The Cartesian sky-scraper, designed by Le Corbusier in 1938, is a type of

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

known for its modern and rational design. This type of modern administration building has its origin in the first sketches for the

Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau was a model home constructed for the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, France. The building was designed by Swiss architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. Building ...

in 1919, which proposed a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly describe ...

shape for skyscrapers, radiating light and stability. In principle, the cruciform plan (with two axes) does not adapt itself to the path of the sun, which has only one axis. Studying further, it was seen that with this

symmetrical Symmetry (from grc, συμμετρία "agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement") in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, "symmetry" has a more precise definiti ...

form about two

axes Axes, plural of '' axe'' and of '' axis'', may refer to * ''Axes'' (album), a 2005 rock album by the British band Electrelane * a possibly still empty plot (graphics) See also * Axess (disambiguation) *Axxess (disambiguation) Axxess may refer to ...

, the cruciform skyscraper does not receive sunlight on its north-facing sides.

References

{{cite book , last=Abalos , first=Iñaki , author2=Juan Herreros , author3=Joan Ockman , title=Tower and office: from modernist theory to contemporary practice , date=December 2003 , url=http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=9133 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060918011254/http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=9133 , url-status=dead , archive-date=2006-09-18 , format=cloth , publisher=MIT Press , location=Cambridge, Mass , isbn=978-0-262-01191-4 , chapter=The Theoretical Contributions of Le Corbusier , chapter-url=http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/chapters/0262511908chap1.pdf , page=400

External links

L'Esprit Nouveau_Biblioteca di Area delle Arti sezione Architettura "Enrico Mattiello"
Urban studies and planning terminology Le Corbusier buildings