Towards a New Architecture

Originally published in French as a series of essays in the magazine "L'Esprit nouveau (revue)" beginning in 1921, "Towards a New Architecture" by Le Corbusier was published as a book in 1923 and first translated into English in 1927. Le Corbusier's revolutionary approach to architecture became an instant classic and a highly influential work on the meaning and function of buildings and cities in the modern age. Born in Switzerland as Charles-Edouard Jeanneret in 1887, Le Corbusier became a world-renowned architect. In "Towards a New Architecture," he expands upon and clarifies his guiding design principles specifically that buildings should serve modern needs and that form should be pure. Le Corbusier rejected much of classical and art deco design as valuing stylistic experimentation and expression over function. His dramatically different ideas of using materials and design to change the relationship of people with their surroundings completely transformed modern architecture and city planning and remain relevant and informative to this day. "Towards a New Architecture" is a must-read for every architect, designer, urban planner, and anyone who desires to better understand one of the twentieth-century's most important architectural figures. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

Originally published in French as a series of essays in the magazine "L'Esprit nouveau (revue)" beginning in 1921, "Towards a New Architecture" by Le Corbusier was published as a book in 1923 and first translated into English in 1927. Le Corbusier's revolutionary approach to architecture became an instant classic and a highly influential work on the meaning and function of buildings and cities in the modern age. Born in Switzerland as Charles-Edouard Jeanneret in 1887, Le Corbusier became a world-renowned architect. In "Towards a New Architecture," he expands upon and clarifies his guiding design principles specifically that buildings should serve modern needs and that form should be pure. Le Corbusier rejected much of classical and art deco design as valuing stylistic experimentation and expression over function. His dramatically different ideas of using materials and design to change the relationship of people with their surroundings completely transformed modern architecture and city planning and remain relevant and informative to this day. "Towards a New Architecture" is a must-read for every architect, designer, urban planner, and anyone who desires to better understand one of the twentieth-century's most important architectural figures. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

For the Swiss-born architect and city planner Le Corbusier (Charles-?douard Jeanneret, 1887-1965), architecture constituted a noble art, an exalted calling in which the architect combined plastic invention, intellectual speculation, and higher mathematics to go beyond mere utilitarian needs, beyond "style," to achieve a pure creation of the spirit which established "emotional relationships by means of raw materials." The first major exposition of his ideas appeared in Vers une Architecture (1923), a compilation of articles originally written by Le Corbusier for his own avant-garde magazine, L'Esprit Nouveau . The present volume is an unabridged English translation of the 13th French edition of that historic manifesto, in which Le Corbusier expounded his technical and aesthetic theories, views on industry, economics, relation of form to function, the "mass-production spirit," and much else. A principal prophet of the "modern" movement in architecture, and a near-legendary figure of the "International School," he designed some of the twentieth century's most memorable buildings: Chapel at Ronchamp; Swiss dormitory at the Cit? Universitaire, Paris; Unit? d'Habitation, Marseilles; and many more. Le Corbusier brought great passion and intelligence to these essays, which present his ideas in a concise, pithy style, studded with epigrammatic, often provocative, observations: "American engineers overwhelm with their calculations our expiring architecture." "Architecture is stifled by custom. It is the only profession in which progress is not considered necessary." "A cathedral is not very beautiful . . ." and "Rome is the damnation of the half-educated. To send architectural students to Rome is to cripple them for life." Profusely illustrated with over 200 line drawings and photographs of his own works and other structures he considered important, Towards a New Architecture is indispensable reading for architects, city planners, and cultural historians―but will intrigue anyone fascinated by the wide-ranging ideas, unvarnished opinions, and innovative theories of one of this century's master builders.

For the Swiss-born architect and city planner Le Corbusier (Charles-?douard Jeanneret, 1887-1965), architecture constituted a noble art, an exalted calling in which the architect combined plastic invention, intellectual speculation, and higher mathematics to go beyond mere utilitarian needs, beyond "style," to achieve a pure creation of the spirit which established "emotional relationships by means of raw materials." The first major exposition of his ideas appeared in Vers une Architecture (1923), a compilation of articles originally written by Le Corbusier for his own avant-garde magazine, L'Esprit Nouveau . The present volume is an unabridged English translation of the 13th French edition of that historic manifesto, in which Le Corbusier expounded his technical and aesthetic theories, views on industry, economics, relation of form to function, the "mass-production spirit," and much else. A principal prophet of the "modern" movement in architecture, and a near-legendary figure of the "International School," he designed some of the twentieth century's most memorable buildings: Chapel at Ronchamp; Swiss dormitory at the Cit? Universitaire, Paris; Unit? d'Habitation, Marseilles; and many more. Le Corbusier brought great passion and intelligence to these essays, which present his ideas in a concise, pithy style, studded with epigrammatic, often provocative, observations: "American engineers overwhelm with their calculations our expiring architecture." "Architecture is stifled by custom. It is the only profession in which progress is not considered necessary." "A cathedral is not very beautiful . . ." and "Rome is the damnation of the half-educated. To send architectural students to Rome is to cripple them for life." Profusely illustrated with over 200 line drawings and photographs of his own works and other structures he considered important, Towards a New Architecture is indispensable reading for architects, city planners, and cultural historians―but will intrigue anyone fascinated by the wide-ranging ideas, unvarnished opinions, and innovative theories of one of this century's master builders.

The only piece of architectural writing that will be classed among the essential literature of the 20th century.

The only piece of architectural writing that will be classed among the essential literature of the 20th century.