Hardik P. Sonawane First Year B Arch, MET’s School of Architecture & Interior Design Govardhan, Nashik
Genre: Modernism
Summary:
The book Towards an Architecture marks the beginning of architect Le Corbusier’s journey and brings together his thoughts and analyses that he had developed over the years. It served as a kind of launch for his version of modernism. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, much of his architecture would reflect the ideas laid out in this book. After WWII, however, its influence on architecture diminished. The book itself acts as both a manifesto and a polemical work for his architectural program.
Review:
Towards an Architecture was published in 1923, written by Swiss architect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, who later became known as Le Corbusier. The translated title, Towards a New Architecture, became one of the most influential architectural works since then—a rhetorical cornerstone for the modernist movement. It has been used both to support and to criticize modernism, depending on which side of the “style wars” one aligns with. The book is a masterwork in rhetoric, theory, and futurism.
Key Thoughts:
The book itself is an exceptional object. Le Corbusier uses images as powerfully as words to shock and persuade. It is a polemical manifesto and an impressive sales pitch for his architectural ideas. The page featuring the comparison between the “Palace of the Machines” and the motorcar is perhaps the most famous in any architecture book. A hundred years later, its shock value is almost entirely gone, as it has been thoroughly absorbed into the mainstream.
Conclusion:
This book marks a pivotal moment in time when modernism was being tested across various political systems, both in communist and capitalist regimes. It was a period where modernism was being explored and “tried on” for size. Le Corbusier was not only a talented architect but also an adept editor and book designer, trying to lead his arguments with both form and function.
Hardik P. Sonawane First Year B Arch, MET’s School of Architecture & Interior Design Govardhan, Nashik
