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Le Corbusier
As new, first American edition, red cloth HARDCOVER over boards w black emblem on cover and black and gilt font on spine. Dust jacket unclipped, shows minimal shelf wear and age toning on inside flap upper edge. Now under protective mylar. Book is unmarked, no names, completely clean, tight and bright. vii + 224 pps + 30 pps pf photos + 9 drawings. Jordan knew the architect personally. This book portrays Le Corbusier as a man as well as in every aspect of his career.It includes detailed accounts of his major works - both those that remain conceptual as well as those actually constructed such as Unite d"Habitation, Villa Savoie, Pavillion Suisse, etc and much of the new Indian city of Chandigarh. Gift quality. Intl shipments may require addtl postage.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1972
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March 29, 2022
Charles Edouard Jeanneret also known as Le Corbusier, the crow-like one, is, according to the author, one of the four great architects of 20th century modern architecture. The other three were Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Walter Gropius. I would only question the inclusion of Gropius who was primarily an educator and whose influence on modern architecture is more for his teaching than for his building. Nevertheless, Gropius was great and a noteworthy influence but he just didn't have the following of the other three and suffered from lack of popularity. As for Le Corbusier he is somebody not many Americans know much about if anything. FLW is known by everybody and anybody that has ever seen a glass and steel office building knows about Mies. Corbu on the otherhand never had much opportunity to build in the U.S. The only building that Corbu had a hand in that Americans are familiar with is the U.N. complex in NYC. Unfortunately, the U.N. complex was a horse by committee project in which Corbu had an influence but no real control so it is not a significant example of Corbu's talent.
My TBR shelf has been rather light in the history category recently so I went looking among my forgotten shelves and basement boxes for lost or hidden treasures of times past. I found this book with a 1972 copyright date and a $10 purchase price. I must have bought this while I was still a young apprentice architect fresh out of university and looking to impress my first employer who was paying me at the astonishing rate of $600/month. I was rich and could afford to splurge on such luxuries as new books about extraordinary artists like Le Corbusier. So this book is a 50 year old forgotten treasure about a man that created some of the most beautiful structures ever built. While it is a biography it is only a thin version of such an endeavor as it lacks any significant depth regarding Corbu as a man, a human being, and is primarily about the man and his creations and then only about the major and most significant of those buildings.
Since anyone that is tempted to read about Corbu would probably do so because they were interested in the man and his work I guess a book that limits itself in that manner would be okay. I would prefer to know more and this book does contain hints that there was more and that would have been interesting to know about. For instance the author tells us that Corbu was incredibly vain and suffered from a prima dona attitude comparable to that of FLW. In fact Corbu went to see Wright once but FLW refused to see Corbu because FLW didn't receive journalists. Corbu had published an avant garde journal in Paris during the 20's providing FLW a reason to deny Corbu's existence as an architect a behavior that Corbu also apparently practiced. Corbu may also have been something of a misogynist but I can attest to the fact that the architecture profession was notorious for this behavior. I worked in plenty of drafting rooms and if there was a woman present it was only one and it was usually the receptionist. But Corbu was married and seemingly devoted to his wife even though he may have strayed occasionally. While Corbu's work is certainly what he is known for a biography should explore and treat that aspect of his life but Corbu was also a human being and a good biography should also attempt to reveal that as well. Sadly I think this book comes up short on Corbu's human side and only highlights his creative side. The book also illustrates a problem frequently suffered by any book discussing a visual art or artist and that is the lack of suitable photography. The only photos offered in this book are black and white and not nearly enough of them. Corbu's work was not known for being very colorful but some of it was. To not show the chapel of Notre Dame du Haut at Ronchamps in other than color is most unfortunate and deprives the reader of seeing the beauty of that church and especially its interior. So this book is a good overview of Corbu's life and work but by no means a definitive treatment of such an influential figure in an era of great architecture.
My TBR shelf has been rather light in the history category recently so I went looking among my forgotten shelves and basement boxes for lost or hidden treasures of times past. I found this book with a 1972 copyright date and a $10 purchase price. I must have bought this while I was still a young apprentice architect fresh out of university and looking to impress my first employer who was paying me at the astonishing rate of $600/month. I was rich and could afford to splurge on such luxuries as new books about extraordinary artists like Le Corbusier. So this book is a 50 year old forgotten treasure about a man that created some of the most beautiful structures ever built. While it is a biography it is only a thin version of such an endeavor as it lacks any significant depth regarding Corbu as a man, a human being, and is primarily about the man and his creations and then only about the major and most significant of those buildings.
Since anyone that is tempted to read about Corbu would probably do so because they were interested in the man and his work I guess a book that limits itself in that manner would be okay. I would prefer to know more and this book does contain hints that there was more and that would have been interesting to know about. For instance the author tells us that Corbu was incredibly vain and suffered from a prima dona attitude comparable to that of FLW. In fact Corbu went to see Wright once but FLW refused to see Corbu because FLW didn't receive journalists. Corbu had published an avant garde journal in Paris during the 20's providing FLW a reason to deny Corbu's existence as an architect a behavior that Corbu also apparently practiced. Corbu may also have been something of a misogynist but I can attest to the fact that the architecture profession was notorious for this behavior. I worked in plenty of drafting rooms and if there was a woman present it was only one and it was usually the receptionist. But Corbu was married and seemingly devoted to his wife even though he may have strayed occasionally. While Corbu's work is certainly what he is known for a biography should explore and treat that aspect of his life but Corbu was also a human being and a good biography should also attempt to reveal that as well. Sadly I think this book comes up short on Corbu's human side and only highlights his creative side. The book also illustrates a problem frequently suffered by any book discussing a visual art or artist and that is the lack of suitable photography. The only photos offered in this book are black and white and not nearly enough of them. Corbu's work was not known for being very colorful but some of it was. To not show the chapel of Notre Dame du Haut at Ronchamps in other than color is most unfortunate and deprives the reader of seeing the beauty of that church and especially its interior. So this book is a good overview of Corbu's life and work but by no means a definitive treatment of such an influential figure in an era of great architecture.
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