seen countless famous buildings by Corbusier in books, but I was not aware of his apartment in Paris. In speaking of his apartment, Corbusier remarked it was, “A home that is heavenly because everything is sky and light, space and simplicity.”

Situated across the Bois de Boulogne and the Roland Garros tennis stadium, Corbusier designed the building for a private developer. Conceived to take in sweeping views of Paris, it was the world’s first residential building facade made completely of glass: reinforced glass, glass bricks, and clear glass. Corbusier moved into the penthouse duplex unit at 24 rue Nungesser et Coli in 1934 with his wife, Yvonne and dog Pinceau and lived there for the remainder of his life till 1965. Unfortunately for Yvonne, the amount of glazing was overwhelming and she reportedly complained, "all this light is killing me... driving me crazy."

Despite the spousal complaints, the apartment appears to be a modern masterpiece. Upon closer inspection, however, you can see how Corbusier translated ideas from his early travel experiences (Istanbul, Rome, Pompeii) into built form. To show how these ancient influences are woven into his work, I’ll provide excerpts from Cobusier’s book “Towards A New Architecture” in orange and interleave them with my insightful Beavis and Butthead commentary which will be organized around the notion of the “architectural promenade”.

The architectural promenade, or interior circulation was an obsession Corbusier engaged in throughout his entire career: “Everything, especially in architecture, is a question of circulation”... “Arabic architecture teaches us a valuable lesson. It is best appreciated on foot: it is by walking, by moving that one discerns the underlying architectural arrangement. This principle is exactly the opposite of baroque architecture”

To develop a successful architectural promenade, Corbusier believed three essential ingredients were necessary: first, the entrance has to whet the visitor’s curiosity and entice him to follow the determined path; second, the path must accommodate multiple, successive points of view; and third, the diverse components of the promenade must form a cohesive architectural whole. For this project, Corbusier created a set of key vignettes showing his early ideas for views of the promenade going through his apartment. 

Early facade sketches

Choreographing the architectural promenade

Apartment duplex lower floor plan and section.

The Entrance

Approaching the building from the street, one sees the standard hallmarks of Corbusier's buildings, piloti (grid of concrete or steel columns that replaces the load-bearing walls), roof garden, flexible plans allowing users to adjust their interior wall positions, expansive horizontal ribbon windows, and a free facade. 

The entry to his apartment is through a modest door in a skinny corridor. Immediately upon entry, a small low space with a spiral stair ascending to the light is analogous to entering the greeting atrium of a Pompeii house.

From Towards a New Architecture - "Casa del noce at Pompeii. Again the little vestibule which frees your mind from the street. And then you are in the atrium; four columns in the middle shoot up towards the shade of the roof, giving a feeling of force and a witness of potent methods; but at the far end is the brilliance of the garden seen through the peristyle which spreads out this light with a large gesture, distributes it and accentuates it, stretching widely from left to right, making a great space. Between the tow is the Tablium, contracting the vision like the lens of a camera. On the right and on the left two patches of shade -- little ones. Out of the clatter of the swarming street which is for every man and full of picturesque incident, you have entered the house of a Roman. Magistral grandeur, order, a splendid amplitude: you are in the house of a Roman. What was the function of these rooms? That is outside the question. After twenty centuries, without any historical reference, you are conscious of Architecture, and we are speaking of what is in reality a very small house."

casa del noce

Oversized large pivot doors open up to the studio to the right and living room to the left. Whereas the entry area and living room have low flat ceilings, the art studio space soars into a surprising barrel vaulted space 6 m wide, 12 m long and 3.50 m high with windows overlooking the street. At the end of the studio, the barrel vault is held back revealing the party wall, the rough concrete block and brick wall of the neighboring property that Corbusier left exposed like an abstract canvas. Of this wall, Corbusier wrote : “Stone can speak to us; it speaks to us through the wall. Its covering is rough yet smooth to the touch. This wall has become my lifelong companion.”

Corbusier in action

barrel vault terminted in front of concrete block party wall left, casa del noce right. notice how corbusier lights the wall with high windows like the Pompeii House wall. both walls have a similar appearance.

