LE-CORBUSIERS DESIGN

PHILOSOPHIES

LE-CORBUSIER

LE CORBUSIER
(OCTOBER 6,1887 AUGUST 27, 1965)

LE CORBUSIER
Charles Eduard Jeanneret, better known as Le
Corbusier.
He was born in Switzerland and became a French
citizen in 1930.
He was an Architect, Designer, an Urbanist and
a Writer.
His career spanned five decades , with his
building constructed throughout Europe, India
and America.

PHILOSOPHIES:
The works of Le Corbusier are based on some very strong points
which can be clearly seen in his buildings.

We must improve circulation and

increase the amount of open
space
Building high on a small part of
land (skyscrapers).

1964 - PRUDENTIAL TOWER, BOSTON

LE CORBUSIERS FIVE POINTS ON A NEW

ARCHITECTURE:
Pilotis.
Ribbon Windows
An open floor plan
A free faade
Roof garden
Villa Savoye, Poissy, France
1929-30

PILOTIS
The pilotis elevating the mass off the ground.

RIBBON WINDOWS
The long horizontal sliding window.

OPEN FLOOR PLAN

The free plan achieved ,through the
elimination of the load bearing
walls. Spaces or rooms divided as
per the requirements.

FREE FAADE
The free facade , the corollary of the free plan in the
vertical plane.

ROOF GARDEN
The roof garden ,restoring,
supposedly ,the area of ground
covered by the house

BUILDING WITH FIVE POINTS

The 5 points can be clearly seen in the Villa

Savoye, Maison La Roche Jeanneret, Unite
Habitation, Villa Stein, designed by Le
Corbusier.

VILLA SAVOYE

UNITE HABITATION ,Marseille, FRANCE.

MAISON LA ROCHE-JEANNERET
PARIS ,FRANCE

VILLA STEIN

THE OPEN HAND

The open hand (La Main
Ouverte) is a recurring motif
in Le Corbusiers Architecture.
It is open to give and open to
receive.
The largest of the many Open
Hand sculptures, which Le
Corbusier created, is a 28
metre high version in
Chandigarh .

LE CORBUSIER THE MODULAR

Le Corbusier explicitly used the
Golden ratio in his Modular
System of architectural
proportions.
The modular system is an
anthropometric scale of
proportions devised by him.
It is based on the height of an
English man with one arm
raised.
His assertions relate to
proportions, for eg, the ratio of an
aperture, a section of a buildings
or a whole faades width to its
height.

(a+b)/a

BUILDING WITH MODULAR SYSTEM

Unite Habitation in Marseilles

Church of Sainte Marie De La Tourette

Carpenter Centre for the Visual Arts

Le Corbusier explicitly used the golden ratio in his Modulor system

for the scale of architectural proportion. He saw this system as a
continuation of the long tradition of Vitruvius, Leonardo da Vinci's
"Vitruvian Man", the work of Leon Battista Alberti, and others who
used the proportions of the human body to improve the appearance
and function of architecture. In addition to the golden ratio, Le
Corbusier based the system on human measurements, Fibonacci
numbers, and the double unit. He took suggestion of the golden ratio
in human proportions to an extreme: he sectioned his model human
body's height at the navel with the two sections in golden ratio, then
subdivided those sections in golden ratio at the knees and throat; he
used these golden ratio proportions in the Modulor system. Le
Corbusier's 1927 Villa Stein in Garches exemplified the Modulor
system's application. The villa's rectangular ground plan, elevation,
and inner structure closely approximate golden rectangles

Bold Faade:
BOLD FACADE: EXCESSIVE USE OF CONCRETE ON FACADES
WITH BOLD NOTIFICATION AND GRID WORK FOR WINDOWS
WERE A MUST.

THE BOSTON CITY HALL

THE SECRETARIAT,1958

CONVENT OF
LA TOURETTE

THE ASSEMBLY HALL

REJECTION OF ORNAMENTS:
His designs did not include any past historical styles or
ornaments. He believed in making simple buildings having
a modern outlook.

CHAPEL OF NOTREDAME- du -HAUT

VILLA STEIN, GARCHES,

FRANCE, 192627
VILLA SAVOYE

ALL FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS

He believed in the concept of FORM FOLLOWS
FUNCTION.
The form of the building should be dependent on its
function and not the other way round.
The functionality of the building should be given the
foremost importance and then its form should be decided
according to its function.

PLAN AND PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF THE

MODERN CITY OF LE CORBUSIER.
The fundamental principles of the plan of the city
are:
City core to be decongested by moving excess
population to outer parts of the city, developing
satellite towns.
Speedy transportation
Plenty of green spaces.
Population to be spread over entire city.
Gave concepts of 2 cities; LA VILLE
CONTEMPORAINE and LA VILLE RADIEUSE.

