Le Corbusier. de La Solution éLéGante à L Oeuvre Ouvert

Bruno Reichlin ranks among the world s most distinguished architectural theorists. His occupation with protagonists of 20th-century architecture - such as Eileen Gray, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson and, above all, Le Corbusier - and their work is guided by a method that looks at the characteristics of a building as well as at its theoretical foundations. Reichlin s writings and his own built work as a practicing architect is marked by a deep understanding for how buildings materialise signs and symbols and by a referential framework that includes also literature, film and visual art. This book collects Reichlin s 13 essays on Le Corbusier, written over the period of four decades. Taking as examples the villas La Roche, Mandrot, and Savoye; Harvard University s Carpenter Center for Visual Arts; the Petite Maison on Lake Geneva; and the project for a hospital in Venice, he explores aspects of Le Corbusier s creativity to reveal underlying principles and their manifestation in the realised buildings. Rich archival materials as well as analytical plans and diagrams round out the volume. Text in French.