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CD on Gist ad | ‘uaISNgYoo 7on Sa Pn et agua ee 4 } yt i \ iy) \ i ‘i } \y Se University of Virginia Library a new architecture, b NA2520 .J4 1927 ARTS Tow 6 4cb MI AX 0 ilPARTS eee UNIVERSITY/OF VIRGINIA CHARLOTTESVILLE LIBRARIES Fe ‘ Wy i ei } HATE i Ri tere ie) SUTURE TAC ALATETRTISTTTRTLE me —_ = i oi 3 PERN EFATATETTTTETALE EEE RLETES LEED UEALIERE LELUSILED SA0SU200 055000 92.00 0 MORSE roa Oe RRES Bo pres gv eens ipenpreiaypeone sys rpepertarerersressssi ye ETRE Barr THTAATUPNTAATTGBPRATCGEECCOHATRTRITSRI = Tf nea Bi STREETS ER ELS ET SUT ' Toe R eTRS IIe Aarare Tate > pou ie al¥ PTC AKER UA FAGAV AALS (Xoo SA RACDA ARES DLAI MN ead tee ee Ro ea ak ek SE TTT TCC TS CURE EPATOWARDS A NEW ING, Vall We eS, UW IBmn ee ert WODELP To LES UAEL Lona SUL Ua ad AAD Fi TEPMReMe AS ER RA PROR DETR DR RAY eR 1azs Tie hwsenvLenes cen al cated ell area kf ed oe, htt > at oP a ates oo Pa ee SS = ‘ % * —— —— : a eee ema ag, Lame ae — a ed — —— ee ee — Se a SS en ee) SI THE TELEPHONE BUILDING, NEW YORK See nen eee ere ee eer erie are re eo = eo ee RGF AUR Ey oe DEVE S eee ray = SOMTeTST re rs : rm ny eter tea ar ri en ee ‘oe teh Pre PuacesGaess Raed e ss a mA a bi _ c ehie cai . a se neh tieeRe Re Bt Pepe, 1 TERERCEVE EE: sepiysyiyey ee MICURUU ELA RERER GEOL, rate ea eEUE Tec e See yas ERE UUE Uo SS pent ties a iy te TOWARDS A NEW POR-GH Ib CTO Reb by LE GORBUSTEAR translated from the thirteenth French edition with an introduction by EREDE RUG Kei ter ints PAYSON @ CLARKE LTD NEW YORK, Terr . mer . , , ‘ Miata ol ; ’ SidAba idstitacks Saba adGAAMAAaae ad nebaaaasd tik ) ein inniuosaiiauudiiiad FOEPRRLALSS EL BCELI LDL tie ea b Ladaeeek G 08940. Printed in Great Britain by Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, Bungay, Suffolk. ———— are i eee,NERO Dit nlON “‘Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these 222 - -Eecles. Vil. 10. MAN of the eighteenth century, plunged suddenly into our civilization, might well have the impression of something akin to a nightmare. A man of the ‘nineties, looking at much of modern European painting, might well have the impression of something akin to a nightmare.’ A man of to-day, reading this book, may have the impresston of something akin to a nightmare. Many of our most cherished ideas in regard to the “ Englishman's castle ’’—the lichened tiled roof, the gabled house, patina—are treated as toys to be discarded, and we are offered instead human warrens of sixty storeys, the concrete house hard and clean, fittings as coldly efficient as those of a ship’s cabin or of a motor-car, and the standardized products of mass production throughout. We need not be unduly alarmed. All the inventions that go to make up our modern civilization, so far as tt has gone, have awakened the same terrors. The railway, it was prophesied, would ruin the countryside, the motor-car the roads, and the airplane the upper air. All these things have happened, and to a large extent the criticisms were true, and yet man still survives and carrtes on, and seems happy or unhappy to much the same degree as 1 The first Post-Impressionist show in England horrified most people at the time, yet now the fawves of that receding pre-war past are hailed as being in the great tradition, and are used as sticks with which to beat their successors and followers. V WET RYIVOLGULIanrien idee 1.) Le Sey oh Pee ee b } . OYPORES ETACEIALATLEALAES Pats! period of history. vi PNGieRe OD) WU Cre @N before. The truth is that man has an uncanny faculty of adapting himself to new conditions. He learns to admit and even, in a sneaking sort of way, to like new and strange forms. The new form is at first repugnant, but if it has any real vitality and justification it becomes a friend. The merely fantastic soon dies. Now, in modern mechanical engineering, forms seem to be developed mainly in accordance with function, The designer or inventor probably does not concern himself directly with what the final appearance may be, and probably does not consciously cate. But men are en- dowed in varying degree with an instinct for ordered “arrangement, and this can come into operation even when least thought of. The ordinary motor-car engine is a conspicuous example of this. Some are disorderly and “ messy”? in arrangement ; others well planned and cleanly disposed. In structural engineering the same thing appears. The modern concrete bridge or dam may be a crude and ungainly affair, or it may possess US own grave and stark beauty; the structure being equally &o0d and functional in either case. It is inevitable that the engineer, preoccupied with function and aiming at an immediate response to new d emands, should produce new and strange forms, often Startling at first, bizarre and disagreeable. Some of these forms are not worth constant repetition and soon disappear into the limbo of forgotten things. Others stand the test of use and standardization, become Sriendly to us and take their place as part of our general equipment. And these good new forms, so f Orel gn to us and so distu rbing at jirst view, are seen in the long ‘Un to have a curious affinity with those of a similar function in any good i TL HV eh F A _ PTE TTP RT Rhea radi? daitsia Rui at ica Lic ced aces LL LLLA EAL ae PEER OS TSTAVIPRUSIA TOES YODS LTIPES ON CELELA PLEA TODS) AY MAREE AERP ee r)IL IN| IE IR) ID) WIC IE ILO) IN Vil The engineer and the architect have to work with other people’s money. Lhey must consider their clients and, like politicians, cannot 3 | By permission of G.P.A. Lid. LIVERPOOL. ENTRANCE GATE TO NEW LOCK The photograph shows one leaf of the rew river entrance lock being moved into position on timber launchways. I he gates are closed by wire rope attach- ments. This leaf alone weighs 500 tons, and the gates will be the largest in the world. be too far ahead of their moment. The artist, on the other hand, particularly the painter, may generally find it nearly impossible to, ats were sh rere a i i i ttt eae mee iH NESE PrrTeriPereieeeer ites tes TY Tip Ter eCP GSC TEU hEeT AsM RT TAe LESS kde Oe a ha 3 a Viil DN ROD UW Ci ON live ; but if he is able to establish one of those curious compromises by means of which he can carry on a lean existence, he is at least free (at times) to project himself on paper or canvas without necessary reference to anything or anybody ; and to make experiment and research for its own sake. This passion, renewed in our own day by, it is true, a comparatively small body of artists, has resulted in that disconcerting but formidable body of work which angers unnecessarily so many people. The modern engineer, then, pursues function first and form second, but it is dificult for him to avoid results that are plastically Zod, The good modern painter pursues plastic form for its own sake, and if he has the necessary ability the results are plastically satisfying. These things are true of the modern engineer and the painter. Are they true of the architect, who in some ways combines the functions of both? M. Le Corbusier would emphatically tell us“ No!” His book ts a challenge to the members of his own profession. He writes, that is to say, as an architect for architects, and as a scholar always with an eye on the work of the great periods ; and he writes more in sorrow than in anger! He is no fauve, no “ revolutionary,” but a sober-mit mker inspired by a fierce austerity. ‘Towards a New Architecture was written, of course, originally for French readers, and there are points in it which obviously have not the same Jorce applied to conditions in England or America; but the book? is the most valuable thing that has yet appeared, if only because it Jorces us, architects and laymen alike, to take stock, to try to discover in what direction we are going, and to realize in some dim way the ‘ Taken in conjunction with Le Corbusier’s later volumes, Urbanisme and L? Art Décoratif @ aujourd’ hui. ST TUT aTINTRODUCTION 1X MODERN SYNTHETIC MATERIALS. MEWES & DAVIS, F.F.R.I.B.A., ARCHITECTS.BT — — ae pieet MHI — Hn PPEPESTERTYEeTAParsTaTeT ieee et eTeeees Povo Ti InEeS ey Avia 0 GOS SAeS TAN UT SEL Terao TTR Sao ean LRA es co Pf LS wv x INTRODUCTION strange paths we are likely to be forced to travel whether we will or n0. The average architect of to-day, then, M. Le Corbusier would tell us, 1s a timid and poor-spirited creature, afraid to look facts in the face. He plays his little tricks with this or that historic “style,” and he can turn his attention to order from “ Gothic” to “ Classical,” to “ Tudor,” “ Byzantine,’ or what not. By concentrating his train- ing so largely on these superficial aspects, Le Corbusier would Say, all “ styles’ become equally available to the architect for exploitation. Not so, he would say, is great or even good architecture produced.’ But it will be said, we cannot escape the past or ignore the pit from which we were hewn. True; and it is precisely Le Corbusier's originality in this book that he takes such works as the Parthenon or Michael Angelo’s Apses at St. Peter's and makes us see them in much the same direct fashion as any man might look at a motor-car or a railway bridge. These buildings, studied in their functional and plastic aspects—all that is accidental or merely stylistic being relegated to its proper minor place—emerge under a new guise and are seen to be far more closely and strangely akin to a first-rate modern concrete structure or a Rolls Royce car than to the travesties of themselves on which we have battened. This book, then, is an important contribution to the modern study of architecture, and to the study of modern architecture ; it may annoy but it will certainly stimulate. M. Le Corbusier has not wasted time and Space on a catalogue taisonné of modern buildings ; he has ' This is, of course, a relatively new state of affairs dating roughly, with ex- ceptions, from the time of the Industrial Revolution; though the Victorian era in England, with all its faults, had its own mind and its own outlook. er TOLL TTere sey ENERO DU Gr lON Xi confined himself to the statement of some of the problems that confront the modern man, and so the modern architect, and he has indicated solutions as much by his presentment of ancient buildings as by that of modern ones. These problems arise mainly out of the vastly increased scale on Dae eee ati eh ee OO nee = maim eee ook eed pee eet A MODERN BRAG TORY. SMART & STEWART, ARCHITECTS which modern enterprise is conducted. The Trust or Combine has greatly ameliorated its character in latter years, and seems likely to be a permanent feature of “ big business” ; the Store has largely replaced the smal! shop ; urban dwellers are finding themselves more and more housed in huge blocks of flats ; problems of transport and trafic will sooner or later demand a radical transformation of ourPET Tri sietor CTSA SPA LiT LT ae be Stas VIUIAIED ei ein doc Cepe Maat aC A MRiA TAS ace Sea ee eee xii INTRODUCTION streets—all these factors mean fresh problems and fresh solutions, and it is our business to use the materials and constructional methods to our hand, not, of course, blindly, but with a constant endeavour to improve them. And this process is certainly going on, whatever we may think of the results. An architecture of our own age is slowly but surely shaping itself ; its main lines become more and more evident. The use of steel and reinforced concrete construction ; of lar truction ; of large areas of ‘plate glass ; of standardized units (as, for example, in metal windows) ; 0 (the flat roof; of new synthetic materials and new surface_treatments of metals that machiner binery has made possible; of hints taken from the airplane, the motor car or the steamship where it was never possible ’ from the beginning, fo attack the problem from the academic stand- point—all these things are helping, at any rate, to produce a twentieth- century architecture whose lineaments are already clearly traceable. A certain squareness of mass and outline, a criss-cross or “ grid-iron ”’ treatment with an emphasis on the horizontals, an extreme bareness of wall surface, a pervading austerity and economy and a minimum of ornament ; these -are among its characteristics. There is evolving, we may be gin to Suppose, a grave and classical’ architecture whose fully developed expression should be of a noble beauty. It is a delight to note the first faint indications of a spontaneous and unforced interest in aesthetic matters on the part of the modern man. He has had an admirable unconscious schooling through the trim efficiency and finish of the machines and apparatus which surround and govern so much of his daily life. Already the average user of the motor-car 1s beginning to take a keen pleasure in good bodywork, in 1 But not imitatively so. Ree TRUSTE TR RTE CO SUN NC raePeangeyey cuca a. ALE EERBR EGR OREDE ORE RE + Fees CE tehen dy eral tyy ee bet Hib te Reece Eee SE aCREReRa Bt TREVESUSCUREDRUGGESETESCERE ON fi - ¢ IN| TEAR COYIE) WG 10 ILCOVIN xii cleanness of line and general design. It must be many years indeed since such close attention has been given to a particular aesthetic problem by so large a number of human beings. It is not too much to hope that this interest may soon include within its scope our modern archi- tecture, passing from, it may be, an appreciation of works of a MODERN DOORS. Wie Aen eliluian IS OUN & FAIRWEATHER, ARCHITECTS functional or purely constructional character to embrace works of even greater significance. I give here one or two quotations which seem to suggest the trend of thought in this direction. They are not taken, it will be seen, from “ revolutionary ”’ sources. of education has touched business groups, companies and combines, who march behind the banner of better building . and contribute to the esthetic amenities of cities and towns by - Wt SOIT ee , ATS oe LLLPam rT RE PPTL TITi Ti itit seater TATRA TACs EAe LEU Toe Le Sea RU TUR SOMMR EGG. OCP CLRe Att CONSE; SARE SRS Ad eae ed — ENEERI@ DU CL LOIN allowing architects freedom from stereotyped ideas, thereby per- mitting glimpses of the twentieth-century spirit in building. Industrial buildings are accepted as deplorable necessities by some critics . . . the terms ‘utilitarian’ and ‘harsh’ are regarded as synonymous... . Mr. John Cloag, who writes this in the Architects’ Journal of January 12, 1927, thinks the latter view “ exasperating,” and goes on to say: “ Utility untram- melled by an imagined need of some disguising ‘style’ ts not lacking in beneficent effect upon the form of an industrial building.” Mr. R. A. S. Paget, in a letter to The Times, summarized in the Architects’ Journal of April 7, 1926, thinks that Regent Street should have been designed as two great continuous stores facing one another in separate blocks which composed it, being connected by covered ways, tunnels or bridges at convenient intervals, so that customers could pass from one block to another in protection from the weather. He would also have had direct covered communication from the Tube station to the shops and motor omnibus passenger stations, so that the public could alight and embark under cover. The pavements in front of the shops would be arcaded, while the lighting of the ground-floor shop- fronts would be secured by clerestory windows in the shop-fronts themselves above the level of the roof of the arcade, so as to avoid the objections which were fatal to Nash’s original arcades. On the roof of the arcades he would form an attractive open-air promenade for use in fine weather, with raised foot-bridges crossing the side of the streets. From an advertisement in the ‘ Hospital’? number of the Architects’ Journal of June 24, 1925.