The conceptual treatment of the concrete block wall is similar to Pompeii house walls. Our elements are vertical walls, the spread of the soil, holes to serve as passages for man or for light, doors or windows. The holes give much or little light, make gay or sad. The walls are in full brilliant light, or in half shade or in full shade, giving an effect of gaiety, serenity, or sadness. Your symphony is made ready. The aim of architecture is to make you gay or serene or sadness. Your symphony is made ready. Have respect for walls. The Pompeian did not cut up his wall spaces; he was devoted to wall spaces and loved light. Light is intense when it falls between walls which reflect it. The ancients built walls, walls which stretch out and meet to amplify the wall. In this way they created volumes, which are the basis of architectural and sensorial feeling. The light bursts on you by a definite intention, at one end and illuminates the walls. There are no other architectural elements internally : light and its reflection is a great flood by the walls and the floor, which is really a horizontal wall. To erect well lit walls is to establish the architectural elements of the interior. There remains to achieve Proportion. 

The studio space was divided into three sections. The largest section was for painting. Since the site is oriented East-West, corbusier couldn't design the studio with north facing light. Instead, Corbusier chose clear glass and glass bricks to diffuse the light evenly throughout the space. Tucked in the corner of the studio was his office, the desk where he wrote his numerous books. Corbusier didn't like clutter, so he thickened his walls between rooms for storage. The wall between the office and studio is essentially a library bookshelf which contained Corbusier's own writings (he authored 40 books), technical manuals and classics. The third section was for the servant and storage space.

Looking at the workspaces you can imagine how Corbusier spent his mornings painting, then retreating to his desk to write and draw. The spaces were designed for maximum creativity. According to former coworker Jerzy Soltan, Corbusier's schedule was highly regimented. "at 6 A.M., gymnastics and …. Painting, a kind of fine arts calisthenics; at 8 A.M., breakfast. Then Le Corbusier entered into probably the most creative part of his day. He worked on the architectural and urbanistic sketches to be transmitted to us in the afternoon. Outlines of his written work would also be formulated then, along with some larger parts of the writings. Spiritually nourished by the preceding hours of physical and visual gymnastics, the hours of painting, he would use the main morning time for his most inspired conceptualization. A marvelous phenomenon indeed, this creative routine, implemented with his native Swiss regularity, harnessing and channeling what is most elusive. Corbu himself acknowledged the importance of this regimen. “If the generations come”, he wrote, “attach any importance to my work as an architect, it is to these unknown labors that one as to attribute its deeper meaning.”“After everything is said and done, I am a painter, and fervently so, since I paint everyday. It’s true that I began late in life, suddenly at the age of thirty-three… I would spend the morning painting and, in the afternoon, on the other side of Paris, devote my efforts to architecture and urbanism. Can we measure to what extent this patient and obstinate gardening, plowing, hoeing of forms and colors, rhythms and proportions, nourished the architecture and urban plans born each day at 35, rue de Sèvres? I think that if some value is to be accorded to my work as an architect, it is on this secret labor that the underlying quality depends.”

“I am a painter, basically, with tenacity, since I paint every day. In the morning, it’s painting, in the afternoon, on the other side of Paris, it’s architecture and urban design”, he observed. As he believed that his very persistent research was indeed the secret of its virtues as an architect. No one is just a sculptor, or just a painter, or just an architect. Artistic creation is carried out in the service of poetry.”

view towards office section of studio

office area with shelf storage as thickened wall

view looking back towards entry vestibule. wooden interior screens allowed corbusier to block glare

 

Corbusier's Apartment - Part 2 Learning from Pompeii

Walking from the painting studio towards the living room is like stepping back into the ancient past. Strip away the steel, concrete, and glass of Corbusier's apartment and you essentially have a house that is Roman in organization and conception. In a typical Pompeii house, all public rooms of the house are on axis. Sculptural elements like shrines and fountains are placed within these rooms off center in dynamic positions. Diagonal expansive views open up as one walks through the spaces. In Corbusier's apartment, the east-west axis skewers all the public functions of the house like a shish kebab - the painting studio, vestibule, living room, dining room, and terrace are all lined up. As one enters each room along the axis, spaces open up multiple unexpected dynamic diagonal views. The sculptural forms of the stair, fire place, library shelf, and dining table give each space a focal point. 

