26 – Le Corbusier – 1 – Have Formwork, Will Travel

We’re taking on the origin story of (for better or worse) the most important architect of the 20th century — Charles-Edouard

We’re taking on the origin story of (for better or worse) the most important architect of the 20th century — Charles-Edouard Jeanneret aka Le Corbusier. His origins — petit bourgeois, Swiss, provincial — can make his eventual rise to world-enveloping notoriety and era-defining influence seem all the more unlikely. We’re digging into his childhood, family, education and travels as a young man before taking on a couple of early projects.

We discuss — 

• La Chaux de Fonds
• Charles L’Eplattanier, his teacher
• Jugendstil & Art Nouveau

Early projects — 

• Villa Fallet
• Villas Stotzer & Jacquemet
• Villa Jeanneret
• Villa Favre-Jacot

Travels, and meetings with — 

• Otto Wagner
• Josef Hoffmann
• Vienna Secession Building
• Auguste Perret
• Rue Franklin Apartments
• Peter Behrens
• Mount Athos

And a more detailed look at — 

• Villa Schwob (including Colin Rowe’s ‘Mannerism and Modern Architecture’)
• Maison Domino

We've been reading —

• Nicholas Fox Weber ‘Le Corbusier: A Life’ (2008)
• Jean-Louis Cohen ‘Le Corbusier: Le Grand’ (2014)
• Oppositions 15-16 (1980)

Music — 
The final part of Beethoven’s 9th — the Ode to Joy

An excerpt from —  Mahler: Symphony No. 3: iii. Comodo. Scherzando. Ohne Hast from archive.org

Britt Brothers — ‘Alpine Milkman Yodel’ (1933) from archive.org

Thanks for listening!

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A podcast about architecture, buildings and cities, from the distant past to the present day. Plus detours into technology, film, fiction, comics, drawings, and the dimly imagined future.

With Luke Jones and George Gingell.