—“‘ The modern hospital is a triumph of the elimination of the detrimental and the un- essential. Because of its absolute fitness to purpose its operation theatre—like the engine room of an ocean liner—is_one of the most perfect rooms in the world.” (This is indeed the voice of Jacob! . eT eee A STRrn i Be pe Sagal 32 PVP ETr ar Cicer Crieuanateniieveleumogerere tite lc) F Ot EK ASE Et paeal speyy eer gut CheRPEE REEDS TET EDORSROSEE EL ALS) * if eLevGbeD cet PECL ORE TCE SE EOhERS LEP DE ITAL SERS etCE ES TELt Regu aeegee aici INGRODUGLLON XV As to mass-production, this is no new thing. All use of machinery has, of course, tended to mass-production. But the process goes much Further back. The carpenter's plane bears much the same relation to the adxe that the safety razor does to the older sort (which i confess I am conservative enough still to use), and in both cases the more modern AN OPERATING THEATRE. WALSH & MADDOCK, ARCHITECTS tool achieves what we may call a mass-produced surface. And printing began merely as mass-produced writing. We have been burdened in this country with a timid Arts and Crafts movement, which has inevitably helped to obscure and deny the real virtues of mass- production ; but this feeling, though it still lingers, is negligible, and even “artistic” people may now enjov without apology the admirable products of mass-production.MYATT TPREMREEE AS TLS TI TIPAET STATSTATT TUTE LAY AP Soro TIinTs tris TAUseee GRR U SEES SRV OLDEST os Gace Re eo ta nd a SPR R OS A es Se Xvi INTRODUCTION Above all, in considering the vital problems adumbrated in this book, we must avoid any sort of snobbery. To take a small and unimportant case, the outcry against the modern roadside petrol pump seems to me a good example of this, and to be also the purest nonsense. I do not, of course, pretend that petrol pumps possess any great beauty or interest ; but they are probably pleasanter than our pillar-boxes, and certainly than the majority of our lamp-posts. They are painted in clean heraldic colours which perform to perfection the true purposes of heraldry, and they give some touch of life and colour to our evil suburbs and our moribund villages. This book, then, in its English dress, is published with the object of stimulating thought and arousing interest in the serious problems with which it deals. I have no doubt that some of the modern French work illustrated in these pages will appear un- pleasing to many of us, but that might apply to individual architectural works of any school. We claim, and I think rightly, that we have gone far in this country towards solving the problem of the small or medium sized house that shall be trim, well and economically planned, and pleasant in its general lines. We can hardly claim to have gone as far in matters of town-planning on a large scale, or in the provision of the immense modern structures which will inevitably be needed still more in the near future. A reading of this book may open out some avenues of thought in this direction. Some apology is needed for the translation. M. Le Corbusier writes in a somewhat staccato style which is a little disconcerting even in French; and his book is of the nature of a manifesto. Sm NN te csPT VTETTTeTTTtii ht eieiabetedce! cari PERSO EE ECT th (eto! dtc ee CyERteeR See ruea ae eeerenUneR Di EEE R? AURbCS Oh Aaea ky: «| eee “== ¢ INTRODUCTION Xvil My aim has been to present a rendering as close and literal as possible, at the expense of some awkwardness in phrasing and the retention of a certain number of Gallicisms. FREDERICK ETCHELLS. Nore.—Since the above was written I have read with much interest and pleasure, as some of my readers must have done, the report of the admirable paper read before the Royal Institute of British Architects on Monday, March 14, 1927, by Mr. Howard Robertson on “Modern French Architecture.” The tone, both of the paper itself and of the discussion which followed it, was so discriminatingly sane and judicious that I advise any reader of this book to procure a copy of the Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects of March 19, 1927, where a full report will be found. EE A ROOFING TILEVE RED RATER PRP EDR PUES EN ODN LR RIP ET TEP LUET ITER MOND IEUTEIDG DPRL TURE TEDDY PE py ype trp ee y pPerer rer rt srre ees y INGEN OW EEDG MEINE THANKS ARE DUE TO THE FOLLOWING, WHO HAVE PERMITTED THE USE OF ILLUSTRATIONS WHICH ARI THEIR PROPERTY: MESSRS. CROSSLEY AND CO. LID., MESSRS. INDENTED BAR AND CONCRETE ENGINEERING GO. LITD:, MESSRS: JOHN P. WHITE AND SONS LTD., MESSRS. LANGLEY LONDON TED ss AN DE eLO) DEE ARCHITECTS WHOSE NAMES APPEAR BELOW THE PLATES. TATE TRASSTRTERTEE RUTTER REET RRUES AREER ROE TORGEAATCEA IO RTO BGG itiCONT EN Es INTRODUCTION i Bee V ARGUMENT THE ENGINEER’S ZSTHETIC AND ARCHITECTURE THREE REMINDERS TO ARCHITECTS: YT MASS II. SURFACI Vv DL EAGIN V REGULATING LINES EYES WHICH DO NOT SEE: Eee NT EARES II. AIRPLANES Jit. AUTOMOBILES V ARCHITECTURI I. THE LESSON OF ROME Il. THE ILLUSION OF PLANS Ill. PURE CREATION OF THE MIND MASS-PRODUCTION HOUSES ARCHITECTURE OR REVOLUTION 85 1O5 129 149 175 199 225 267EPEPED ETE LERT EERE LETT PPPOE LDL OPEL NET EP EDP AT PEIN ED EF PO Peay Pap OT ET Ee PEER Dp ebenprepevavaveripeyodrsrevi yeep ty ntY Th i {One ; i? ahi nayhw) i i i t :s { i | ee AG i | 1G: i ‘ | KG | i F i # 1D j TOR TCT TRS ST Vl ——ARGUMENT THE ENGINEER’S AASTHETIC AND ARCHITECTURE HE Engineet’s Aisthetic, and Architecture, are two things that march together and follow one from the other: the one being now at its full height, the other in an unhappy state of retrogression. The Engineer, inspired by the law of Economy and governed by mathematical calculation, puts us in accord with universal law. He achieves harmony. The Architect, by his arrangement of forms, fealizes an order which is a pure creation of his spirit ; by forms and shapes he affects our senses to an acute degree and provokes plastic emotions; by the relationships which he creates he wakes profound echoes in us, he gives us the measure of an order which we feel to be in accordance with that of our world, he determines the vafious movements Of OUL heart and of our understanding; it is then that we experience the sense of beauty.ARGUMENT ERE E IE NMINDERS: lO! ARCEmhe is MASS Our eyes ate constructed to enable us to see forms in light. Primary forms are beautiful forms because they can be clearly appreciated. Architects to-day no longer achieve these simple forms. Working by calculation, engineers employ geometrical forms, satisfying our eyes by their geometry and our under- standing by their mathematics; their work is on the direct line of good art. SURFACE A mass is enveloped in its surface, a surface which is divided up according to the directing and generating lines of the mass ; and this gives the mass its individuality. Architects to-day are afraid of the geometrical constituents of surfaces. The great problems of modern construction must have a geometrical solution. Forced to work in accordance with the strict needs of exactly determined conditions, engineers make use of generating and accusing lines in relation to forms. They create limpid and moving plastic facts. Pal AGN The Plan is the generator. ao UES BOM ON Without a plan, you have lack of order, and wilfulness ar CRUE ER TC AARGUMENT The Plan holds in itself the essence of sensation. The great problems of to-morrow, dictated by collective necessities, put the question of “ plan” in a new form. Modern life demands, and is waiting for, a new kind of plan, both for the house and for the city. REGULATING LINES An inevitable element of Architecture. The necessity for order. The regulating line is a guarantee against wilfulness. It brings satisfaction to the understanding. The regulating line is a means to an end ; it 1s not a recipe. Its choice and the modalities of expression given to it are an integral part of architectural creation. DYES WHICH DO] NO see LINERS A great epoch has begun. There exists a new spirit. There exists a mass of work conceived in the new spirit ; it is to be met with particularly in industrial production. Architecture is stifled by custom. sine. styles) ate a lic: Style is a unity of principle animating all the work of an epoch, the result of a state of mind which has its own special character. Our own epoch is determining, day by day, its own style. Our eyes, unhappily, are unable yet to discern it. aan | ASE AN " i ¥ irs rT oa) ici 53a eel ARGUMENT AIRPLANES The airplane is the product of close selection. \ The lesson of the airplane lies in the logic which governed the statement of the problem and its realization. The problem of the house has not yet been stated. Nevertheless there do exist standards for the dwelling house. Machinery contains in itself the factor of economy, which makes for selection. The house is a machine for living in. AW Ie O i © i iit, 18 We must aim at the fixing of standards in order to face the problem of perfection. The Parthenon is a product of selection applied to a standard. Architecture operates in accordance with standards. Standards are a matter of logic, analysis and minute study ; they ate based on a problem which has been well “‘ stated.” A standard is definitely established by experiment. pee ee NE Ess CORE Wiehis, IAS SOIN Ole I Oil is “The business of Architecture is to establish emotional relationships by means of raw materials. Architecture goes beyond utilitarian needs. Architecture is a plastic thing. UTSUECIRUTE OULU :ARGUMENT The spirit of order, a unity of intention. The sense of relationships; architecture deals with quantities. i Passion can create drama out of inert stone. Wislid, MIbILWSUON Ol PRILAIN S The Plan proceeds from within to without ; the exterior is the result of an interior. . The elements of architecture are light and shade, walls ee ee —. and space. Arrangement is the gradation of aims, the classification of - intentions. Man looks at the creation of architecture with his eyes, which are 5 feet 6 inches from the ground. One can only ate, | deal with aims which the eye can ap reci and intentions which take into account architectural clements. If there come into play intentions which do not speak the language of archi- tecture, you arrive at the illusion of plans, you transgress the tules of the Plan through an error in conception, or through a leaning towards empty show. PURE GREAT 1ON ©] bee sveNeD Contour and profile ' are the touchstone of the architect. Here he reveals himself as artist or mere engineer. Contour is free of all constraint. There is here no longer any question of custom, nor of 1 Modénature. I give the nearest equivalent of Le Corbusier’s use of this word.—_F. E. Ch nena spt aOR NLRL SP IShea >. Pi} yTesanaaa WUE eo Os UST TE TET LeeiasEetULIELLi0 GL Lice teE eR LE SLA SLS Rs RADAR RA SA Os co me 6 ARGUMENT tradition, nor of construction nor of adaptation to utilitarian needs. Contour and profile are a pure creation of the mind ; _ they call | for the plastic artist. MASS-PRODUCTION HOUSES A great epoch has begun. There exists a new spirit. Industry, overwhelming us like a flood which rolls on towards its destined ends, has furnished us with new tools adapted to this new epoch, animated by the new spirit. Economic law inevitably governs our acts and out thoughts. The problem of the house is a problem of the epoch. Ehe equilibrium of society to-day depends upon it. Architecture has for its first duty, in this period of renewal, that of bringing about a revision of values, a revision of the constituent elements of the house. Mass-production is based on analysis and experiment. Industry on the grand scale must occupy itself with building and establish the elements of the house on a mass-production basis. We must create the mass-production spirit. _ The spirit of constructing mass-production houses. | The spirit of living in mass-production houses. | The spirit of conceiving mass-production houses. | If we climinate from our hearts and minds all dead concepts in regard to the house, and look at the question from a critical NHB ROLTE UT aa TRE ERG PTARGUMENT 7 and objective point of view, we shall arrive at the “ House- Machine,” the mass-production house, healthy (and morally so too) and beautiful in the same way that the working tools and instruments which accompany our existence are beautiful. Beautiful also with all the animation that the artist’s sensi- bility can add to severe and pure functioning elements. ININGHEEE CRORE, ORS INEV OE CRION In every field of industry, new problems have presented themselves and new tools have been created capable of resolving them. If this new fact be set against the past, then you have revolution. In building and construction, mass-production has already been begun ; in face of new economic needs, mass-production units have been created both in mass and detail; and definite results have been achieved both in detail and in mass. If this fact be set against the past, then you have revolution, both in the method employed and in the large scale on which it has been cattied out. The history of Architecture unfolds itself slowly across the centuries as a modification of structure and ornament, but in the last fifty years steel and concrete have brought new conquests, which are the index of a. greater capacity for con- struction, and of an architecture in which the old codes have been overturned.) If we challenge the past, we shall learn that “styles? no longer exist for us, that a style belonging to out own petiod has come about; and there has been a Revolution.PEPE PULRODEPER LEE TP REP PPELON EDP TER EDL URE LUPE DT ID PERT TE VESPER TY PUPETS POPPE PV ER ROT TTY PP TPT ry ey ARGUMENT Our minds have consciously or unconsciously apprehended these events and new needs have arisen, consciously or uncon- sciously. The machinery of Society, profoundly out of gear, oscillates between an amelioration, of historical importance, and a catastrophe. The primordial instinct of every human being is to assute himself of a shelter. The various classes of workers in society | to-day no longer have dwellings adapted to their needs ; neither the artizan nor the intellectual. It is a question of building which is at the root of the social untest of to-day : atchitectute or revolution. een ae ep nse ae ois Sipentanrerkpermmeremiceeeeina teeter oritiee tee eeteana-ararereienen aeons ( } an Ita WCRI Ta TIRUITUACILLU TR E ET TT TT MEEPONT DE GARABIT Designed by Eiffel the engineer. iE ENGINE ERES Ass Ele AND uke @pelele by Cee eke)\The Engineer's Esthetic and Architecture—two things that march together and follow one from the other—the one at its full height, the other in an unhappy state of retrogression. The Engineer, inspired by the law of Economy and governed by mathematical calculation, puts us in accord with universal law. He achieves harmony. The Architect, by his arrangement of forms, realizes an order which is a pure creation of his spirit; by forms and shapes he affects our senses to an acute degree, and provokes plastic emotions; by the relationships which he creates he wakes in us profound echoes, he gives us the measure of an order which we feel to be in accordance with that of our world, he determines the various movements of our heart and of our understanding ; it is then that we experience the sense of beauty. eae 7 eee = SREP E knee enon ean mi a Sas Sees RavanSe te eee om, Fy . rn P ae revere ys eae Pee Ree aor Taishi Q yee PPE NPAPNEHENENPITD EVER AEHEDEDLRTEN TATA TEUT PONTE ENDED DRT EN EELT TEEPE EET ST PETE TSS EEE / i¥ ~*~ p Mae ci | ce Saar itt ATOUUTESUIUATAREEEUUEELEEU EAL GGCUCLC nc OLE GEL UNO RITees PREC UES IESE AORebe Lui a Suchicata even, OR SE EL OEE SL teks A Ebey ENG ENE ERG S) 72S 0 Ee eG. AND Ack Gua e Gre U) Robes The Engineer’s “Esthetic and Architecture—two things that march together and follow one from the other—the one at its full height, the other in an unhappy state of retrogression. AM QUESTION of morality; lack of truth is intolerable, we perish in untruth. Architecture is one of the most urgent needs of man, for the house has always been the indispensable and first tool that he has forged for himself. Man’s stock of tools marks out the stages of civilization, the stone age, the bronze age, the iron age. Tools are the result of successive improvement; the effort of all generations is embodied in them. The tool is the direct and immediate expression of progress; it gives man essential assistance and essential freedom also. We throw the out-of-date tool on the scrap-heap: the carbine, the culverin, the growler and the old locomotive. This action is a manifestation of health, of moral health, of morale also ; it is not right that we should produce bad things because of a bad tool; nor is it right that we should waste our energy, our health and our courage because of a bad tool; it must be thrown away and replaced. But men live in old houses and they have not yet thought of building houses adapted to themselves. The lair has been dear to their hearts since all time. To such a degree and so strongly that they have established the cult of the home. ARe ead a ee Daal = ee . 