In his Voyage d'Orient writing and sketches made in 1911, Corbusier distilled the essence of the Roman house axis and focal points succinctly. 23 years later he would base his own apartment design on these ancient ideas.  "An axis is perhaps the first human manifestation ; it is the means of every human act. The toddling child moves along an axis, the man striving in the tempest of life trace for himself an axis. The axis the is regulator of architecture. To establish order is to begin to work. Architecture is based on axes. The use of the schools are an architectural calamity. The axis is a line of direction leading to an end. In architecture, you must have a destination for your axis. In the schools they have forgotten this and their axes cross one another in star shapes all leading to infinity to the undefined, to the unknown, to nowhere, without end or aim. The axis of the schools is a recipe and a dodge.

Arrangement is the grading of axes and so it is the grading of aims, the classification of intentions. The architect therefore assigns destination to his axes. These ends are the wall (the plenum, sensorial sensation) or light and space.

In the house of the Tragic Poet we have the subtleties of a consummate art. Everything is on an axis but it would be difficult to apply a true line anywhere. The axis is in the intention, and the display afforded by the axis extends to the humbler things which it treats most skillfully by optical illusions. The axis here is not an arid thing of theory; it links together the main volumes which are clearly stated and differentiated one from another. When you visit the House of the Tragic Poet, it is clear that everything is ordered. But the feeling it gives is a rich one. You then note clever distortions of the axis which give intensity to the volumes; the central motive of the pavement is set behind the middle of the room ; the well at the entrance is at the side of the basin. The fountain at the far end is in the angle of the garden. An object placed in the center of a room often spoils the room, for it hinders you from standing in the middle of the room and getting the axial view ; a monument placed in the middle of a square often spoils the square and the buildings which surround it- often but not always. Arrangement is the grading of axes, and so it is the grading of aims, the classification of intentions.

view through large pivot doors back towards entry vestibule

house of tragic poet axis

notice the fountain positioned off center

shrine off center resembling corbusier's fireplace...

To give the architectural promenade through the house axis a sense of richness, Corbusier deployed a rhythm of light and space reminiscent of the the light and dark sequence of spaces of the mosques of Istanbul and houses of Pompeii. 

In "Towards a New Architecture" Corbusier opines, "A building is like a soap bubble. the bubble is perfect and harmonious if the breath has been evenly distributed and regulated from the inside. In Broussa in Asia Minor, at the Green Mosque, you enter by a little doorway of normal height; a quite small vestibule produces in you the necessary change of scale so that you may appreciate, as against the dimensions of the street and the spot you come from, the dimensions with which it is intended to impress you. Then you can fell the noble size of the mosque and your eyes can take its measure. You are in a great white marble space filled with light. Beyond, you can see a second similar space of the same dimensions but in half light and raise on several steps (repetition in a minor key); on each side a still  smaller space in subdued light; turning around you have two very small spaces in shade. From full light to shade, a rhythm. Tiny doors and enormous bays. You are captured, you have lost the sense of the common scale. You are enthralled by a sensorial rhythm (light and volume) and by an able use of scale and measure, into a world of its own which tells you what it sets out to tell you. What emotion, what faith. There you have motive and intention. The cluster of ideas, this is the means that has been used. In consequence, at Broussa as at Santa Sophia, as at the Suleiman Mosque of Stamboul, the exterior results from the interior."

The dark low ceilinged living room space is punctuated by a skylight that accentuates the red fireplace wall. Of color, Corbusier remarked, "Blue and his green mixtures create space, create a sense of distance, create an atmosphere, push the wall into the distance, making it palpable, depriving it of the quality of firmness by creating a certain airiness between the wall and the viewer. Red fixes the wall, affirms its exact location, its dimension, its presence." For an architect who painted every morning and left architecture for 4 years to paint (1917-1921), Corbusier took color selection very seriously. In fact he developed a color palette system for his architecture.

