Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier, born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (1887-1965), is widely regarded as the most influential architect of the 20th century. Whether it was private villas or social housing, his radical ideas, designs, and writings aimed not just at renewing individual structures but at completely reinventing the concept of modern living.

Over the years, Le Corbusier's architectural projects evolved from early houses in the traditional Swiss style to sleek white purist villas, culminating in dynamic syntheses of art and architecture, as seen in the Chapel of Ronchamp and the administrative buildings in Chandigarh, India. Throughout his work, he demonstrated the ability to combine functionalist approaches with a strong expressionism. The social aspect of urban planning was also important to Le Corbusier—he was a founding member of the Congrès international d'architecture moderne (CIAM), which defined "architecture as a social art."

This volume presents some of Le Corbusier's most significant projects and showcases an architect, thinker, and pioneer of modernity who will continue to inspire future generations, even through his unrealized designs.