2 i‘. - < pa v4! 14 TOWARD Seen NEW ARCHITEC EUR roof / then other household gods. Religions have established themselves on dogmas, the dogmas do not change; but civilizations change and religions tumble to dust. Houses have not changed. But the cult of the house has remained the same for centuries. The house will also fall to dust. A man who practises a religion and does not believe in it is a poor wretch; he is to be pitied. We are to be pitied for living in unworthy houses, since they ruin our health and out morale. It is our lot to have become sedentary creatures ; our houses gnaw at us in our sluggishness, like a consumption. We shall soon need far too many sanatoriums. We ate to be pitied. Our houses disgust us; we fly from them and frequent restaurants and night clubs; of we gather together in our houses gloomily and secretly like wretched animals ; we ate becoming demoralized. Engineers fabricate the tools of their time. Everything, that is to say, except houses and moth-eaten boudoits. There exists in France a great national school of archi- tecture, and there are, in every country, architectural schools of vatious kinds, to mystify young minds and teach them dissimulation and the obsequiousness of the toady. National schools ! Our engineers ate healthy and virile, active and useful, balanced and happy in their work. Our architects are dis- illusioned and unemployed, boastful or peevish. This isTHE ENGINEER’S JSTOR TIC AND ARGH E Ga URiBy as because there will soon be nothing more for them to do. We no longer have the money to erect historical souvenirs. At the same time, we have got to wash ! Our engineers provide for these things and they will be our builders. Nevertheless there does exist this thing called ARCHI- TECTURE, an admirable thing, the loveliest of all. A product g, of happy peoples and a thing which in itself produces happy peoples. The happy towns are those that have an architecture. Architecture can be found in the telephone and in the Parthenon. How easily could it be at home in our houses ! Houses make the street and the street makes the town and the town is a personality which takes to itself a soul, which can feel, suffer and wonder. How at home architecture could be in street and town ! The diagnosis ts clear. Our engineers produce architecture, for they employ a mathematical calculation which derives from natural law, and their works give us the feeling of HARMONY. The engineer therefore has his own aesthetic, for he must, in making his calculations, qualify some of the terms of his equation ; and it is here that taste intervenes. Now, in handling a mathe- matical problem, a man is regarding it from a purely abstract point of view, and in such a state, his taste must follow a sure and certain path. /aay rt , hh * Hy En a " = > = ma 2 be : 3 woe > a Sas = : / So a nteereestpeeptptindiadidanaeepansmnnaanak “ : > ee nee et eee ere aren perenne Sa PS Pe eer ae = eae ™ EE a re ener aT eD Sane ELEN ES ONT eee ee rom “ —~ a0 Rane yas cs SPEAR HDA NBAFADDD ASURAG EGO AL TURAL LIG PERNA SHUG EA RPA DNF APN FETE 16 TOWARDS: A NEW ARCHITECTURE Architects, emerging from the Schools, those hot-houses where blue hortensias and green chrysanthemums are forced, and where unclean orchids are cultivated, enter into the town in the spirit of a milkman who should, as it were, sell his milk mixed with vitriol or poison.’ People still believe here and there in architects, as they believe blindly in all doctors. It is very necessary, of course, that houses should hold together! It is very necessary to have recoutse to the man of art! Art, according to Larousse, 1s the application of knowledge to the realization of a conception. Now, to-day, it is the engineer who knows, who knows the best way to construct, to heat, to ventilate, to light. Is it not true ° Our diagnosis is that, to begin at the beginning, the engineer who proceeds by knowledge shows the way and holds the truth. It is that architecture, which is a matter of plastic emotion, should in its own domain BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING ALSO, AND SHOULD USE THOSE-ELEMENTS WHICH ARE CAPABLE OF AFFECTING OUR SENSES, AND OF REWARDING THE DESIRE OF OUR EYES, and should dispose them in such a way THAT THE SIGHT OF THEM AFFECTS US IMMEDIATELY by their delicacy or their brutality, their riot or their serenity, their indifference or their interest; these elements are plastic elements, forms which our eyes see clearly and which our mind can measure. These forms, elementary or subtle, tract- able or brutal, work physiologically upon our senses (sphere, cube, cylinder, horizontal, vertical, oblique, etc.), and excite 1 TA > it 1 if i I have not felt it incumbent upon me to modify somewhat rhetorical passages such as the above.—-F. E. LTSTATTTENTTTIRTSCLURLEe UE TRL CREEtHe ENGINEERS 2S RHE IG AND ARC Hitt Gav U RE a7 them. Being moved, we are able to get beyond the cruder sensations ; certain relationships are thus born which work upon our perceptions and put us into a state of satisfaction (in consonance with the laws of the universe which govern us and to which all our acts are subjected), in which man can employ fully his gifts of memory, of analysis, of reasoning and of creation. Architecture to-day is no longer conscious of its own beginnings. ¢ Architects work in “ styles’ or discuss questions of struc- ture in and out of season; their clients, the public, still think in terms of conventional appearance, and reason on the founda- tions of an insufficient education. Our external world has been enormously transformed in its outward appearance and in the use made of it, by reason of the machine. We have gained a new perspective and a new social life, but we have not yet adapted the house thereto. The time has therefore come to put forward the problem of the house, of the street and of the town, and to deal with both the architect and the engineer. ¢ For the architect we have written our “‘ THREE REMINDERS.” Mass which is-the element by which our senses perceive and measure and ate most fully affected. SURFACE which is the envelope of the mass and which can diminish or enlarge the sensation the latter gives us. "PLAN which is the generator both of mass and surface and is that by which the whole is irrevocably fixed.eee eee ie te Ne x Sa m as a esis paras ae mia : : ST GE AR OT SR a ae = wre aap FRA AU SRA AE aR ere i i i : i olde weet: eae ator ar eas ee | ARG Hive CarUiRE, TOWARDS A NEW Then, still for the architect, “ REGULATING LINES ” showing by these one of the means by which architecture achieves that tangible form of mathematics which gives us such a grateful perception of order. We wished to set forth facts of greater value than those in many dissertations on the soul of stones. We have confined ourselves to the natural philosophy of the matter, to things that can be known. We have not forgotten the dweller in the house and the crowd in the town. We ate well aware that a great part of the present evil state of architecture is due to the c/ent, to the man who gives the order, who makes his choice and alters it and who pays. For him we have written “ EYES WHICH DO NOT SEE.” We ate all acquainted with too many big business men, bankers and merchants, who tell us: “Ah, but I am metely a man of affairs, I live entirely outside the art world, I am a Philistine.” We protest and tell them: “All your energies are directed towards this magnificent end which is the forging of the tools of an epoch, and which is creating throughout the whole world this accumulation of very beautiful things in which economic law reigns supreme, and mathematical exact- ness is joined to daring and imagination. That is what you do ;-that,-to_be exact, is Beauty.” One can see these same business men, bankers and merchants, away from their businesses in their owt homes, where everything seems to contradict their real existence— rooms too small, a conglomeration of useless and disparate objects, and a sickening spirit reigning over so many shams— Aubusson, Salon d’Automne, styles of all sorts and absurdTHE ENGINEER’S #STHETIC AND ARCHITECTURE 19 bric-a-brac. Our industrial friends seem sheepish and shrivelled like tigers in a cage; it is very clear that they are happier at their factories or in their banks. We claim, in the name of the steamship, of the airplane, and of the motor-car, the right to health, logic, daring, harmony, perfection. We shall be understood. These are evident truths. It is not foolishness to hasten forward a clearing up of things. Finally, it will be a delight to talk of ARCHITECTURE after sO many grain-stores, workshops, machines and sky-scrapets. ARCHITECTURE is a thing of att, a phenomenon of the emotions, t lying outside questions of construction and beyond them. The purpose of construction is TO MAKE THINGS HOLD TOGETHER ; of architecture TO MOVE US. Architectural emotion exists ~ when the work rings within us in tune with a universe whose laws we obey, tecognize and respect. When cettain harmonies have been attained, the work captures us. Architecture is a matter of “ harmonies,” it is “a pure creation of the spirit.” To-day, painting has outsped the other arts. It is the first to have attained attunement with the epoch.’ Modern painting has left on one side wall decoration, tapestry and the ornamental urn and has sequestered itself in a frame— flourishing, full of matter, far removed from a distracting realism ; it lends itself to meditation. Art is no longer anec- dotal, it is a source of meditation ; after the day’s work it 1s good to meditate. 1 IT mean, of course, the vital change brought about by cubism and later researches, and not the lamentable fall from grace which has for the last two years seized upon painters, distracted by lack of sales and taken to task by critics as little instructed as sensitive (1921).ie 5501 LPE NPA YEDEDENGDEDEVEDEDEN EPUPED DU DPD YES UIUETSP PED EE DED DEP ETTT ERODES DEP EDDET PEP PTEL ET PU TEED PPPS PERT EE eeo TOWARDS A. NEW.’ ARCHITECTURE On the one hand the mass of people look for a decent dwelling, and this question is of burning importance. On the other hand the man of initiative, of action, of thought, the LEADER, demands a shelter for his meditations in a quiet and sute spot; a problem which 1s indispensable to the health of specialized people. Painters and sculptors, champions of the art of to-day, you who have to bear so much mockery and who suffer so much indifference, let us purge our houses, give your help that we may reconstruct our towns. Your works will then be able to take their place in the framework of the period and you will everywhere be admitted and understood. Tell yourselves that architecture has indeed need of your attention. Do not forget the problem of architecture. i am SE rae ee acannon renee ae Sit os. conan = pra Pe rrp a Ere = aoe nnn ete ee en Pine ort 2 = - ~ . pear rs er se EE Sepa aaa eS — ———EEE eepeerenerersnesnniane Siento aid en Cea er ra Te Peainienera ere ele one et a om i | ' i { Ht i Hay a 4) i 3 Raa ‘rITR! H \ re u 3 ‘ ALY aE 5 rary er LL - . Se eee . saa MUA TERTUURLLTHLUARITLGLSTECLLeLRALLE CEA TE ECU eect UT EAT ET CETLG UTERO RU RLSERO ODEO ERG EL OD TE ET LSO ELIOT a eeITT TTEPTOL ETT TGLETFOEs Ce OLEGASHREGAEROERERERLTUUEATEGG RCL a re Pe kOe mtn Al ellen SP. et he alt Ke Rid) Pott yates AA ont Rh Ce sh A ae Pet bie ee ne es Sie — cae GRAIN ELEVATOR pestonthet eit ei os ee a CT id AOL LENO I CEO precinct tt See THREE REMINDERS TO ARGCHIIE EHS I MASS2401 PER VELEEELEDED EDD ETETEEUEEL ELLE DNT ERP E PTET LDU ET PET ET EPUB EPID EP PED TT PER ERED PET TP EPIS PEPENT PY POE Peep yyy eeperess ee \ int 1 aor Wee ; \ q { pars ay mee FAL a f pie in é Wy ; : 2 i a i wa) i \ i ii at 1 i i ” ita 5 F | h SS eaten oe aeons Sr ane ee pane aeipcenaretecnsle ies tins arsine since vie peop eSeese nen ae as capra Lat HATODETTCSSUATURUDITIFECCOLERESTARUSLOTORIT SELECT TTUATUSECTERICTNINTUETTRTTERETITERETET Rene pREDE ETERS PnOur eyes are constructed to enable us to see forms in light. Primary forms are beautiful forms because they can be clearly appreciated. Architects to-day no longer achieve these simple forms. Working by calculation, engineers employ geometrical forms, satisfying our eyes by their geometry and our understanding by their mathematics ; their work is on the direct line of good art. Siete aera “04 ae ee rate hci fiycietee Tala et 2 et Som Roa = pee TT - tN Rl ek A Ep Na REA A Boots Sid ewn EID pe ireceietc i ar Be ooPTAELELA LIDLLLASAIILEEALLELALAT LULL Ls RUG LULORES Lae LAS LAM LEE ASSES ALA Dod ed ¥ \ t : Nr Wee fen ui 4 Hee! i A) i at i i BD Seer hey phe bn & i Deena Hy nb ebb | Grey pee i. i d i WV | iP ADU i ree t i Rats a hed i a i 4 i) 4 i \ \ q ! i a ria a ti a nea aa Ri ioe a) ap earn RN ET TTTVELSTRRGU LU CES, THREE REMINDERS TO ARCHITECTS Sued = yr dnd h Li boy i * GRAIN ELEVATOR RCHITECTURE has nothing to do with the various 5 masiylesn ihe ystyles of Bouts XUV) XV, OSV on Gothic marcato atchitecture what a feather is on a woman’s head; it is SS sometimes pretty, though not always, and never anything more. Architecture has graver ends; capable of the sublime, it DPPRPREEE AS TCT TT TILT FELT Aatda 1s LoD EEE ODL ARLES PAP LALLA ES SAL Sd eek 26 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE impresses the most brutal instincts by its objectivity ; it calls into play the highest faculties by its very abstraction. Archt- tectural abstraction has this about it which is magnificently peculiar to itself, that while it is rooted in hard fact it spiritual- izes it, because the naked fact is nothing more than the material- ization of a possible idea. The naked fact is a medium for ideas only by reason of the “ order” that is applied to it. The emotions that architecture arouses spring from physical conditions which are inevitable, irrefutable and to-day eee forgotten. Mass and surface are the elements by which architecture ee Se — manifests itself. | - : 4 Mass and surface are determined by the plan. The plan | UG the generator. So much the worse for those who lack i areata Goer ae aed imagination ! eee or Se a eee POTD PEE Aen a Cee ee nye canna ne Hl ve i CATA eeeTHREE REMINDERS TO ARCHITECTS AND ELEVATORS CANADIAN GRAIN STORES " iene on Soneieeriip LLP ALI PLAS PALS rete hate th A ative % Spee ea tet ns ee eh es peor I Da ee ett ete a ea a Tae S ere a eer arid apna a a + ea eat il ete ORCI reeRI 28 ATONPARIDS AX INIBWY PUR ISIC at Oe) ee Sa aaa aieeeneen aeniipaedeeetpinieaaetranareemaaetl Re eect ih aetrtaeatemeeer nab aes Nene a eee adnan =. ras Fata FT MUA i i AMERICAN GRAIN STORES AND ELEVATORS ne reaper eRe eae SE OI ES ra iittnmeside cnc - rs c — Raa ee ee ee coamneaa Tried eee ry Free Ne ee nen tenia ae a v7 BUUALILULA SAARI ETUC RR “t Ss a | a ISR GSaY amet atin] ——- pao — ae 4 Fe yi 7 ah) i ~~.THREE REMINDERS TO ARCHITECTS FIRST REMINDER: MAss Architecture is the masterly, correct and_magnificent_play— of masses brought together_in light. Our eyes are made to see forms in light ; light and shade reveal these forms ; cubes, cones, spheres, cylinders or pyramids are the great primary S; forms which light reveals to advantage; the image of these is distinct and tangible within us and without ambiguity. It is for that reason that these are beautiful forms, the most beautiful forms. Ewetybody is agreed as to that, the child, the savage and the metaphysician. It is of the very nature of the plastic arts. Egyptian, Greek or Roman architecture is an architecture of prisms, cubes and cylinders, pytamids or spheres: the Pyramids, the Temple of Luxor, the Parthenon, the Coliseum, Hadrian’s Villa. aot: bb. } pee, ii reve il pag Ae lag ; 1 1 it qe J 7 i + < + d hb 4 i! Hy . i petpasintin eat yLOPENPELETEVEVEV EVE EVV TOTP Te OVP se ea TOWARDS NEW ARGH E Chu RE pase ae —— — = an 5 eee eee eae Oe —S : Peis = % eel ial om ag 5 i Shan Da en AN TE A OE Le RR = Qh Gothic architecture is not, fundamentally, based on spheres, cones and cylinders. Only the nave is an expression of a simple form, but of a complex geometry of the second order (intersecting arches). It is for that reason that a cathedral is not very beautiful and that we search in it for compensations of a subjective kind outside plastic art. A cathedral