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Le Corbusier: A Life
From acclaimed biographer and cultural historian, author of Balthus and Patron Saints —the first full-scale life of le Corbusier, one of the most influential, admired, and maligned architects of the twentieth century, heralded is a prophet in his lifetime, revered as a god after his death.
He was a leader of the modernist movement that sought to create better living conditions and a better society through housing concepts. He predicted the city of the future with its large, white apartment buildings in parklike settings—a move away from the turn-of-the-century industrial city, which he saw as too fussy and suffocating and believed should be torn down, including most of Paris. Irascible and caustic, tender and enthusiastic, more than a mercurial innovator, Le Corbusier was considered to be the very conscience of modern architecture.
In this first biography of the man, Nicholas Fox Weber writes about Le Corbusier the precise, mathematical, practical-minded artist whose idealism—vibrant, poetic, imaginative; discipline; and sensualism were reflected in his iconic designs and pioneering theories of architecture and urban planning.
Weber writes about Le Corbusier’s training; his coming to live and work in Paris; the ties he formed with Nehru . . . Brassaï . . . Malraux (he championed Le Corbusier’s work and commissioned a major new museum for art to be built on the outskirts of Paris) . . . Einstein . . . Matisse . . . the Steins . . . Picasso . . . Walter Gropius, and others.
We see how Le Corbusier, who appreciated goverments only for the possibility of obtaining architectural commissions, was drawn to the new Soviet Union and extolled the merits of communism (he never joined the party); and in 1928, as the possible architect of a major new building, went to Moscow, where he was hailed by Trotsky and was received at the Kremlin. Le Corbusier praised the ideas of Mussolini and worked for two years under the Vichy government, hoping to oversee new construction and urbanism throughout France. Le Corbusier believed that Hitler and Vichy rule would bring about “a marvelous transformation of society,” then renounced the doomed regime and went to work for Charles de Gaulle and his provisional government.
Weber writes about Le Corbusier’s fraught relationships with women (he remained celibate until the age of twenty-four and then often went to prostitutes); about his twenty-seven-year-long marriage to a woman who had no interest in architecture and forbade it being discussed at the dinner table; about his numerous love affairs during his marriage, including his shipboard romance with the twenty-three-year-old Josephine Baker, already a legend in Paris, whom he saw as a “pure and guileless soul.” She saw him as “irresistibly funny.” “What a shame you’re an architect!” she wrote. “You’d have made such a good partner!”
A brilliant revelation of this single-minded, elusive genius, of his extraordinary achivements and the age in which he lived.
He was a leader of the modernist movement that sought to create better living conditions and a better society through housing concepts. He predicted the city of the future with its large, white apartment buildings in parklike settings—a move away from the turn-of-the-century industrial city, which he saw as too fussy and suffocating and believed should be torn down, including most of Paris. Irascible and caustic, tender and enthusiastic, more than a mercurial innovator, Le Corbusier was considered to be the very conscience of modern architecture.
In this first biography of the man, Nicholas Fox Weber writes about Le Corbusier the precise, mathematical, practical-minded artist whose idealism—vibrant, poetic, imaginative; discipline; and sensualism were reflected in his iconic designs and pioneering theories of architecture and urban planning.
Weber writes about Le Corbusier’s training; his coming to live and work in Paris; the ties he formed with Nehru . . . Brassaï . . . Malraux (he championed Le Corbusier’s work and commissioned a major new museum for art to be built on the outskirts of Paris) . . . Einstein . . . Matisse . . . the Steins . . . Picasso . . . Walter Gropius, and others.
We see how Le Corbusier, who appreciated goverments only for the possibility of obtaining architectural commissions, was drawn to the new Soviet Union and extolled the merits of communism (he never joined the party); and in 1928, as the possible architect of a major new building, went to Moscow, where he was hailed by Trotsky and was received at the Kremlin. Le Corbusier praised the ideas of Mussolini and worked for two years under the Vichy government, hoping to oversee new construction and urbanism throughout France. Le Corbusier believed that Hitler and Vichy rule would bring about “a marvelous transformation of society,” then renounced the doomed regime and went to work for Charles de Gaulle and his provisional government.
Weber writes about Le Corbusier’s fraught relationships with women (he remained celibate until the age of twenty-four and then often went to prostitutes); about his twenty-seven-year-long marriage to a woman who had no interest in architecture and forbade it being discussed at the dinner table; about his numerous love affairs during his marriage, including his shipboard romance with the twenty-three-year-old Josephine Baker, already a legend in Paris, whom he saw as a “pure and guileless soul.” She saw him as “irresistibly funny.” “What a shame you’re an architect!” she wrote. “You’d have made such a good partner!”