Describing his color system, Corbusier notes, "These Keyboards of Colour aim at stimulating personal selection, by placing the task of choosing on a sound systematic basis. In my opinion they offer a method of approach which is accurate and effective, one which makes it possible to plan, in the modern home, colour harmonies which are definitely architectural and yet suited to the natural taste and needs."

Corbusier's Architectural Polychromy palettes contains 63 shades that Le Corbusier created in two colour collections – in 1931 and 1959. All shades are architectural, annotated by Corbusier, naturally harmonious and combinable. Each hue has its relevance and embodies specific spatial and human effects. (click here to see Corbusier's color system)

Hopefully for a lazy color challenged architect like me, using his color palettes on projects will prevent future color catastrophes. For an ambitious Roman inspired architect like Corbusier, setting up standards for color palettes was a natural endeavor in his quest for perfection. In his career, Corbusier emulated the Romans' effort (documented by Vitruvius) to standardize everything from dimensions to proportions to housing to materials to urban plans. Whereas the Romans were seeking the efficient world domination through standardization, Corbusier was interested in harnessing quality design through the power of standardization of modern industrial mass production. 

"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. But we must first of all aim at the setting up of standards in order to face the problem of perfection." 

"A standard is established on sure bases, not capriciously but with the surety of something intentional and of a logic con- trolled by analysis and experiment. All men have the same organism, the same functions. All men have the same needs. The social contract which has evolved through the ages fixes standardized classes, functions and needs producing standardized products."

"We must aim at the fixing of standards in order to face the problem of perfection . The Parthenon is a product of selection applied to a standard . Architecture operates in accordance with standards. Standards are a matter of logic, analysis and minute study : they are based on a problem which has been well “stated.” A standard is definitely established by experiment.

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 maxi- mum output and a minimum use of means, workmanship and material, words, forms, colours, sounds." 

 

Marriage of Contours - Corbusier

Corbusier: “the basis of my research and my intellectual production has its secret in the uninterrupted practices of painting.” It is a known fact that everday, Corbusier would paint from 8 AM-2 PM, then go to the studio from 2-7 pm. Painting was an integral part of his life. How did Corbusier’s painting influenced his architectural process?

Le Corbusier referred to his artistic method as a ‘marriage of contours’. In this method 2 objects that are drawn with shared profiles or interwoven outlines create a third figure. Le Corbusier’s marriage of contours relates to his painting (Purism), his rules for drawing relationships (composition and regulating lines that are used to create harmonies), and the architectural implications of his drawings, (i.e., Villa Savoye-- contours and architectural promenade, Unite d’Habitation-- shared contours, shared walls multiple functions).

The paintings from the Nivola collection 1920-1951 were works of art that were chosen by Corbusier that he thought represented his visual language. One can see in his paintings that Corbusier was interested in the relationships between forms. Corbusier’s paintings can be seen as a reaction to cubism. A quote from the 4th issue L’esprit Nouveau titled Le purisme. “Instead of sifting out the general laws of these objects, cubism only showed their accidental aspects, to such an extent that on the basis of this erroneous idea it even recreated arbitrary and fantastic forms… If the cubists were mistaken, it is because they did not seek out the invariable constituents of their chosen themes, which could have formed a universal, transmittable language.” Corbusier attacked cubism because it has become non-representational, obscure, lacked rigor, and too fragmented. Corbusier and L’Ozenfant proposed a logic that defined their Purist principles” 1. Goal of serious art is to study the invariables, 2. Isometric more precise information about shape and volume 3. Regulating lines (golden section) 4. Densification, superimposition 5. Marriage of objects with same contour in common (At their convergence, is the detail that most characterized the object type.)

“the rules of the game, the most beautiful game man has ever invented, the game of art.”

“seeing is not a gift, but a discipline to be learned”

refinement of composition to essential state

overlaps in paintings

Having discussed his purist painting framework, we can now interpret how it influenced his design process. Early in the design, spaces are shown with overlapping contours. Where they overlap a new figure emerges that acts as a filter between spaces on either side, belonging to both.