interests us as the ingenious solution of a difficult problem, but a problem of which the postulates have been badly stated because they do not proceed from the great primary forms. The cathedral is not a plastic work; it is a drama; a jight against the force of gravity, which is a sensation of a sentimental nature. The Pyramids, the Towers_of Babylon, the Gates of Samar- kand, the Parthenon, the Coliseum, the-Pantheon, the Pont du Gard, Santa Sophia, the Mosques of Stamboul the Tower di \ 4 UILATNOTTATTRANNALLEATTALELELEEEREERAORESSUSETRORLEGREREERGHOIUTERGGGETCGTLCRC UTS RUSTON TTTTHREE REMINDERS TO ARCHITECTS 31 of Pisa, the Cupolas of Brunelleschi and of Michael Angelo, the Pont-Royal, the Invalides—all these belong to Architecture. The Gare du Quai d’Orsay, the Grand Palais do not belong to Architecture. The architects of to-day, lost in the sterile backwaters of their plans, their foliage, their pilasters and their lead roofs, have never acquired the conception of primary masses. They were never taught that at the Schools. Not in pursuit of an architectural idea, but simply guided by the results of calculation (derived from the principles which govern our universe) and - the conception of A LIVING ORGANISM, the ENGINEERS of fo-day make use of the . primary elements and, by co-ordinating them in accordance with the rules, provoke in us architectural emotions and thus make the work. of man ring in unison with universal order. Thus we have the American grain elevators and factories, the magnificent FIRST-FRUITS of the mew age. THE AMERICAN ENGINEERS OVERWHELM WITH THEIR CALCULATIONS OUR EXPIRING ARCHITECTURE.Cre a TiC as hee ae) x ie 1a = « COURTYARD BRAMANTE AND RAPHAEL THREE REMINDERS TO ARCHITECTS Il SU IRIE A Cis Fe pe ae ep alot oe ae al OOO ee tet aeikes i en ee eT ett nee eT oat nat font atte eae es Re icra atin E ' iHi ; f $F ery ea toe ea ppd a ded Sb oh Bs SAEED TURELIPESSTIOMRTTA UAE ELAR EPL STLOTARERE ALERTS rerHL ee —- A mass is enveloped in its surface, a surface which is divided up according to the directing and generating lines of the mass; and this gives the mass its individuality. Architects to-day are afraid of the geometrical constituents of , surfaces. The great problems of modern construction must have a geometrical solution. Forced to work in accordance with the strict needs of exactly determined conditions, engineers make use of generating and accusing lines in relation to forms. They create limpid and moving plastic fi acts,a nT POSERARAE ALD EESSLSES EVES FALSE ALES LS EA ESER ESET LARS S PAPE RELEA DEDS MORES 9 2A PD ee Lora? a RAT TRTES TUTTLE REEL SCTE HOMIMHUDHUADIASEIAMUGDODSLETE TE a araanaa saat tae —_THREE REMINDERS TO ARCHITECTS paxskuenen sRQRRaCReGE SHAE SECREL T= SoeESeo jkeggune RCHITECTURE has nothing to do with the vafious ~ Soyllesar The styles of Louis XIV, XV, MV oT Gotne ate. co architecture what a feather is on a woman's head; it is sometimes pretty, though not always, and never anything more. SECOND REMINDER: SURFACE Architecture being the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light, the task of the archi- tect is to vitalize the surfaces which clothe these masses, but in such a way that these surfaces do not become parasitical, ~~ %, Se ee ne heit own advantage : eating up the mass and absorbing it to t oe AOR AG Lg er ee eee the sad story of our present-day work. 7 Se SS ——— ee To leave a mass intact in the splendour of its form in light, 27ALAS SEETSLSEALALS FALSEa TALL LASS EBL LOL ALEC EDD ERELED DEUS ASEETAND IT SEEDS ESEEELEDESSEEA RED SET REED hd ea 3: TOWARDS ANEW ARGHIAE CluUR E Cee eee eS ania ome OR RRMANTE Te agi oo a enna a eee Re IE Ae ein ng an fname teatime he e® Se nS Se nce Nera tt a ae tM Pte eae ear n> Tere as Teete geaesigp pelea encanta sires ee sere Ae eS ~~ pee ES in ciel te 4 f d | i | ! il ! i aye i | | | | ei ST EU LEETTRSLISES TREE SEU necnN TT ERECTATHREE, REMINDERS” LO; ARCHITECTS 39 but, on the other hand, to appropriate its surface for needs which are often utilitarian, is to force oneself to discover in this unavoidable dividing up of the surface the accusing and | = -. + (Sam generating lines of the form. In other words, an architectural structure is a house, a temple or a factory. The surface of the temple or the factory is in most cases a wall with holes for doors and windows: these holes are often the destruction of form; they must be made an accentuation Of ioom, lle dae fice ER OD ate ADS tant ON Sent a) apres er ——- ore =z eran ep pers eat ee aad pra rg anewdated. cLaLeeeadl TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE ae TTT | res l= ae eS SS a. _ fi, ES rt ‘cas DREYER Gram EH EB VR a T= = ee essentials of architecture lie in spheres, cones and cylinders, the generating and accusing lines of these forms are on a basis of pure geometry. But this geometry terrifies the archi- tects of to-day. Architects, to-day, do not dare to construct a Pitti Palace or a rue de Rivoli; they construct a boulevard Raspail. Let us base our present observations on the ground of actual needs: what we need is towns Jaid out in a useful manner whose general mass shall be noble (town planning). ; oc POT BIDAR TGLL De IS * We have need of streets in which cleanliness, suitability to the Saar aan a A oe a Oi rns eee Se Sa RIES ee SEO OU SEE ae ee necessities of dwellings, the application of the spirit of mass- eee ed production and industrial organization, the grandeur of the idea, the serenity of the whole effect, shall ravish the spirit and bring with them the charm that a happy conception can give. 1 Or a Regent Street.—F. E. a LE EO panna URN Seiciainedeaetpnab tae ieee eee ee tenee eninge arartirainr tienen’ | | | | | Se ene eran Te Hi i 4] | f ¥ PS Poaaiy t COT a ay" QAP ITEP TPE Re aya eer Tea . on . ‘ Sera STERNIENTITITNEN TET TDR ee eG thei hinaTHREE REMINDERS TO ARCHITECTS To model the plain surface of a primary and simple form is to bring into play automatically a rivalry with the mass itself : here you have a contradiction of intention—the boulevard Raspail. To model the surface of masses which are in themselves complicated and have been brought into harmony is to modu- late and still remain within the mass: a tate problem—the Invalides of Mansard. puatiaes OL Man A problem of our age and of contemporary esthetics : everything tends to the restoration of simple masses : streets, factories, the large stores, all the problems which will present themselves to-morrow under a synthetic form and under general aspects that no other age has ever known. Surfaces, pitted by holes in accordance with the necessities of their destined use, should borrow the generating and accusing lines of these simple forms. These accusing lines are in ptactice the chessboard or grill—American factories. But this geometry is a source of terror. Not in pursuit of an architectural idea, but guided simply by the necessities of an imperative demand, the tendency of the engineers of to-day is towards the generating and accusing lines of masses ; they show us the way and create plastic facts, clear and limpid, giving rest to our eyes and to the mind the pleasure of geometric forms. Such are the factories, the reassuring first fruits of the new age. The engineers of to-day find themselves in accord with the principles that Bramante and Raphael had applied a long time ago. E Cee Ee a = Geena SS Notes = ted at ete a ee . we > eet Te eee ths rote trina mal es alist Perec > eetiey ete n in ¥ aint a S Sates Se len PITTS pein Berna een es Cae a Or ree 7 ee eter ROP BEI nn ee aorta eam SDL OT aed a eee ripen tee ae - 24 os ctr eo aa een tel eigen yee S re Hg nee penyy ILA ReSannaa oS LADS UULDEDS EEA AEAS REALAGE SI REOREIUARES ROSA TOA SARA ss qk TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE N.B. Let us listen to the counsels of American engineers. But let us beware of American architects. For proof: } Sm a : Ss | | | i | | | | I 1 i j ; | . ~ @ ~~ RI SDE I SS ren ae Ne tr traeehtoeec IA Seo O Le IAP eee et eeaetiieabeasiomaeaaraet nee Ee a = Spore Se irene arene ae Se amandineanee Seni etieectine lata eee eh enantio eae ieee ee Jig Ss ee a ry ri ) MELA LEALLIULIIOLIORTTUAUTEEETAELSUEASUESTASELOAETRIRTOELTE AERO EE EEDUERTSERTRDRDLETELT REDE RUSSERT EOD EOD rT ERTpetal Decshsinetentfy tote ne NS, zit is : iia ia i ee Oe Oe “ eRe be ° / \ x 7 3 — et Pee eee THREE REMINDERS TO | ARCHITECTS A Il 2 JL AV INI THE ACROPOLIS A view which shows the Parthenon, the Erechtheum, and the statue of Athena in front of the Propylea. It should not be forgotten that the site of the Acropolis is very up and down, with considerable variations in level which have been used to furnish imposing bases or plinths to the buildings The whole thing being out of square, provides richly varied vistas of a subtle kind ; the different masses of the buildings, being asymmetrically arranged, create an intense rhythm. The whole composition is massive, elastic, living, terribly Sharp and keen and dominating.Pe oe ales aN Fs a ae ——s SEI i i | VHRR. ae tee ART ih 4 at OT Ta TTT TEN iit PLATT LLALOCDELESSL EASELS CC RELLLAT EE UETEOET EO ESTATES TRTDES UTSERTSS ESTEE EERO in ; HhThe Plan is the generator. Without a plan, you have lack of order, and wilfulness. The Plan holds in itself the essence of sensation. The great problems of to-morrow, dictated by collective necessities, put the question of “ plan”’ in a new form. Modern life demands, and is waiting for, a new Rind of plan both for the house and for the city. Cee * vere a bps occas bar west rare tate . Eoin - Seer =~ T lol le lal ee ee Jonas ie a s i Oe ret es ers ee inane PLETED ee taal oma Set eres See eee trACRRESEAS LL ESLLRS PIPE LEDER TRALT AGL ALTE RSE RII RRES LA RREAEA EOS DEE REA TEAL EEE S MARSA ESR Serene a a na cieteneidinaaae i | PATNA ON EY aS : a ss PEER TN ES am Cn etal nailed ee Re Eee eee nn aetna eres te oe tower tes eer sin it tree ielinpeeecornapeareaenraeeeee ee nr a ee Simchat tec eaten onsiere te eco: a : PUNY ; See é ee 5 rand A ETT STUNTS ESTEE TURE LTTERTE STRUT SEOTULSOERURIEEEETLRSTEOT ESTOS ESOS SESE COTS DET ES ERT SESTEREDDPEUTR ithe > ¢ THRE ED REMIUNDERS = £0) SAR ChiphE Gils RCHITECTURE has nothing to do with the “ styles.” It brings into play the highest faculties by its vety abstraction. Architectural abstraction has this about it which is magnificently peculiar to itself, that while it is rooted in hard fact, it spiritualizes it. The naked fact is a medium for an idea only by reason of the “order” that is applied tO! It. Mass and surface are the elements by which architecture manifests itself. Mass and surface are determined by the presen pate Sei ta soo e plan. The plan is the generator. So much the worse for those who lack imagination | THIRD REMINDER: THE PLAN The plan is the generator. The eye of the spectator finds itself looking at a site com- posed of streets and houses. It receives the impact of the masses which rise up around it. If these masses are of a formal kind and have not been spoilt by unseemly variations, if the disposition of their grouping expresses a clean rhythm and not an incoherent agglomeration, if the relationship of mass to space is in just proportion, the eye transmits to the brain co-ordinated sensations and the mind derives from these satisfactions of a high order: this is architecture. The eye observes, in a large interior, the multiple surfaces of walls and vaults; the cupolas determine the large spaces ; eT ed dpeee ia cane Bgl tant’ & Sa eee ene OTS omeSOUAReA DS LEDS LEYLA LA Oe 48 LOWARDsS A NEW ARCHITECTURE the vaults display their own surfaces; the pillars and the walls adjust themselves in accordance with comprehensible reasons. The whole structure rises from its base and is developed in accordance with a rule which is written on the ground in the plan: noble forms, variety of form, unity of the geometric principle. A profound projection of harmony : this is architecture. TYPE OF HINDOO TEMPLE The towers make a rhythm in space. The plan is at its basis. Without plan there can be neither grandeur of aim and expression, nor rhythm, nor mass, nor coherence. Without plan-we have the sensation, so insuppott- able to man, of shapelessness, of poverty, of disorder, of wilful- ness. A plan calls for the most active imagination. It calls for the most severe discipline also. The plan is what determines everything ; it is the decisive moment. A plan is not a pretty thing to be drawn, like a Madonna face; it is an austere‘ set Reece reek eA Clic ane eS Allie iba tg " Bu hii a THREE REMINDERS TO ARCHITECTS 49 abstraction; it is nothing more than an algebrization and a dry-looking thing. The work of the mathematician remains none the less one of the highest activities of the human Spirit. SANTA SOPHIA, CONSTANTINOPLE The plan influences the whole structure: the geometrical laws on which it 1s based and their various modulations are developed in every part of the building. Arrangement is an appreciable rhythm which reacts on every human being in the same way. The plan beats within itself a primary and pre-determined thythm : the work is developed in extent and in height follow- ing the prescriptions of the plan, with results which can range from the simplest to the most complex, all coming within thePerr |) TereaMMsaSs LUGS ULEI SHILLING AACA PLULOLSESESAES URGES Eat F400 S085 M20) LOLS 0 > ce kD - - = > 5° TOWARDS A NEW ARCHLNE CEURE same law. Unity of law is the law of a good plan: a simple law capable of infinite modulation. Rhythm is a state of equilibrium which proceeds either TEMPLE AT THEBES The plan is organized in accordance with the axis of the main entrance: the Avenue of Sphinxes, the pylons, the courtyard and peristyle, the sanctuary. from symmetties, simple or complex, or from delicate balancings. Rhythm is an equation; Equalization (symmetry, tepetition) (Egyptian and Hindoo temples); compensation (movement of conttary patts) (te Acropolis at Athens) ; modulation (the development of an original plastic invention) TY Sa = ae : . DU LETTS STTORTAT TTT TEESFAESTITATSOLUETRTCRSTATANOCOEEESESUOO DO EOTSER OE ETERACEDTR OREN OES UTE UC TTSST EST PRP Fr eeTaRE ER oySEAT ||) t ee ae sisi esi THREE REMINDERS TO ARCHITEGIES 51 (Santa Sophia). So many reactions, differing in the main for evety individual, in spite of the unity of aim which gives the thythm, and the state of equilibrium. So we get the astonish- ing diversity found in great epochs, a diversity which is the result of architectural principle and not of the play of decoration. The plan carries in itself the very essence of sensation. PALACE IN AMMAN (SYRIA) But the sense of the plan has been lost for the last hundred years. The great problems of to-morrow, dictated by collective necessities, based upon statistics and realized by mathematical calculation, once more revive the problem of the plan. When once the indispensable breadth of vision, which must be brought to town planning, has been realized, we shall enter upon a period that no epoch has yet known. Towns must be pnt ae an tO OT atta - aloe eet erp ee ee Namie a a te eile ere ae 7 RRs aaa ae r peed 9a) NEO z es ane nena $ » Oe ince Pad I ROS a emipeet z nse52 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE THE ACROPOLIS, ATHENS The apparent lack of order in the plan could only deceive the unlearned.” The balance of the parts is in no way a paltry one. It is determined by the famous landscape which stretches from the Piraeus to Mount Pentelicus. The scheme was designed to be seen from a distance : the axes follow the valley and the false right angles are contrived with the skill of a first-rate stage manager. The Acropolis set on its rock and on its sustaining walls, seen from afar appears as one solid block. The buildings are massed together in accordance with the incidence of their varying plans. conceived and planned throughout their entire extent in the same way as were planned the temples of the East and as the Invalides ot the Versailles of Louis XIV were laid out.eet ates REMINDERS TO ARCHITECTS 53 THREE The technical equipment of this epoch—the technique of finance and the technique of construction—is ready to carry out this task. Tony Garnier, backed by Herriot at Lyons, planned his x = Y > aan “ ‘ © 6) S 5 He % »)] # ¢ + ae eee \ y ri FOO res | Cy GLC ame (ae { KY <= =f Ey) © S05 peice C) | ©} B PaO ==O) ih SE FEC) | © 4 z SA AO erin \: J G Coe ie ~ '@ Ve &) Wisi | ih 1 t . ea) fam =. | 6 ) al rs al {2) @ eee NORD: a) “QUARTIER 5 TONY GARNIER. A HOUSING SCHEME TAKEN FROM THE © CITE INDUSTRIELLE” In his important studies on the Manufacturing Town, Tony Garnier has taken for granted certain possibilities of social development, not yet brought to pass, which would permit of methods of normal expansion of towns. The public would have complete control of all building sites. - 1 house for each family: only one half of the area would be occupied by buildings, the other half being for public use and planted with trees : hedges and fences would not be allowed. In this way the town could be traversed in every direction, quite inde pendently of the streets, which there would be no need for a pedestrian to use. The town would really be like a great park. “industrial quarter” (C7#é). It is an attempt at an ordered scheme and a fusion of utilitarian and plastic solutions. One fixed rule governing the units employed gives, in every quarter of the town, the same choice of essential masses and detet- mines the intervening spaces in accordance with practical necessities and the biddings of a poetical sense peculiar to the iin eer acsPo PAO reedaaae 54 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE architect. Though we may reserve our judgment as to the relationship of the various zones of this industrial city, one experiences here the beneficent results of order. Where order reigns, well-being begins. By the happy creation of a system of atrangement of the various plots, even the residential quarters for artisans take on a high architectural significance. Such is the result of a plan. In the present state of marking time (for modern town planning is not yet born), the most noble quarters of our “towns ate inevitably the manufacturing ones where the basis of grandeur and style—namely, geometry—tresults from the problem itself- The plan has been a weak feature, and is still so to-day. True, an admirable order reigns in the interior of markets and workshops, has dictated the structure of machines and governs their movements, and conditions each gesture of a gang of workmen; but dirt infects their sutroundings, and incoherence ran riot when the rule and square dictated the placing of the buildings, spreading them about in a crazy, costly and dangerous way. It would have been enough if there had been a plan. And one day we shall have a plan for our needs. The extent of the evil will bring us to this. One day Auguste Perret created the phrase: ““ The City of Towers.” A glittering epithet which aroused the poet in us. A word which struck the note of the moment because the fact itself is imminent! Almost unknown to us, the “ great 5 city ~ is engendering its plan. This plan may well be a gigantic affair, since the great city is a rising tide. It is time that we s rea! 1 ry Oey A 7 : CaP OE LUSERRSATATRELES TREN CL OVOR LINED DATED EEEHDOVUEA EE ARUP VOLEL ODEN ELLE LM) DEON EP Speer Loh ieeehh bebeeTONY GARNIER. DRAWING SHOWING THE PASSAGES OR WALKS BETWEEN THE HOUSES TONY GARNIER. A STREET IN A HOUSING SCHEME 55 Pebeideed oye) ae EE te 4 iy ish 2irturlv berth Rete ctinewep ee ee Recreate intaataae Eee niet tins el en ee ee ino ne eee Poetic eee ce Unrest eee etetiet ede el ee tae el eS eceny ee COO tad, SS a remy Kae npn e ae as ar rea - le Oa ITE Te EL SLES ee ntl = ee RET earn rs wae tamePamir Lr reseaeed Se AQEeteeUe Ue) 00S SID AREAADSS EAP OeSaaDSeaoOOC C0 Mca On eo ae ee es sai eee ete 5 6 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITEEGCLURE aN | 2S ; f } ¢ \ \ (ea aiee SS . = es wore t Fi ecient Sa = fc aint ys S Reg EE CORBUSLER = LOzsien AU Glitye Ol ROWERS The towers are placed amidst gardens and playing-fields. The main arteries, with their motor-tracks built over them, allon of easy, or rapid, or very rapid circulation of traffic. should repudiate the existing lay-out of our towns, in which the congestion of buildings grows greater, interlaced by natrow streets full of noise, petrol fumes and dust; and where on each storey the windows open wide on to this foul confusion. The great towns have become too dense for the security of their inhabitants and yet they are not sufficiently dense to meet the new needs of ‘‘ modern business.” If we take as our basis the vital constructional event which the American sky-scraper has proved to be, it will be sufficient to bring together at certain points (relatively distant) the great density of our modern populations and to build at these points enormous constructions of 60 storeys high. Reinforced con- F cei Th Oey TOveUE) ODES eae lia Cee at ret es " om dss Lo A ay DS a a ietedietedee tt Ene om Pen tone, Ga saab adndisva heen thectaisteecinen aa ne die eee parenting tig eek eet ee rer potent heer ore etait mt 0s rch oo pa er al aaa nL Sn ariel eelul Bema HN MaaeaNs FANS LISELI Es S20 0000S LeecSTT aR Le LeLcGe eS Geet 00RD 12 BoE Seen 58 TOWARDS: ANEW ARGHITECEURE crete and steel allow of this audacity and lend themselves in particular to a certain development of the facade by means of which all the windows have an uninterrupted view: in this way, in the future, inside courts and “ wells ” will no longer exist. Starting from the fourteenth storey you have absolute calm and the purest air. In these towers which will shelter the worker, till now stifled in densely packed quarters and congested streets, all the necessary services, following the admirable practice in America, will be assembled, bringing efficiency and economy of time and effort, and as a natural result the peace of mind which is so necessaty.: These towers, rising up at great distances from one another, will give by reason of their height the same accommodation that has up till now been spread out over the superficial area; they will leave open enormous spaces in which would run, well away from them, the noisy arterial toads, full of a trafic which becomes increasingly rapid. ~ At the foot of the towers would stretch the parks: trees covering the whole town. The setting out of the towers would form imposing avenues; there indeéd is an architecture worthy of our time. Auguste Perret set forth the principle of the City of Towers ; but he has not produced any designs. On the other hand he allowed himself to be interviewed by a reporter of the “ Intran- sigeant ’ and to be so far carried away as to swell out his conception beyond reasonable limits. In this way he threw a veil of dangerous futurism over what was a sound idea. The reporter noted that enormous bridges would link each o I ro a0 . eb ULULELILULLCCESUSUILU RESTS OUY SOS PITSIESUONTSRTCHT ER STS IITA TON TUNT DTN CC TTN Te TeTUTETTse ree every yr eeeTHREE REMINDERS TO ARCHITECTS 59 tower to the next ; for what purpose ? The arteries for traffic would be placed far away from the houses; and the inhabi- tants, free to disport themselves in the parks among ttees planted in ordered patterns, or on the grass or in the places of amusement, would never have the slightest desire to take their exercise on giddy bridges, with nothing at all to do when they got there! The reporter would have it also that the LE CORBUSIER, I915. TOWNS BUILT ON PILES The ground level of the town is raised from 12 to 16 feet by means of concrete piles which serve as foundations for the houses. The actual “ ground’ of the town is a sort of floor, the streets and pavements as it were bridges. Beneath this floor and directly accessible are placed all the main services, at present buried in the ground and inaccessible—water, gas, electricity, telephone wires, sewers, etc. town would be raised on innumerable piles of reinforced con- crete carrying the streets at a height of 65 feet (6 storeys if you please !) and linking the towers one to another. These piles would leave an immense space underneath the town in which would be placed the gas and water mains and the sewers, the visceta of the city. Perret had never set out his plan, and the idea could not be carried further without a plan. I had myself put forward this idea of using piles a long time before Auguste Perret, and it was a conception of aPumagesds 11 Seeamageas 10S Le00H3 20 AtREASGaL ELAS SAA EEEEATAS EEL LAiL TGs SoRS caasad F40040 EC od RR r wane ena a 60 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE much less grandiose charactet ; but it was capable of meeting a genuine need. I applied it to the existing type of town such as the Paris of to-day. Instead of forming foundations by excavating and constructing thick foundation walls, instead of digging up and digging up again the roadways in order to bury in them (a labour of Sisyphus) the gas and water mains, the sewers and the Tubes, with constant repairs to execute, it would be agreed that any new districts should be con- structed at ground level, the foundations being replaced by the necessaty number of concrete piles; these would have carried the ground floor of the houses and, by a system of corbelling, the pavements and the roadways. Within this space so gained, of a height of from 12 to 18 feet, would run heavy lorries, and the Tubes replacing the encumbrance of tramways, and so on, with a direct service to points immediately below the buildings. This complete net- _work of traffic, working independently of that reserved for pedestrians and quick-moving vehicles, would be a pure gain and would have its own geography independent of any obstruc- tion due to the houses: an ordered forest of pillars in the midst of which the town would exchange its merchandise, bring in its food supplies, and perform all the slow and clumsy tasks which to-day impede the speed of traffic. Cafes and places for recreation would no longer be that fungus which eats up the pavements of Paris: they would be transferred to the flat roofs, as would be all commerce of a luxury kind (for is it not really illogical that one entire super- ficies of a town should be unused and reserved for a flirtation Y a ‘i \ i ‘ ‘ rene " My ULE ERESEA CLES ELSTON EL EDRU CRED EMESUSS ESTORIL REN Orns Megara eae se ire et ae.THREE REMINDERS TO ARCHITECTS 61 between the tiles and the stars ?). Short passage-ways in the shape of bridges above the ordinary streets would enable foot traffic to get about among these newly gained quarters consecrated to leisure amidst flowers and foliage. The result of this conception would be nothing less than a ttiplication of the traffic area of a town; it was capable of realization since it corresponded to a meed, was less costly and more rational- than the aberrations of to-day. Vt was a reasonable notion, given the old framework of our towns, just as the conception of the City of Towers will prove a reasonable idea, as regards the towns of to-morrow. Here, then, we have a lay-out of streets which would bring about an entirely new system of town planning and would provide a radical reform in the tenanted house or apartment ; this imminent reform, necessitated by the transformation of domestic economy, demands a new type of plan for dwelling-houses, and an entirely new organisation of setvices corresponding to modern life in a great city. Here again the plan is the generator; without it poverty, disorder, wilfulness reign supreme. Instead of our towns being laid out in massive quadrangles, with the streets in narrow trenches walled in by seven-storeyed buildings set perpendicular on the pavement and enclosing unhealthy courtyards, airless and sunless wells, our new lay- out, employing the same area and housing the same number of people, would show great blocks of houses with successive set-backs, stretching along arterial avenues. No mofe coutt- yards, but flats opening on every side to air and light, and She Oe. Sa =| a ae ; eeaiceenh pen wo tna hon we = ~~ saree enlace cece csethaialneielaainie ei ae Cee er nn ene ae ee RT a ee tte Bee Sor acento beter ELT eet Orfeo foe cee ECO II SET a tne ee ¢ atic arta oat eer es POP O Gr eee en sas fc Goce arr " \ Se searperenne emiene oe ere Pr Sad 0M 62 TOWINR DS A NEW. ARCH TE GU REE a Le | [th | ea EG GS a SPE AE] 5 ta | eo NNO SESMETESO LU LERIDALURISTADEOB SASSER ORY TT SETOUERIOR ERED PRISE ETT STIR ANS AYIIS SPT OR ASS LE CORBUSIER, 1920. Vast airy and sunlit spaces on which all windows would open. Gardens and playgrounds around the buildings. Simple facades with immense bays. The successive projections give play of light and shade, and a feeling of richness is achieved by the scale of the main lines of the design and by the vegetation seen against the geometrical background of the facades. Obviously we have here, as in the case of the City of Towers, a question of enterprise on a huge financial scale, capable of undertaking the construction of entire quarters. A street such as this would be designed by a single architect to obtain unity, grandeur, dignity and economy. FD psctseere CCT), ORs ERIE Tenth - ~~ ft \ f 7 | } 1 { { as cae WH RPTL ay LE CORBUSIER, 1920. STREETS WITH SET-BACKS ee at erert ba Pee At oe ee ee re aTHREE REMINDERS TO ARCHITECTS 63 looking, not on the puny trees of our boulevards of to-day, but upon green sward, sports grounds and abundant plantations of trees. The jutting prows of these great blocks would break up th long avenues at regular intervals. The various set-backs a promote the play of light and shade, so necessary to architectural expression. Reinforced concrete has brought about a revolution in the esthetics of construction. By suppressing the roof and replacing it by terraces, reinforced concrete is leading us to a new esthetic of the plan, hitherto unknown. These set-backs and recessions ate quite possible and will, in the future, lead to a play of half-lights and of heavy shade with the accent running not from top to bottom, but horizontally from left to right. This is a modification of the first importance in i. esthetic of the plan; it has not yet been realized ; but we shall be wise to bear this in our minds, in considering Ce. for the extension of out towns. We are living in a period of reconstruction and of adap- tation to new social and economic conditions. In rounding this Cape Horn the new horizons before us will only recover the grand line of tradition by a complete revision of the methods in vogue and by the fixing of a new basis of construction established in logic. In architecture the old bases of construction are dead. We shall not rediscover the truths of architecture until new bases have established a logical ground for evety architectural ERS GL teA e i ALG Spb aeees eee BJ ! Lae 64 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE manifestation. A period of 20 years is beginning which will be occupied in creating these bases. A period of great problems, a petiod of analysis, of experiment, a period also of great esthetic confusion, a period in which a new esthetic will be elaborated. We must study the plan, the key of this evolution. a ee ete ee ree ae eee Cae a ccna eee i taipmaetieneinertinae teas bree eat eee ee ae Sa LE CORBUSIER AND PIERRE JEANNERET. A ROOF GARDEN ON A PRIVALE HOUSE At AUGEULLE ernie aie ee ee eS A er eS NP tae ah an ane r pian near aay bd saa a I! See ee Re ee ed aaa eee re ee Ea SL a a ET I TL ree eerie en areea Roz! i } t 5 EET SEDGE EDAD UDG ON LGUs OMG TOLSEE DR IALALOTER MENG) erty et tee eeeTHE PORTE SAINT-DENIS (BLONDEL) REGULATING LINES PeETEEe lice, PRUSUPRATUREERARES CCDS (Ch te SPUUEEAENREHIRELG SS oe 7 Bw H f a ve : s Wem nt =m Scie henna a5 ere Peer tenn tiga "|Peay Perea et A rp 4 Tenaga YEE , a , AK [IESMRAES] HLESLES TEL EAEESAS APSE SLA OA SEAS URAL ISS ELES ASL EaD ReeS eA EE EEE AUB hae al ea Vit? TH EH ee : aeTrrAn inevitable element of Architecture. The necessity for order. The regulating line is a guarantee against wilfulness. It brings satisfaction to the understanding. The regulating line is a means to an end; it is not a recipe. Its choice and the modalities of expression given to it are an integral part of architectural creation. eave TER. | £ ite Bate 2 H Tt eae ame a 1A eeeos TESS SLE ae a ere 7 75 ; 1 ~l aa) PTUSTITTTTES SUSTUTRTEETERETT OTOP TERY IOS TT STORES eT nrr rrr erre rR ERETE ere renrsesREGULATING LINES RIMITIVE man has brought his chariot to a stop, he decides that here shall be his native soil. He chooses a glade, he cuts down the trees which are too close, he levels the eatth around ; he opens up the road which will carry him to the river or to those