A brilliant revelation of this single-minded, elusive genius, of his extraordinary achivements and the age in which he lived.
848 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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235 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas Fox Weber
57 books43 followersNicholas Fox Weber is a cultural historian and Executive Director of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation. He has written extensively about both Josef and Anni Albers and curated many major exhibitions and retrospectives dedicated to their work. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Yale University and author of fourteen books including Patron Saints, The Art of Babar, The Drawings of Josef Albers, The Clarks of Cooperstown, Balthus, Le Corbusier: A Life, and The Bauhaus Group.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
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January 20, 2010No need to speculate about how Corb would have processed even the most trivial of events or encounters--because he will have written 4 letters on the subject of each. Except that he lies--and this is where the fun comes in. Don't miss Léger describing Corb's first coming into view with his "bowler hat ... spectacles and a clergyman's overcoat" as "an object [advancing:] slowly on its bicycle, scrupulously obeying the laws of perspective"
November 24, 2019
I found the chronicle of Le Corbusier's life interesting, but found Mr. Weber's description and analysis of Le Corbusier's buildings to be simultaneously too sycophantic and too aesthetic.
November 5, 2023
This tells you more about Le Corbusier than anyone could reasonably want to know – but then, where Le Corbusier is concerned, I'm not reasonable. I loved it.
October 3, 2013
This is a dry read and progresses very slowly, using LC's letters to his mother as a major source. While this can be frustrating at times, it does mean you really absorb the progression of LC's life, and that is what I will take from this book. I would have liked a little more analysis and a little less wonder at LC's genius but I'm sure that is one of the pitfalls of being an admiring biographer.
It is a rather claustrophobic read and I would have liked more context - what did LC think of Mies, etc? I was ready to strangle his mother by the end of the book and I felt heartbroken by Yvonne's life.
This is a great book to read in tandem with a straightforward account of his works as these aren't really illustrated. The aim is, of course, to explore LC's personality and it succeeds, if in this cracklingly dry way. (I laughed out loud at Yvonne training a pet fly, though!).
It is a rather claustrophobic read and I would have liked more context - what did LC think of Mies, etc? I was ready to strangle his mother by the end of the book and I felt heartbroken by Yvonne's life.
This is a great book to read in tandem with a straightforward account of his works as these aren't really illustrated. The aim is, of course, to explore LC's personality and it succeeds, if in this cracklingly dry way. (I laughed out loud at Yvonne training a pet fly, though!).
March 29, 2009
As with all biographies the ending is kind of a downer... because the main character dies. But a reasonable survey of the man's life, I suppose. The author perhaps gets a touch flowery in shining the "Hero/Genius" light around, near the end; and perhaps relies a bit too heavily on evaluating Corbusier's relationship with his Mother for some set of veiled psychological conclusions sprinkled throughout. It's best when it relies on quotes from letters and descriptions from those who knew Le Corbusier. Andre Wogenski's "The Hands of Le Corbusier" I thought was well put together along those lines as well.
A worthwhile read I suppose. Wait for the paperback though.
A worthwhile read I suppose. Wait for the paperback though.
February 10, 2016
Nice overview of his life, including a lot of letters that he wrote to his family (especially his mother) throughout his life. At times Weber drifts into lengthy rhapsodies about the various buildings that LeCorb designed, which can get tedious, but despite being squarely on the "pro-LeCorb" side of the critical fence, doesn't shy away from the architect's faults, including his fairly disastrous personal life that included petty professional squabbles, numerous adulterous relationships, and enough failed projects to make even Obama look like a success.
April 8, 2016
Great inside into the architect's life including architectural thoughts. Must read for architects who like his work. Best accompanied with LC's Complete Works Books. Most of the information is based on Le Corbusier's letters thus perfectly authentic. Reads in parts as a novel thanks to Fox's skillful writing.
January 7, 2009
Somewhat informative, but relied too much upon letters written to his mother as a source. The title could have been "Le Corbusier: Letters to my mother." The book completely glossed over some areas of Corb's story that I had hoped to learn more about, specifically his interaction with CIAM.
September 29, 2009
Fascinating historical details that fill in so many holes in the life of Corbu. It was distressing, however, to read about his (unsatisfying) relationship with his (difficult) mother, particularly in such tedious detail. Not a happy man, but a compelling one.
January 17, 2016
This was a pretty solid overview of Le Corbusier's life, clearly well researched. However, I think it relied way too heavily on his relationship with his mother and spent far too much time quoting from the man's own letters. I'd have loved to have heard more from his contemporaries.
Want to read
December 12, 2008one of my favorite architects and designers
September 15, 2014
A great biography of a monumentally flawed man who made timeless monumental forms.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews