''Vers une architecture'', recently translated into English as ''Toward an Architecture'' but commonly known as ''Towards a New Architecture'' after the 1927 translation by Frederick Etchells, is a collection of essays written by
Le Corbusier (Charles-Edouard Jeanneret), advocating for and exploring the concept of
modern architecture
Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...
. The book has had a lasting effect on the architectural profession, serving as the
manifesto for a generation of architects, a subject of hatred for others, and unquestionably an important work of architectural theory. The architectural historian
Reyner Banham wrote that its influence was "beyond that of any other architectural work published in this
0th
0th or zeroth may refer to:
Mathematics, science and technology
* 0th or zeroth, an ordinal for the number zero
* 0th dimension, a topological space
* 0th element, of a data structure in computer science
* Zeroth (software), deep learning softw ...
century to date", and that unparalleled influence has continued, unabated, into the 21st century.
The
polemical
Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...
book contains seven essays, all but one of which were published in the magazine ''
L'Esprit Nouveau
''L'Esprit Nouveau'' () was a magazine founded by architect Le Corbusier, poet Paul Dermée, and painter Amédée Ozenfant in 1920. The publication addressed a wide range of artistic disciplines including literature, visual arts, and architecture ...
'' beginning in 1921. Each essay dismisses the contemporary trends of
eclecticism
Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories i ...
and
art deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
, replacing them with architecture that was meant to be more than a stylistic experiment; rather, an architecture that would fundamentally change how humans interacted with buildings. This new mode of living derived from a
new spirit defining the
industrial age, demanding a rebirth of architecture based on function and a new aesthetic based on pure form.
The authorship of the book was complex. Le Corbusier co-owned ''L'Esprit Nouveau'' with fellow
purist
Purism is an arts movement that took place between 1918 and 1925.
Purism may also refer to:
*Purism (Spanish architecture) (1530–1560), a phase of Renaissance architecture in Spain
*Purism (company)
Purism, SPC is an American computer techn ...
painter
Amédée Ozenfant
Amédée Ozenfant (15 April 1886 – 4 May 1966) was a French cubist Painting, painter and writer. Together with Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (later known as Le Corbusier) he founded the Purism (arts), Purist movement.
Education
Ozenfant wa ...
. They co-signed many of the original essays as "Le Corbusier-Saugnier," and Ozenfant had been a close friend of Corbusier. Ozenfant denied having written the book, claiming that the essays were based on conversations the two had had together about theories written by
Auguste Perret
Auguste Perret (12 February 1874 – 25 February 1954) was a French architect and a pioneer of the architectural use of reinforced concrete. His major works include the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the first Art Deco building in Paris; the C ...
and
Adolf Loos
Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos (; 10 December 1870 – 23 August 1933) was an Austrian and Czechoslovak architect, influential European theorist, and a polemicist of modern architecture. He was an inspiration to modernism and a widely- ...
. As the book became more known, their fight became more heated. Ozenfant began to claim not only more credit for authorship, but also that Le Corbusier had purposefully excluded him by dedicating the original edition to Ozenfant.
Jean-Louis Cohen
Jean-Louis Cohen (born 20 July 1949) is a French architect and architectural historian specializing in modern architecture and city planning. Since 1994 he has been the Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture at New York Universi ...
, "Introduction" to ''Toward an Architecture.'' Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2007. p. 143
The English translation of the book has also been a source of controversy with regard to its change of style and very specific alterations to the text. The alterations have generated criticism and required correction, even as some of them began to define architectural language. A new translation was released in 2007 that is meant to be truer to Le Corbusier's intention.
[ Kenneth Frampton]
"Corbu, Construed: The new translation of Vers une architecture favors precision over poetry."
in ''Architect'', March 2008
L-C buildings featured
p.14. A city of towers 1920
p.15. A city of towers 1923.
p.17. Towns built on piles 1915.
p.60. Streets with set-backs 1920.
p.61. Roof garden on a private house at Auteuil.
p.76. A villa 1916.
p.77. A house 1923.
p.78. A Villa back elevation 1916.
p.79. Two houses at Auteuil 1924.
p.212/3. A group of mass-production houses in reinforced concrete 1915.
concrete houses 1920.
p.216/7. House in reinforced concrete 1915.
p.218. plan of housing scheme in reinforced concrete.
house in reinforced concrete. House and workshop.
p.219. Interior of a reinforced concrete house. 1915.
p.220. Artists house 1922.
houses of coarse concrete 1919.
p.221. Mass production workmen's houses.
p.222. Mass production house 1921.
Mass production villa 1922.
p.223. A 'Citrohan' house 1921.
p.224/5. A 'Monol' House 1919.
a 'Monol' building.
p.226. A seaside villa constructed with mass production units 1921.
Plan of the villa showing the piers regularly disposed.
p.227. interior of the seaside villa.
interior of a 'Monol' house arranged as a middle class home.
p.228. Freehold maisonettes.
The hanging gardens.
P.229. A great rent purchase scheme 1922.
p.230. Freehold maisonettes.
p.231. freehold maisonettes.
p.232. New dwellings at Bordeaux.
p.233. Housing scheme for garden cities on the honeycomb principle.
p.234. Bordeaux Pessac 1924 modern dwellings.
p.235. Bordeaux Pessac.
p.236/7. mass production artisan's dwellings 1924.
p.238. Housing scheme 1924.
p.239. One of the cells of a freehold maisonette block 1924.
p.240. A villa at Bordeaux 1925.
p.241. A villa at Bordeaux.
p.242/3. University quarter.
p.244. An artist's studio.
See also
*
Le Corbusier's Five Points of Architecture
Editions
First published in England 1927.
Revised edition 1946.
reprinted, 1948,1952, 1956, 1959, 1963, 1965.
Paperback edition 1970.
reprinted 1972.
References
Sources
*Le Corbusier. ''Toward an Architecture.'' Translated by John Goodman. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2007
*Le Corbusier.
Towards a New Architecture'. Translated by Frederick Etchells. London: J. Rodker, 1931. Reprint New York: Dover Publications, 1985.
1929 French edition digitized at Bibliothèque Nationale de France
{{Le Corbusier
1923 books
Architecture books
Le Corbusier
1923 in art