In the Unite d’Habitation apartment: where the bathroom and bedroom realms overlap-- closets appear. Where walls between bedrooms overlap, are places for storage and shelving.  Folding screens work to mediate the overlap between terrace and room. Folding screens and partitions are built into the overlapping wall to allow spaces to overlap, or separate. On a larger level, where 2 apartment units overlap is a hallway/circulation. Thus we can see, these places of overlap are often changeable (transformable) with operable folding doors, storage, that serve and define spaces. By embedding functions into overlaps, Corbusier is allows the bedroom to be free of clutter (wardrobe, shelving), it can remain a more pure element with just its necessities like a bed.

overlaps in plans 

When asked by sculptor John Nivola “Why does it seem there is a continuous line running through your painting?” Cobusier responded, “like walking into a room, looking around, encountering furniture, and then going out again composition organized around circulation, architectural promenade.” There is another reading of contours in Corbusier’s work. Contours define architectural promenade. The movement of the car, the servant, and the inhabitant of the space are defined by the contours.

35 Rue de Sevres - Corbusier's Studio

A chance exhibit on Charlotte Perriand at the Louis Vuitton museum, an internet search into her collaboration with le corbusier, an address to his studio in Paris. It turns out the apartment we were staying at on 125 rue de sevres was several blocks from the mythic studio that he inhabited from 1924 till his death in 1965, 35 rue de sevres. The studio was only 3.5 meters wide and ran perpendicular to the street, across the courtyard from a jesuit abbey. Archival pictures of the studio show a dozen drafting tables along an double loaded aisle. In this non-descript studio, he designed most of his most iconic projects such as Notre Dame du Haut, at Ronchamp, Unite d´Habitation in Marseille, Convent de La Tourrette, and Chandigrah.

From the street, in front of the modern building with balconies, there was a woman on a wheelchair in front of the building gate. Walking inside, you could see the courtyard corbusier’s studio faced behind a secondary metal gate. I began to visualize everyday for 36 years, corbusier walking through this same entry gate i had just walked. I’ve followed his journeys to the orient through sketchbooks, have seen a couple of his American buildings, read a lot of his books, and was laughing at myself for my extensive experience with his architecture work that doesn’t really correlate with experiencing his actual architecture. He followed a strict monk-like schedule. From 6-8 AM he would paint. Once his mind was warmed up in the morning he would meditate on urban and architecture issues. Then he would come into the office with new ideas, sketches and notes, and work there from two in the afternoon to around seven in the evening. Like a typical Swiss, time was sacred for Le Corbusier, and if people were late, they would get in trouble. In the early years, corbusier would arrive to his office by subway or taxi. Later on, he drove his convertible Fiat. However, in his late years, he would take cab rides to work. At 2:00 p.m. just before he entered the atelier, an atmosphere of anxiety floated over the studio. Le Corbusier’s notes became more complex, and his critiques were more intolerant. At night, corbusier would continue painting. He once said of his routine, “If the generations to come attach any importance to my work as an architect, it is to these unknown labors that one has attribute its deeper meaning”. On a good day, Corbu would sketch continuously until losing track of time. On a bad day he would get frustrated, toss his pencil or the remains of the charcoal. In a bitter manner, he said several times “C'est difficile, l´architecture”.

I asked a janitor to see if he would grant access to the courtyard. “Sorry.” I went to the church service at the abbey next door and they also told me they were sorry they couldn’t let me in. I went back to the interior gate to catch a glimpse of the court. It’s been 54 years since corbusier walked this path I thought. 15 years ago I traced his steps through Italy on his voyage d’orient that he made in 1910... visiting villa d’este, monastery of ema, Hadrian’s villa, and Pompeii houses. I hoped that by seeing what he saw, the sites would similarly inspire me. Unfortunately all my sketches and photos of the trip have gathered dust. Now I was back on corbusier’s trail again. What struck me about his office was how small and modest it was. A great architect doesn’t need a big firm or a great space to create great architecture... a 3.5 meter wide ground floor office space overlooking a courtyard with space for 16 drafting tables will suffice. corbusier showed the most important factors to create great architecture is a process to generate ideas (painting), writing to articulate ideas and influence and attract talented people to collaborate. One such talented collaborator was Charlotte Perriand.

charlotte perriand