of his tribe whom he has just left; he drives in the stakes which are to steady his tent. He sur- rounds this tent with a palisade in which he arranges a doorway. The road is as straight as he can manage it with his implements, his arms and his time. The pegs of his tent describe a square, a hexagon or an octagon. The palisade forms a rectangle whose four angles are equal. The door of his hut is on the axis of the enclosure—and the door of the enclosure faces exactly the door of the hut. The men of the tribe have decided to form a shelter for their god. They place him in a spot where they have made a clearing, properly laid out; they put him under cover in a substantial hut and they drive in the pegs of the hut to form a square, a hexagon, of an octagon. They protect the hut by a solid palisade and drive in the pegs to take the shrouding of the ropes attached to the tall posts of the fence. They mark out the space to be reserved for the priests and set up the altar and the vessels of sacrifice. They open up an entrance in the palisade and they place it on the axis of the door of the sanctuary. You may see, in some archeological work, the representa- tion of this hut, the representation of this sanctuary - it is ii OR Ae a ps : rs ae ¢ LINES REGULATING 55 LS OO ere es ol aseptic aR = dane nt alah TWO HOUSES AT LE CORBUSIER AND PIERRE JEANNERET, 1924. AUTEUIL oes pe at pile PP et Ae ec eee Ppa net eeera YTS SUCCES Ue é ~ i a2 | f " te Poa eae i 7 - oe a ne ee “ { lie i i i i i if t | | | | as ae aoe Sg Leeper ee arnaiaira . No nat ee mn eternteerekenrehene eee ere enna ee aed hens edn coon eee et nee ea e ee EDS aasay eres ee Ait . é es 01S LTUTTERTSTRTNTSTNETECAUSITS TABOR SSNS TO ISTOR ETTORE SS PUTUT NED TURTON TR TE eee Re Le eC eaei ee er eee Tere Re!Biblia = Ze f aoe a, Mai : B nH is] f e = Puree py arueras) Me _ = Ee ates, oo te ———§ ia Aen = wu a enn sovasrenanaen nn ee i] ik THE “FLANDRE” (CIE. TRANSATLANTIQUE ae : Peni ones ° — tind LES eas OL =, Re Se : > os ec tieiS= I ey oe le eter NS NaS WEIGEL IDO INO sles I LINERS? ay PTT LLS sKumeeked LAEDLOLIDELRAPAADELARUS SLAG RERDADAESTIOSES Ie ABII4 Rose Mas SeOS Sos ee ee eee oe y HEALER EAL OMEE LEAT RSRESTRTSSEEADSOR ORES EPRTRUERTER USE EEST TAT OEEL TEETER Fr Tereue A great epoch has begun. There exists a new spirit. There exists a mass of work. conceived in the new spirit ; it is to be met with particularly in industrial production. Architecture is stifled by custom. The “ styles” are a lie. Style is a unity of principle animating all the work, of an epoch, itis tmetan Siri ries ee eeiy tate te nee. ————— — Pe mee Oe es ee at the result of a state of mind which has its own special character. Our own epoch is determining, day by day, its own Style. Our eves, unhappily, are unable yet to discern it. Uys, Ly; = SeesSah ipaeseay a 7 | hil | Hy a Hi Se r 1) eae ty OY. rare eT aR TR P ae ath ith?! PTT IETTNTNTET ETAT: SUERTE TERRY: CLOSE ATTA LVO ERP MY eT bebe ephbbe Ebb thpeA x PCE fo ‘nis feof WIS WeuiClal IDO) INI Sle) There is a new spirit: it is a spirit of construction and of synthesis guided by a clear conception. Whatever may be thought of it, it animates to-day the greater part of human activity. A GREAT EPOCH IS BEGINNING Programme of /’ Esprit Nouveau. No. 1. October 1920. Nobody to-day can deny the esthetic which is disengaging itself from the creations of modern industry. More and more buildings and machines are growing up, in which the proportions, the play of their masses and the materials used are of such a kind that many of them are real works of art, for they are based Now, the specialized persons who make on ‘‘number,” that is to say, on order. his virile up the world of industry and business and who live, therefore, in t lovely works are created, will tell themselves that They are wrong, for they are Neither artists nor business atmosphere where indubitably they are far removed from any esthetic activity. among the most active creators of contemporary aesthetics. It is in general artistic production that the style men take this into account. in certain productions of an epoch is found and not, as is too often supposed, of an ornamental kind, mere superfluities which overload tl Grotto-work does not make Louis ie system of thought which alone furnishes the elements of a style. Quinze, the lotus is not the Egyptian style, etc., etc. From a tract issued by l’ Esprit Nouveau. pe a ae90 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE HE “decorative arts” ate going strong! After 30 years of underground work they are at their height. Enthusiastic commentators talk of regenerating French art/ A\l we need remember of this adventure (which will finish badly) is that something more is being born than a rebirth of decoration: —- a new epoch is replacing a dying one. Machinery, a new factor in human affairs, has aroused a new spirit. An epoch creates its own architecture, and this is the clear image of a system of thought. During the topsy-turvydom of this critical period, till the arrival of a new age with its ideas set in order, clear and lucid, and with definite desires, decorative art was like the straw which drowning men are said to clutch at in a storm. ercietrartineecioniecortecmeetenetre ee taiane nko ieteiapeaieatraraetre inna A vain refuge! Let us remember of this adventure that decorative art at least provided a good opportunity to unload AEG ns RU ON UN OO De ree S me PT URE EE . re eee ce the past and to feel our way once more towards the spirit of architecture. The spirit of architecture can only result from a patticular condition of material things and a particular con- edna dition of mind. It would seem that events have succeeded een ESN SS aN eee ni ane tnn ene Se ae ae ee bariaamaane ae eee one another sufficiently rapidly for a state of mind belonging to the period to assert itself and for the spirit of architecture to reach a formula. Even if the decorative atts are now at the dangerous height which goes before a fall, we may still nae ane Rieter ES nee ep eS case sl Cie Cineesartes server npr aners Tea et al | | | | | i 1 fr i { | a JH hw {i Pes ear) oS ee any > aN os: n 7 > a DOT URE ELULMRECEA ORT ATCERUASOTRESSSUR ESOL RI REGRET METIS RIR ETS ra RTE rereVas WHIENICISl IDO) INO’! SIsis 91 say that men’s minds to-day have been stirred up to remember what it 1s they aspire to. We may well believe that the appointed time of architecture has come. M. PAUL VERA: TAIL PIECE The Greeks, the Romans, the Grand Siécle, Pascal and Descartes, wrongly adduced as witnesses in favour of the decorative atts, have enlightened our judgment, and we now find ourselves immersed in architecture ; architecture which ts everything—but is not the “ decorative arts.” Tail pieces and garlands, exquisite ovals where triangular doves preen themselves or one another, boudoirs embellished ¢ with “ poufs”’ in gold and black velvet, are now no more than the intolerable witnesses to a dead spirit. These sanc- tuaries stifling with elegancies, or on the other hand with the follies of “ Peasant Art,” ate an offence. We have acquired a taste for fresh air and cleat daylight. *K * Engineers unknown to the world at large, mechanics 1n er aad oe cthaetint net ° “ ot PEt ra tetera’ artnetETOWARDS A NEW ARCHIE E GRU Naeem agg I 2 Meee eee ee ee a eee ee eee aares aan ect eel nde ne een THE CUNARDER ‘“ AQUITANIA, WHICH CARRIES 3,600 PERSONS, COMPARED WITH VARIOUS BUILDINGS shop and forge have conceived and constructed these formid- able affairs that steamships are. We land-lubbers lack the ee eee an power of appreciation and it would be a good thing if, to See ee ee teach us to raise our hats to the works of “ regeneration,” we had to do the miles of walking that the tour of a steamship entails. * 2 * ekteenceenteed Architects live and move within the narrow limits of eee ee ee eae an a eee eS academic acquitements and in ignorance of new ways of building, and they are quite willing that their conceptions should remain at doves kissing one another. But our daring and masterly constructors of steamships produce palaces in comparison with which cathedrals are tiny things, and they See eignieeaiiaaraneeeaanaperand throw them on to the sea ! eee ee a a a a en Toten te eee i" ; - . ‘Architecture is stifled by custom. nara ct ale a Capone are ler Sea SAS paced ioeneenal AdET The use of thick walls, which was in earlier days a necessity, has persisted, although thin partitions of glass or brick can well enclose a ground floor with 50 storeys above it. Siinipemtosaeoptipecsieaneeh tier mete eee cemantinaees SSS Sn a aN “4 ae) Ey TT eee arrears om OTP ODO Ua SEUTRTZETERTEMIEUT SRT ES USAR USED LONER TORTURES enn ae a to oeEYES WHICH DO NOt SEE f ¥ : — / pile : ‘a > afi THE CUNARDER “AQUITANIA ” In a town like Prague, for example, an old enactment imposes a wall-thickness of 14 inches at the top storey of houses, with an additional projection of 42 inches for each storey below, which means that the thicknesses of walls of buildings may easily be nearly 5 feet on the ground floor. To-day, the construction of facades in which soft stone is used in large blocks leads to this absurd result—that the windows, originally intended to introduce light, are flanked by deep embrasures which completely thwart the intention. On the valuable ground of our great cities, you can still see masses of masonty fising as foundations for a building, although simple concrete piles would be equally effective. RT ei A a ae ak en oo ee eae tt ioe opt entre a moses ees OOP pra roe ee SOIT OPN SO TO as ee etna ee are Pease ; ae ~ eft ea art ee se ete Rt at on Ra eeiet nee -- oat ae amet te ne eT emt Seance Te pl Dean meee Ee Pecos Ereas So nS Fi PUP PEOETEVEUET Ea Ey peers es a MGV E Can URE A NEW TOWARDS epee < PII a pc Haare NS - ~ 4 > a - J - = : = — = — Se eee ay ae Ee aes ieanieandenaeaeini emai nae aiieaeaca a eta airtel as — ‘< THE “LAMORICIERE” (CIE. TRANSATLANTIQUE) To architects : a beauty of a more technical order. An esthetic nearer to its real origins. The roofs, these wretched roofs, still persist, an inexcusable patadox. The basements ate still damp and cluttered up, and the service mains of our towns are invariably buried under stonework like atrophied organs, although a logical approach rE Ie TSR a eta ania aa to the problem, easily realized, would produce the propet solution. The “styles ”’—for he must indeed have something to furnish—come in as the great contribution of the atchitect. They intervene in the surface decoration of facades and of drawing-rooms ; this is the degeneration of “ Styles the old near POA paar eee eee iene ete ne SPSS Scent cea ee eect Nan a pe arenes ee ia ey Rete See a Ee Tanna Cer erpeninsiopelnnns nnatey ariel ees clothes of a past age; it is a respectful and servile salute to the past: disquieting modesty! It is a lie: for in the “ great “2, -~ eee, ee Me ee ee DH ATTIRE STA RIRURTRETESTUILTE RESTS DUC SORT UDR TN RE NEED Str tren ererrrn F Gt aNCIS) WlnliGlsl IDC) IN|Oe Slee 95 periods ” facades were smooth, pierced at regular intervals and of good human proportions. The walls were as thin as they dare make them. Palaces? Very good for Grand Dukes of that time. But does any gentleman copy the Grand Dukes of to-day ? Compiégne, Chantilly, Versailles are good to behold from a certain angle, but . . . there is a great deal that might be said. * * A house is a machine for living in. Baths, sun, hot-water, cold-water, warmth at will, conservation of food, hygiene, beauty in the sense of sade proportion. An armchair is a machine for sitting in and so on. Our modern life, when we are active and about (leaving out the moments when we fly to gruel and aspirin) has created its own objects: its costume, its fountain pen, its eversharp pencil, its typewriter, its telephone, its admirable office furnt- tute, its plate-glass and its “Innovation” trunks, the safety tazor and the briar pipe, the bowler hat and the limousine, the steamship and the airplane. Our epoch is fixing its own style day by day. It is there under our eyes. Eyes which do not see. We must clear up a misunderstanding : we are ina diseased state because we mix up art with a respectful attitude towards mete decoration. This is to displace the natural feeling for att and to mingle with it a reprehensible light-mindedness in my ee oR ogee a . 0 Le remy et PA ace asians te Trt gente GC ol cetacean reed to eT ee eee att ee eae er ae eres a Pe a Jf = pateeerenS a eeti. aap es ne eee AA IL Te ae een Penns Gnade ies Seen a See Se ee anaes THE CUNARDER © AQUITANIA” The same esthetic as that of a briar pipe, an office desk or a limousine. A SET IE TAO GAAP EERO Pane Pars eae ena rnin ae Sere ene ean * SS 5S ware e" IO Ree OOOO oF oe os Paar Sen naan ann anen ne ere ie THE ~ AQUITANIA ” For architects : a wall all windows, a saloon full of light. What a contrast with the windows in our houses making holes in the walls and forming a patch of shade on either side. The result is a dismal room, and the light seems so hard and unsympathetic that curtains are indispensable in order to soften it. 96 i re A RS Pe Inte een SNe ee eee Ne ean emi en eee Ree eee eS aan eet Ce aaa RNIN ee OOS pt me n ST aE ERD Seen ncn een cetera net Bt ot eeeaeioeteeia * : ~ = Vy yy, PRT WWE TART FPERy oe MODUL ERTORETTSEVOONTOUERTALCESITRTADSOR ASS USES RU EATOLUT REET ECONO SEL EE ran ceeee CEs s Suk, FRYGE'S) WIELIGE D © ate Se ee A AA One Otello eet ee eed a een te of some great buildings. Oe Ee ee ne 5 - : ko patentee ne Pid Perr eA EAD POET IL oe we eee ae ed Look at this and thin A rr ad O Z < eA ec. a ¥ = if i -S Ae ay, pe oS i w S may ZS Ne mw OOS ny = 8 tS i a ee al irae OT ere aS a es noise oo et andes Ae Meee eee Pe ee eS Ce ik at -antintiiinctind eres Made in the Saint-Nazaire yards ere 5 Ser oe rer Pee CRP OMONT OD fe ree ee ne eee lt een enema meee SED GS aletatathel end ne wage, een one:ee wae L eo eal THE “ AQUITANIA” (CUNARD LINE) Architects note: a seaside villa, conceived as are these liners, would be more appropriate than those we see with their heavy tiled roofs. But perhaps it might be claimed that this is not a “‘ maritime”? style! THE “ AQUITANIA” (CUNARD LINE) Architects note : the value of a“ long gallery” or promenade—satisfying and interesting volume ; unity in materials ; a fine grouping of the constructional elements, sanely exhibited and rationally assembled. 