LA VILLE CONTEMPORAINE
Supposed to be a city of tomorrow.
Designed for 3000 people.
Lot of open spaces and green spaces around tall
buildings.
City to be a hub of transportation.
The residential zones contained a school,
shopping centres and recreational activities.
It was considered a revolt against the irrational
growth of contemporary cities.

Model of the contemporary city

RESIDENTIAL
AREA

CROSS-AXIAL
HIGHWAYS

24 SKYSCRAPERS
(OFFICES)

LA VILLE RADIEUSE
Residential occupies the central location with
possible expansion on to the right and left
towards the country side.
Business area was at the top.
Civic centre on the main axis.
Industries at the bottom.
Density of 400 people per acre.
Residential block 1300ftX1300ft.
Each block has a stadium, swimming pool,
schools, playgrounds and tennis courts.

BUSINESS AREA

RESIDENTIAL
AREA

HEAVY
INDUSTRIES

CHANDIGARH

LOCATION AND HISTORY

CHANDIGARH was the first planned city after

independence from British rule in 1947. It is the
capital city of the states of Punjab and Haryana.
The city is located at the picturesque junction of
foothills of the Himalayas Mountain range and
the Ganges plains.
It houses a population of 1,054,600 inhabitants
(2001) and is one of the richest cities of the
nation.

GRID IRON MASTER PLAN PROPOSED BY LE CORBUSIER

BASIC PLANNING CONCEPTS

The city plan was conceived as post war Garden City.
Le Corbusier conceived the master plan of Chandigarh
as analogous to human body, with a clearly defined
Head (the Capitol Complex)
Heart (the City Centre)
Lungs (the leisure valley, innumerable open spaces
and sector greens)
Intellect (the cultural and educational institutions),
Circulatory system (the network of roads)

SECTORS

The city was planned in a grid-iron pattern with the intersecting roads
forming rectangular plots in between. These plots were called sectors.

SECTOR
The primary module of citys design is
a Sector, a neighborhood unit of size
800 meters x 1200 meters.
Each SECTOR is a self-sufficient unit
having shops, school, health centers
and places of recreations and worship.
The population of a sector varies
between 3000 and 20000 depending
upon the sizes of plots and the
topography of the area.

Layout of a typical residential

Sector.

HEAD-THE CAPITOL COMPLEX

It comprises of three architectural masterpieces, the
Secretariat, the High court and the Legislative
Assembly.
In the heart of the capitol complex, stands the giant
metallic sculpture of the Open Hand, the official
emblem of Chandigarh.

The Secretariat
The Assembly Hall

The high Court

HEART
The city centre( sector-17) is the heart of
Chandigarhs activities.

HEAD:
CAPITOL COMPLEX

CENTRAL PUBLIC COMPLEX

The Central Sector of the city,

Sector 17, is the main Public
Congregation area of the city.
It houses all major Shopping
Complexes, Sports Facilities
and Congregation Spaces.

Sector 17, The central Public

Complex.

LUNGS
Tree plantation and landscaping have been an
integral part of the citys master plan.
Chandigarh lives, breathes and exudes fresh and
clean air in contrast to most big cities of the
country.

INTELLECT
The educational and cultural institutions
constitute the intellect part.
Sector 10, 11, 12, 14 and 26.

CIRCULATION
The 7V road System:
V1: national highway: coming in and out of Chandigarh,
fastest traffic
V2: main roads in Chandigarh: Madhya Marg and Dakshin
Marg, a lot of fast traffic
V3: roads between sectors, fast traffic
V4: east west roads through the middle of sectors: shops and
residences, slower traffic
V5: main loop road within sector, slow traffic
V6: roads leading to houses, slowest traffic
V7: pedestrian paths, blocked to every other form of traffic.

1. Madhya Marg
2. Purv Marg
3. Dakshin Marg
4. Uttar Marg
5. Pashchim Marg
6. Jan Marg
7. Himalaya Marg

VIEWS OF TYPICAL ROADS AND ROUNDABOUTS IN THE CITY

HIERARCHY OF GREEN AREAS

A Hierarchy of Green Spaces can be observed in the
layout ranging from Public Greens at City Level to SemiPrivate to Private Green Areas.
1

1. City Level Public Green

Space with Artificial Water
Body
2. Free- Flowing Green
Space, connecting the
entire site

3. Semi-Private Green Areas

for neighborhood pockets
3
4

4. Private Green Areas for

Residential Units

LEISURE VALLEY, CHANDIGARH

The Leisure Valley is a green sprawling space extending NorthEast to South-West along a seasonal riverlet gradient and was
conceived by Le Corbusier as the lungs of the city.
Apart from large Public Parks and special Botanical Gardens, it
houses series of Fitness Trails, amphitheatres and spaces for
open-air exhibitions.