From the farms of the Jura to the valley of M’Zab. Influences of the vernacular in Le Corbusier

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18537/est.v009.n020.a07

Keywords:

Le Corbusier, vernacular architecture, modern architecture, avant-garde, tradition

Abstract

Le Corbusier’s attraction to vernacular architecture can be seen in his early drawings of the rural landscape of the Jura, when he was still a child, as well as in his drawings of the houses in the M’Zab valley prior to the presentation of the Plan Obus for Algiers. His special predilection for residing in old farmhouses in La Chaux-de-Fonds or the notes in his travel notebooks about the Cubism he recognised in the humble dwellings of southern Spain are snapshots of the Swiss architect’s much deeper experience of the vernacular. The aim of the research is to determine the role played by the vernacular in Le Corbusier’s thought and work from the 1910s to the 1930s projects. The research establishes the vernacular as a determining aspect in his training and attributes to it the shaping of an own architectural language from the 1910s to the projects of the 1930s. The vernacular shows continuity in his personal evolution, identifying four stages with differences of nuance (regionalism, openness to new languages, purism, brutalism).

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Published

2021-07-26

How to Cite

Jimenez-Vicario, P. M., Ródenas-López, M. A., & Martí, M. M. (2021). From the farms of the Jura to the valley of M’Zab. Influences of the vernacular in Le Corbusier. Estoa. Journal of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, 10(20). https://doi.org/10.18537/est.v009.n020.a07