98 Oe: k OL EMTS TUNER TETAS UTRTRE ETRE RT oreW HICH DOF NOD SEE JE) ; elements both vast and intimate but on man’s scale ; TRANSATLANTIOQOU LAMORICIERE ” (CIE. ce pL y eae Architects note : freedom from een the solids and voids ; powerful masses and slender elements. new architectural forms good contrast betn < the “ styles” that stifle us ; ee io Einar k eae een See ee SN Soe nee en ae paar ee wenn oe ene povkbete Ba ptintte eee TS ns ee Can tan RIN ene recta SN bette iim lth TiO A ae peemigereenel pat Pe re RSS Sete tn eee Sterns a Big ot Ss a ee eS iE PETTY ee ane ee ee er aad eee ier rtopd jap nin a anette mene et — Te A PT rere peered parler ist SS oad ans Soars as pronase onto nS, on _—) a ireTOP eee 100 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE ae : ene fone ene : eee arty oe Nero ineianengabrenanpea anne re a SS Saar ne PLS Se eee oramnaaaaayal EDIE ERE IP NODES Sst ADE PIPED ADIT OS OE aa taba Se enpanaaamne Sa ee ee 2 a “ ee aa Seceae “ri a a i tg eer ale nn mec Baw Rete peo So en ern ea eandpaeies ce < THE “EMPRESS OF FRANCE” (CANADIAN PACIFIC) An architecture pure, neat, clear, clean and healthy. Contrast with this our carpets, cushions, canopies, wall-papers, carved and gilt furniture, faded or “arty” colours : the dismalness of our Western bazaar. everything, which merely works to the advantage of the Ce 29 theories and campaigns conducted by “ decorators ” who do not understand their own period. Art is an austere thing which has its sacred moments. We profane them. A frivolous art leers upon a world which has need rather of organisation, of implements and of methods and which is pushing forward in travail towards the establish- ment of a new order. A society lives primarily by bread, by the sun and by its essential comforts. Everything remains to be done! Immense task! And it is so imperative, so urgent SET “ae? re A » un a a eee eeccel eaeaeaeeeaerebane . as b Hl berthene wT wo) 3h) | EMTS TRT ETAT ETES TET TPR RILISEN TRUER CR EER ROTO RE CEN RUS ENON TSR PETE TRkop Oni Rete PS wed i ia at as aes u ib 4 fe 458 ra Se ae eae SPN en SEE A DR dee ee nee ae ren ns en IE Ee mere Se Sack ep ete cere eaten pear ee ies wo Uap WIIG D © NO e aes & eee a eset trnein Siren I Oe AS siete fe ote ee eRe ees ae es > THE ‘““ EMPRESS OF ASIA’ (CANADIAN PACIFIC) << Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light.” ne on tn ee De Sa IT a iced that the entire world is absorbed in this dominating necessity. Machines will lead to a new order both of work and of leisure. Entire cities have to be constructed, or reconstructed, in order rea rare re epee eae OE a to provide a minimum of comfort, for if this is delayed too il long, there may be a disturbance of the balance of society. i Society is an unstable thing and is cracking under the con- i fusion caused by fifty years of progress which have changed ‘i the face of the world more than the last six centuries have 4 \ 5 done. The time is ripe for construction, not for foolery.TOWARDS ARCHITECTURE A NEW The art of our period is performing its proper functions when it addresses itself to the chosen few. Art is not a popular thing, still less an expensive toy for rich people. Art is not an essential pabulum except for the chosen few who have need of meditation in order that they may lead. Art is in its essence arrogant. *K *K * In the painful gestation of this age as it forms itself, a need of harmony becomes evident. May our eyes be opened: this harmony already exists, the Q result of work governed by economy and conditioned by physical necessities. This harmony has its causes; it is not in any way the effect of caprice, but is of a logical construction and congruous with the world around it. In the daring transposition of human labour that has taken place, nature has still been present and with the greater rigour as the problem was difficult. The creations of mechanical technique are organisms tending to a pure functioning, and obey the same te ee ee en eee ee evolutionary laws as those objects in nature which excite our tee admiration. There is harmony in the performances which come ftom the wotkshop or the factory. It is not Art; it is not the Sistine Chapel nor the Erechtheum ; these are the everyday jobs of a whole world working with perception, pee ae er Ne ar eT >: ov 7 EN I ee EP a ee ee ee ait ee anne ee intelligence and precision, with imagination, daring and severity. or oe peat Se es If we forget for a moment that a steamship is a machine for transport and look at it with a fresh eye, we shall feel that we ate facing an important manifestation of temerity, of Mh SOS ar CT AE Se ey a _ iicdiveatieapeccrnetya ee et Sieapieetnest ete eaten nen ee eaten tae feliieiainpmeredras eee ee ae ee os ) 5 ony . 0 ww Hr: * r 7 i ay VST A DID V OREO R Ree REC STORO RU ES RERRENTS CP RUT ARO RSR EROS RRC O TEEIBNGES Wileli(Clel IDO) IN(ONE Sale 103 discipline, of harmony, of a beauty that is calm, vital and strong. A seriously-minded architect, looking at it as an architect (2.e. a creator of organisms), will find in a steamship his freedom from an age-long but contemptible enslavement to the past. He will prefer respect for the forces of nature to a lazy a - - * ee chine Ocoee : = Pa ea ed deine No ang ree cen ee Daehn a respect for tradition; to the narrowness of commonplace conceptions he will prefer the majesty of solutions which fet spring from a problem that has been clearly stated—solutions ae needed by this age of mighty effort which has taken so gigantic i a step forward. | | eee i The house of the earth-man is the expression of a cifcum- scribed world. The steamship is the first stage in the realization RT i on oe in aiaad of a world organized according to the new spirit. mes Ee A te a ae nr poem pee RTT IS pee ei eee wre a Aaa penal Opt a maaan an ery ap enn imi ee re wae ae re eect epee pees a al eae were ee nee een Se ree eee Oe eT Re See I gated:y~ Gos POET Ea 2 peeveres Nu ] ee ELE tay pI STEELE eas og! PE Lid ethers Heit i od a ates See EE Hae aad cehanad. ha) poe ' Th 2h ao Wyiiti 5 TH , ERED) byt aie ae } OR TRY Uy4yb) 4 ETRRET aT TORRY Ree ‘ Peidbeee betas yOrs yeverybhyavsrpepeeeyeyiys ale aN leaves) WAGIKCsl IDX) INOUE SIEIB I WNW RG Eley Aw Nps Taian mores, Pos eee eee ooDe Le ee Aan ine ~ Ree ee eee ene ee ee eee ee i a fi iF i ie ie | en tt OES IEEE aR Pa Se ae Sea ears Oe taminy ene ene aoe ae Rese Sey Se ree a eeard ea iene Se Cisne aan erat tae Saeed e nettne t lae re antaa ere ee ar ein y mn) r ‘ O UTUTETUTETS TE REAPS EMOTES PE OTURIL DS SPR T OI OT CTT RTT SR TES OUT TEPER EEThe airplane is the product of close selection. The lesson of the airplane lies in the logic which governed the statement of the problem and its realization. The problem of the house has not yet been stated. Nevertheless there do exist standards for the dwelling house. Machinery contains in itself the factor of economy, which makes for selection, The house is a machine for living in. ee een . : neat teat Sa en Pe eee trie teint tier aetien ieee rh AT tr ee en eae a emer Ns od eT San Tad Ct aes es : EME RESO Nt ee amen Gi a ee ee = ees RC re ra nhs pel earns Pei pire Eee See a Se Nate ers Marae A 5Lin na eels ase Seat itet SeSae apnea ee ee ee Dee ena ee eee ee ee ee i | ake Me ie i} | i | { : \ Raa SeP ea nena nna re eee pecans ae Seneca nn EE Oa e ne nan nary = - = SUIT IELTUREUURI EAS AUCESILEN CT SUORIRE TS TOLERATE RETR eS TET rn Terre CeThan es ae ae eisai t/t bse AIRPLANES There is a new spirit : it is a spirit of construction and of synthesis guided by a clear conception. Whatever may be thought of it, it animates to-day the greater part of human activity. Mut tnth Soke ant nae ee Ruenn tegen hee en EE ne Ne \ GREAT EPOCH HAS BEGUN Programme of /’ Esprit Nouveau. No, 1. October, 1920. anapaece ed Sse Pet HERE is one profession and one only, namely archi- tecture, in which progress is not considered necessary, : where laziness is enthroned, and in which the reference ts always to yesterday. Everywhere else, taking thought for the morrow is almost a fever and brings its inevitable solution: if a man does not move forward he becomes bankrupt. But in architecture no one ever becomes bankrupt. A privileged profession, alas ! The airplane is indubitably one of the products of the most intense selection in the range of modern industry. The War was an insatiable “‘ client,’ never satisfied, always demanding better. The orders were to succeed at all costs and death followed a mistake remorselessly. We may then affirm that the airplane mobilized invention, intelligence and daring : imagination and cold reason. It is the same spirit that built the Parthenon. Let us look at things from the point of view of Ee eee on 5St Sem ore spe ine Sot BEG ET Loman a ee eee at ——, etn nr tactdectnsaetn tnt r res ct TE Tote Fer OE re een Sa ee w - a aeTe SEO a ie PSE eo 110 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE architecture, but in the state of mind of the inventor of airplanes. The lesson of the airplane is not primarily in the forms it has created, and above all we must learn to see in an airplane not a bird or a dragon-fly, but a machine for flying ; the lesson of the airplane lies in the logic which governed the enunciation of the problem and which led to its successful realization. When a problem is properly stated, in our epoch, it inevitably finds its solution. The problem of the house has not yet been stated. One commonplace among Architects (the younger ones) : the construction must be shown. Another commonplace amongst them: when a thing responds to a need, it ts beautiful. But. . . . To show the construction is all very well for an Arts and Crafts student who is anxious to prove his ability. The Almighty has clearly shown our wrists and our ankles, but there remains all the rest ! When a thing responds to a need, it is not beautiful; it satisfies all one part of our mind, the primary part, without which there is no possibility of richer satisfactions; let us tecover the right order of events. Architecture has another meaning and other ends to pursue than showing construction and responding to needs (and by “needs” I mean utility, comfort and practical arrangement). . ARCHITECTURE is the art above all others which achieves a state of platonic grandeur, mathematical order, speculation, ei ath PLAID RUT T UN ERESRTRUADSEROLER ER OSORUR ESD ORR OT rn rs or rer reSPELL ELSRMLLL HL ShEta teh fc! AIRPLANES Toler the perception of the harmony which lies in emotional relation- ships. This is the AIM of architecture. But let us return to our chronology. If we feel the need of a new architecture, a clear and settled organism, it is because, as things are, the sensation of mathe- matical order cannot touch us since things no longer respond to a need, and because there is no longer real construction in architecture. An extreme confusion reigns. Architecture as practised provides no solution to the present-day problem of the dwelling-house and has no comprehension of the structure of things. It does not fulfil the very first conditions and so it is not possible that the higher factors of harmony and beauty should enter in. AIR EXPRESS Fs t 3 be nen a ee en Wi ited eancte tntieaior tne ah ee ee ae Scat ean eet ene et ae ke Can tre eer ee ate ae ES “ r anete Fi : ‘ Se ; , ae aa S F ai A a7 f SS OP TAR TS TOT ESTEE PU CEE PEELS PEE TOWARD Sy ae INE Ww, ARC hel B Ga UiRee TRIPLE HYDROPLANE CAPRONI 3,000 h.p. Capable of carrying 100 passengers. LET US STATE THE PROBLEM Let us shut our eyes to what exists. A house: a shelter against heat, cold, rain, thieves and the inquisitive. A receptacle for light and sun. A certain number of cells appropriated to cooking, work, and personal life. Al room. a surface over which one can walk at ease, a bed on which to stretch yourself, a chair in which to rest or work, a wotk-table, receptacles in which each thing can be put at ofice in its right place. The number of rooms: one for cooking and one for eating. One for work, one to wash yourself in and one for sleep. ACAMAM TEESE T SDUSTERAERESISULER ERSTE URIS TRIER TS HET RCrEAIRPLANES SPAD 33 BLERIOT. PASSENGER PLANE (Designed by Herbemont.) way—materials, systems of construction, THE CONCEPTION OF THE DWELLING, all are coal Engineers have been busy with barrages, with bridges, with Atlantic liners, with mines, with railways. Architects have been asleep. The airplane shows us that a problem well stated finds its solution. To wish to fly like a bird is to state the problem badly, and Adet’s “ Bat” never left the ground. To invent a flying machine having in mind nothing alien to pure mechanics, that is to say, to search for a means of suspension in the air and a means of propulsion, was to put the problem properly : in less than ten years the whole world could fly. pees ee . MiP ticie atagesmgh pee Seated et nah A os erin ahocae han ene ot ecirottheteta Nistor eRe tte: Hevea Ane sini the tenth LESTE TOE SETS ath ieee ae ed eee oe oe einai lent ire NOS eS Cas paechere Desert ery ree peepee a ee Cee en none tren ni SF ee amet eet a — BS parm pti ee oo OPT ear ee ES es ee te re ead eased PP APE DOP OE Peer aa aes eae Renan te eee Seer I See rr ere eae eo> USL TeCRMMMe) LETS GUY E2 CREASE LOS Uo DY Ce rer eeerneme ema dt oo venaner a 114 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTIUR! eas rRIPLI HYDROPLANI CAPRONI PE US Seale, THe PROBEERM Let us shut our eyes to what exists. A house: a shelter against heat, cold, rain, thieves and the inquisitive. A receptacle for light and sun. A certain number of cells appropriated to cooking, work, and personal life. A room. a surface over which one can walk at ease, a bed on which to stretch yourself, a chair in which to rest or work, a work-table, receptacles in which each thing can be put at | once in its right place. The number of rooms: one for cooking and one for eating. One for work, one to wash yourself in and one for sleep. LF ULUPTTL ST UT TSA SNES SRDS ER ATOR IT ES STATE ON ETST CRETE CEE ESTED:HPERS are LuehbeL ite! 3: 11 AIRPLANES onan a EAN " = codeine SAde eae oe eee patients oath & Terra ie a a as Sem esi ee LOT COE IL ne AY AD <2) ate LS I a ene des dint TRIPLANE CAPRONI 2,000 h.p. Can carry 30 passengers. a ner Such are the standards of the dwelling. Then why do we have the enormous and useless roofs on pretty suburban villas ? Why the scanty windows with their little panes ; why large houses with so many rooms locked up ? Why the mirrored wardrobes, the washstands, the commodes ? And then, why the elaborate bookcases ? the consoles, the china cabinets, the dressers, the sideboards ? Why the enor- mous glass chandeliers ? The mantelpieces ? Why the draped ee sr aS ee eomeaaas nee ecient eee a curtains ? Why the damasked wall-papers thick with colour, Me with their motley design ? Daylight hardly enters your homes. Your windows are dificult to open. There are no ventilators for changing the rg aes a - he arrak : PEP sok eS : S> : . , ‘ 7 3 . Pp 77) LILLESMMANAD MURSLEL SELES ESELSEL SAS ENS E ERTS Ae EEA Es 116 TOWARDS A] NEW ARCHITEGRURE AIR EXPRESS This does the journey from London to Paris in two hours. air such as we get in any dining-car. Your chandeliers hurt the eyes. Your imitation stone stucco and your wall-papers are an impertinence, and no good modern picture could ever be hung on your walls, for it would be lost in the welter of your furnishings. Why do you not demand from your landlord : 1. Fittings to take underclothing, suits and dresses in your bedroom, all of one depth, of a comfortable height and as practical as an “ Innovation ” trunk ; 2. In your dining-room fittings to take china, silver and glass, shutting tightly and with a sufficiency of drawers in order that “ clearing away ” can be done in an instant, and all these fittings “ built in’? so that round your chairs and table SL LLSEU ESET UMNO TPA PERE ER TLDS UT ONO TST OR TT eNO TREE reerAIRPLANES FARMAN “ MOSQUITO” you have room enough to move and that feeling of space which will give you the calm necessary to good digestion ; 3. In your living-room fittings to hold your books and protect them from dust and to hold your collection of paintings and works of art. And in such a way that the walls of your room are un- encumbered. You could then bring out your pictures one at a time when you want them. As for your dressers, and your mirrored watdrobes, you can sell all these to one of those young nations which have lately appeared on the map. There Progress tages, and they are dropping the traditional home (with its fittings, etc.) to live in an up-to-date house a /europeenne with its imitation stone stucco and its mantelpieces. Let us repeat some fundamental axioms : (a) Chairs are made to sit in, There are tush-seated church chaits at 55., luxuriously upholstered arm-chairs at £20 and ete ee ON . P a as ae ate —s Sete nae : ere eta See ee ae ced cain end ene et ork “ na al seer eit Nee rer eran SAAT ROP VEN ee - ma mts we Pont arte 0 taal Plt etait ead mats ae ale Se ee RE aa RS Te nett presen een ome tiara ra err SiS CR de a cd a re i sito ; aoee Ceara ap tateTOMES USES LESS 118 ROWZAR DS Ae NIE -ARCH PE Gl URE SPAD XITE BLEERIOL (Designed by Bechnean.) ALN AIR EXPRESS Capable of 142 m.p.h. TUTTE TISEATE RT REATRER EIEN FIONN ORISA APR TOL SECO ETS PORTE TNL ES EST Ey EA rarAIRPLANES ¢ FARMAN ‘“‘ GOLIATH. BOMBING MACHINE adjustable chairs with a movable reading-desk, a shelf for your coffee cup, an extending foot-rest, a back that raises and lowers with a handle, and gives you the very best position cither for work or a nap, in a healthy, comfortable and right way. Your bergeres, yout Louis XVI causeuses, bulging through their tapestry covers, are these machines for sitting in? Between ourselves, you ate more comfortable at yout club, your bank of in your office. (b) Electricity gives light. We can have concealed lighting, or we can have diffused and projected lighting. One can see as clearly as in broad daylight without ever hurting one’s eyes. A hundred-candle-power lamp weighs less than two ounces, but there are chandeliers weighing nearly two hundredweight with elaborations in bronze ot wood, and so huge that they fill up all the middle of the room ; the upkeep of these horrors errs eee ed — marae a ow pratense “ Seastn ieee ee ms re octet a aU ee eae ae pi ict fl tsthclten— te een dd ‘ wee it eS ; 4 * ae ~120 TOWARDS A NEw. ARCHIE E CaO RE, is a terrible task because of the flies. These chandeliers are also very bad for the eyes at night. (c) Windows serve to admit light, “ a Jittle, much, or not at all,” and to see outside. Thete ate windows in sleeping-cars which close hermetically or can be opened at will: there ake the great windows of modern cafés which close hermetically ot can be entirely opened by means of a handle which causes them to disappear below ground; there are the windows in dining cats which have little louvres opening to admit air 4 little, much, or not at all,” there is modern plate glass which has replaced bottle-glass and small panes; there are roll shutters which can be lowered gradually and will keep out the light at will according to the spacing of their slats. But architects still use only windows like those at Versailles or Compiégne, Louis X, Y ot Z which shut badly, have tiny panes, are difficult to open and have their shutters outside ; if it rains in the evening one gets wet through in trying to close them. (d) Pictures are made to be looked at and meditated on. In order to see a picture to advantage, it must be hung suitably and in the proper atmosphere. The true collector of pictures arranges them in a cabinet and hangs on the wall the particular painting he wants to look at; but your walls are a riot of all mannet of things. (ce) A bouse is made for living in—‘No!”