2 - Basic Theory
The theory of Le Corbusier is multi-faceted and defies simple explanation. A fundamental aspect of his theory is that architecture relates to a fixed world-order. From Vers une architecture:
Architecture is a thing of art, a phenomenon of the emotions, lying outside questions of construction and beyond them. The purpose of construction is to make things hold together; of architecture to move us. Architectural emotion exists when the work rings within us in tune with a universe whose laws we obey, recognize and respect. When certain harmonies have been attained, the work captures us. Architecture is a mater of “harmonies,” it is a “pure creation of the spirit.”2
This attitude has its architectural origins in Greece, Vitruvius, and the Renaissance. Rudolph Wittkower made the following observation about Alberti:
Alberti is explicit about the character of the ideal church . . . its beauty should surpass imagination. It is this staggering beauty which awakens sublime sensations and arouses piety in the people. It has a purifying effect and produces the state of innocence which is pleasing to God. What is this staggering beauty that has so powerful an effect? According to Alberti’s well-known mathematical definition, based on Vitruvius, beauty consists in a rational integration of the proportions of all the parts of a building in such a way that every part has its absolutely fixed size and shape and nothing could be added or taken away without destroying the harmony of the whole.3
Le Corbusier appropriates much of this philosophy, but without an overt reference to God. It would seem that for Le Corbusier the laws of the universe are a priori, and exists within itself as an absolute, without relying on reference to other elements. In discussing beauty, Le Corbusier states that we feel harmonies because “they arouse, deep within us and beyond our senses, a resonance . . . which begins to vibrate. An indefinable trace of the Absolute which lies in the depths of our being.”4
Peter Carl makes the observation that for Le Corbusier, mathematics is “the key to great systems. These doors (opening on to the world of mathematics) are the doors of miracles. Having gone through one, man is no longer the operative force, but rather it is his contact with the universe.” 5
Another aspect of Le Corbusier’s philosophy was his concern for a new architecture relative to current times. Each epoch should create its own works of architecture. He has an inherent belief that forward progress is good. “If a man does not move forward he becomes bankrupt.”6 Vers une architecture contains many images of airplanes, motorcars, and ocean liners – examples of modern technology and progress. Other strands of modernism current at that time felt that a clean break from the past was necessary, i.e., virtually starting with a blank slate. Le Corbusier is different in this regard as he maintains links with the past. The most obvious, as noted above, is a belief in an absolute. In addition, Le Corbusier draws selectively from the past of Western architecture. He uses examples of Greece, Rome, and other periods to amplify his various arguments