—< But of Coutse: ar l henivou ate. Utopian | Truth to tell, the modern man is bored to tears in his home; so he goes to his club. The modern woman is bored aa: tts Cea L RPE a Rea TREMP RAS PCPS ES SIPS PETE OES ERS TRUS O ETERS RRO Ta eTAIRPLANES ATR EXPRESS) Al HARMAN @ GOW AguEn a outside her boudoir; she goes to tea-parties. The modern man and woman are bored at home; they go to night-clubs. But lesser folk who have no clubs gather together in the Pe a ne ee 2 tebe R duh arstint ab eset oa al . ~ 4 " ety ah r Se tartar tind i ier eae Poa ek aS wore aces Rete a tine OP ee eae ee ee =~Panera ESE TES Tareas ESS Sars Mea ere a ee apa ae ro NT ee a i aac te SE SS aan serene ee re ee Rar Sor ea SR ee ets So ws eS = — ete BO IEEE Ree aaa ee aN ET Nanna See aaa i ee nee Sh termi a agepene ema aaa eeennennee set ean ena een se SE enn ae enee tea a Hy | | | BT Bi } th 122 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE evening under the chandelier and hardly dare to walk through the labyrinth of their furniture which takes up the whole toom and is all their fortune and their pride. The existing plan of the dwelling-house takes no account of man and is conceived as a furniture store. This scheme of things, favourable enough to the trade of Tottenham Court Road, is of ill omen for society. It kills the spirit of the family, of the home; there ate no homes, no families and no children, for living is much too difficult a business. The temperance societies and the anti-Malthusians should address an urgent appeal to architects; they should have the MANUAL OF THE DWELLING printed and distributed to mothers of families and should demand the resignation of all the pro- fessots 1n the architectural schools. THE MANUAL OF THE DWELLING Demand a bathroom looking south, one of the largest rooms in the house or flat, the old drawing-room for instance. One wall to be entirely glazed, opening if possible on to a balcony for sun baths ; the most up-to-date fittings with a shower-bath and gymnastic appliances. An adjoining room to be a dressing-room in which you can dress and undress. Never undress in your bedroom. It is not a clean thing to do and makes the room horribly untidy. In this room demand jitments for your linen and clothing, not more than 5 feet in height, with drawers, hangers, etc. Demand one really large living room instead of a number of small ones. TUTE SATU D ER TA DEARER ER ERES ER LTT OR ENON ORES INRA TRIES TTT G LTTE RS EOE R TAREE GT OTaTOTEeek AIRPLANES 123 Demand bare walls in your bedroom, your living room and your dining-room. Built-in fittings to take the place of much of the furniture, which is expensive to buy, takes up too much room and needs looking after. If you can, put the kitchen at the top of the house to avoid smells, Demand concealed or diffused lighting. Demand a vacuum cleaner. Buy only practical furniture and never buy decorative “‘ pieces.” If you want to see bad taste, go into the houses of the rich. Put only a few pictures on your walls and none but good ones. Keep your odds and ends in drawers or cabinets. The gramophone or the pianola or wireless will give you exact interpretations of first-rate music, and you will avoid catching cold in the concert hall, and the frenzy of the virtuoso. Demand ventilating panes to the windows in every room. Teach your children that a house 1s only habitable when it is full of light and air, and when the floors and walls are clear. To keep your floors in order eliminate heavy furniture and thick carpets. Demand a separate garage to your dwelling. Demand that the maid’s room should not be an attic. Do not park your servants under the roof. Take a flat which is one size smaller than what your parents accustomed you to. Bear in mind economy in your actions, your household management and in your thoughts. Conclusion. Evety modern man has the mechanical sense. The) feeling for mechanics exists and is justified by our daily Pree iretaeare a i ei , hited bebe is BEET Eb e 2: tH u a, a Le La alll a a ee a eS Ue = a eaicat ett Cn ee Ra ae nie ee ae eee ere ee A ao Se Sh tt Ne ~ SP rere ae SS LE SEIS cain saat ipiatm Sod Obt ee ec een aml ntact Pipe rca Se wee ry pphrntny ciety ares congas Oe ET nc pa ae See ad oie iene aia arate 5 ea ee it etapa tan ee IT Beeps eee oer at ot pT et ih et a = ae ee aeLe Prey) eaneeges SLES TOWARDS Ae NEW ARCH TE GRURE 9° Paris to Warsaw in nine hours. _ < 4 CO UO < FARMAN Paris to Prague in six hours. | ‘ ' ri - LSU SS LPL SR SURE BER ERENT ERS OR UR ETE E PETS TERT ERS Ta aK RTT SRS reranarensTa TaDAIRPLANES EE ERO BERM BADLY CONGEIVED : EYES WHICH DO NOT SEE Shed, De mre ek reat ene CN Rene enti er stg ee ote Artie ta, ee re ee SS eres OR a eel nln od Em te ee ES — aa tad as - = ed elect i SOI a Se iS ee (Par OP. 00.4% eer ae ks of eee le at intel fuceet: PO aT Oe ae icin PW Pee eit PPT Lae eee ae ool nate ies inter Te ea ? we erat eee oa aeELSES PRA O UMN RA Ea Rees See ep eee Re pee ih i rt Gh 126 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE FARMAN ELA aOR SEER SEER OREN OR SPST TET S re reAIRPLANES 127 activities. This feeling in regard to machinery is one of respect, gratitude and esteem. Machinery includes economy as an essential factor leading to minute selection. There is a moral sentiment in the feeling for mechanics. The man who is intelligent, cold and calm has grown wings to himself. Men—intelligent, cold and calm—are needed to build the house and to lay out the town. ee ae alent cece. alcatel + intintahdintne tae niga ees ee nee ee ee Sint leas dace te Molt muced diietactinn- Oe Soom Ua eh aek om ete ee eee ee sete Restate OAS Ai SO & oe = rr rere repre Seni Pee IIIT Pee Fa TET Pana at Re ae ee aera" eareea om ea eee Oe ay EO OO caiill hl RET etl eoe me Ty | arti oat ETA PART Oa Fi ete ‘ Py ry ME SUL DEA DRESESEEUP ES EO SUeS ELEC Rt Gout ORE RS ee os EAP ERACLIR PATS TA RIV STATOR OTS RI oer araPLELETAEC CELLET ELLE Cae E Lc SALSUILIRICLOSEL EAE OPAS pRabER Uae ee - ieee § eke bs eee Seterdsppsseserepusisipesc sivas ideessyissese teve DELAGE. FRONT-WHEEL BRAKE This precision, this cleanness in execution go further back than our re-born mechanical sense. Phidias felt in this way: the entablature of the Parthenon is a witness. So did the Egyptians when they polished the Pyramids. This at a time when Euclid and Pythagoras dictated to their contemporaries. Dass WEIL IDO) INOW Slals aA 7 ae n> we - = ye oar drew ~ " . ae is 7 ~ ~- a pees me : iat Each Renton: a o eae - ner. eS - — at acre te Pt ait ASP OE osiage ea ee nr aera s want Sai pene eee he ee Oe Oem “a Seba _ 7a E a e ES cael , ees Sade J“ 2 : c * wea s — y j as ws —= ees Se SS = a Ci La a Da a « aa = = Daa = Se x ne ad Til AU IOUMMOVS NE Jas ——w ee i ee aes oe ee ae pe eeneeee es LP aE SG OT Fernie ne ee tenia ee apart et “s ee Ei detteagiirttte r ee a. anda om en eee 5 loa : !Py) ec aamn tas) AHESU E24 POSER SEO LAE 2 SODA Lee A SA : See | | | | ee See a ee ee ee Aete a ae } | rece narerenees eres Reape anes CE eRe ESN Cg a ~ 3 = ee ae ao sp Sa iaatiecanncr LAD DANEEL AOL lhc eran Naren attended Piet oe eee sai —— " ™sEL Ee Meee E CLOGS CUE LG Oe RPE R CDSS Ries Che EL ES) We must aim at the fixing of standards in order to face the problem of perfection. The Parthenon is a product of selection applied to a standard. Architecture operates in accordance with standards. Standards are a matter of logic, analysis and minute study: they are based on a problem which has been well “ stated.’’ Al standard is definitely established by experiment.Prem Tid TLS ( kaauddas NARDASSEELDEEPASEADEARAASEEELLO ORES TURE LELLPEEGS SERS eeS EE SESE EEO OEE LOSERS od eR“1 at AUTOMOBILES DELAGE Oz If the problem of the dwelling or the flat were studied in the same way that a chassis 1s, a speedy transformation and improvement would be seen in our houses. If houses were constructed by industrial mass-production, like chassis, unexpected but sane and defensible forms would soon appear, and a new esthetic would be formulated with astonishing precision. There is a new spirit: it is a spirit of construction and of synthesis guided by clear conception. Programme of /? Esprit Nouveau. No. 1. October 1920. fs is necessary to press on towards the establishment of standards in order to face the problem of perfection. The Parthenon is a product of selection applied to an established standard. Already for a century the Greek temple had been standardized in all its parts. ee PER ase Om SNe ee ee tet mati Se ee Minin phar ease etic aa wi Pataca ee po liacley Crests ah griytenly ele inne AMAL NOE CE TS Picket emcee tate Stee iets Peoeie tomlin tcl 4 rar rer err aa a tate erie ated a martot, eer i etme nm cine einen Re: Ee " oe i GEE LT Ore eR ie atin er cera ae eer ae tae ace ” GORE Pa 7 a eens Te ee Sporn: Pippy): SLU taana bes) LPLSA EH Leag ee cee ged PES a 134 TOWARDS eA NEW. ARCH TG? URE PAESTUM, 600-550 B.C. When once a standard is established, competition comes at once and violently into play. It is a fight; in order to win you must do better than your rival in every minute point, in oes ec teeta ie ere tees ee ne menanenedh ane eeenanemeaae Te or aaa = —s oe - an 5 " De ime an ee an ee Ae ae rate ne he Se pg an omer mann HUMBER, I19C7ORL aGE Ec: tT ‘ AUTOMOBILES THE PARTHENON, 447-434 B.C. the run of the whole thing and in all the details. Thus we get the study of minute points pushed to its limits. Progress. A standard is necessary for order in human effort. DELAGE, “ GRAND-SPORT, 1921 to aaah ean eee Sic action eon acide thatelMnGedaads pce ete tie ee ane Bashenecteelene deat oe Cet DE OO LO EOL Se nati ae A aero oen a el a hg emo Me belied tata 29 Oe TETEN ee nae PT ae asec ett on ot OP teens ih PREECE e tie aaa : a arian Ne eeaad 136 TOWARDS A NEw, ARGHITEGLORE HISPANO-SUIZA, I9II. OZENFANT COACHWORK Pease STE See ND EL a : = 7. oa rs ee ee ee eer eee ane anes nen eas a ~ aes S Es anaes ae os t eae aE aera ern dane ear A standard is established on sure bases, not capriciously but with the surety of something intentional and of a logic con- trolled by analysis and experiment. All men have the same organism, the same functions. All men have the same needs. The social contract which has evolved through the ages fixes standardized classes, functions and needs producing standardized products. The house is a thing essential to man. Painting is a thing essential to man since it responds to needs of a spiritual order, determined by the standards of emotion. All great works of art ate based on one or other of the great standards of the heart: CEdipus, Phaedra, the Enfant Prodigue, the Madonnas, Pau/ et Virginie, Philemon and Baucis, Sa aeeeneAUTOMOBILES . 2 Se i Ses ; < BIGNAN-SPORT 1921 the Pauvre Pécheur, the Marseil/laise, Madelon vient nous verser a boire. The establishment of a standard involves exhausting every practical and reasonable possibility, and extracting from them a recognized type conformable to its functions, with a maxi- mum output and a minimum use of means, workmanship and material, words, forms, colours, sounds. The motor-car is an object with a simple function (to travel) and complicated aims (comfort, resistance, appearance), which has forced on big industry the absolute necessity of standard- ization. All motor-cars have the same essential arrangements. But, by reason of the unceasing competition between the innumerable firms who make them, every maker has found himself obliged to get to the top of this competition and, over and above the standard of practical realization, to prosecute the L PASRIEEA Sob Ee 110 o ’ i Ree en ne ieee g ~~, LS Sinaia ~ eee Rete cae an — 2 met ~ “pe eaten Re een ne ee ee ee nine TE OT EN OT TI a Te ne ata mt Mite Ie PEA Rh be a vit rere rae ren RelA Sse FA SAA ; So ees) sett AE INDORE IIE a et ee an netat eet ntence ne Apoeets Ce » ne Sane eee lee Fa aid pe al a enamey: ve Popa aed ber eee ee rm FT ee - rar aeieee TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE 138 search for a perfection and a harmony beyond the mete prac- tical side, a manifestation not only of perfection and harmony, but of beauty. Here we have the birth of style, that 1s to say the attainment, universally recognized, of a state of perfection universally felt. The establishment of a standard is developed by organizing rational elements, following a line of direction equally rational. The form and appearance are in no way preconceived, they are a result ; they may have a strange look at first sight. Ader made a “ Bat,” but it did not fly; Wright and Farman set themselves the problem of sustaining solid bodies in air, the result was jarring and disconcerting, but it lew. The standard had been fixed. Practical results followed. The first motor-cars were constructed, and their bodies built, on old lines. This was contrary to the necessities of the displacement and rapid penetration of a solid body. The study of the laws of penetration fixed the standard, a standard which has evolved in accordance with two different aims : speed, the greater mass in front (sporting bodies) ; comfort, the main bulk at the back (saloon). In either case there is no longer anything in common with the ancient carriage with its slow displacement. Civilizations advance. They pass through the age of the peasant, the soldier and the priest and attain what is rightly called culture. Culture is the flowering of the effort to select. Selection means rejection, pruning, cleansing; the clear and naked emergence of the Essential. From the primitiveness of the Early Christian chapel, we pass to Notre Dame of Paris, the Invalides, the Place de laTh EE PEP Toe ‘ rth) oT or err i} 7 Ueda eare tubes fe i \ Sees eee ES ; Pr A ” AUTOMOBILES eka ae matinee ee Lenin c vom = int tng. deedeeinn ee ee Ab noth teeth eatacheednian ie ee Sette im. % Cee we —* ~ lL Sit te ent <= : THE PARTHENON Little by little the Greek temple was formulated, passing from construction | to Architecture. One hundred years later the Parthenon marked the climax ay of the ascending curve. He Concorde. Feeling has been clarified and refined, mere decora- tion set aside and proportion and scale attained, an advance has been made ; we have passed from the elementary satisfactions (decoration) to the higher satisfactions (mathematics). If Breton cupboards still remain in Brittany, it is because the Bretons have continued there, very remote and very stable, fully occupied in their fishing and cattle breeding. It is not seemly that a gentleman of good standing should sleep on a Breton bed in his Paris mansion ; it is not seemly that a gentle- man who owns a saloon car should sleep in a Breton bed, and ~< pen EI - Tapes ene erate zs S ye ee ates ame 2 3 iFMartigye haan Pi OP ad ae peeenelnere 140 TOWARDS AINE ww, ARGCHI CE Gr URE eae P eT seers ed - eet ial ttm ener eee aE Pe ciebncaneead en unteeceeantat arenearaaaaaanND eerste eee or eee ee rane ane ae eae THE PARTHENON Each part is decisive and marks the highest point in precision and execution : proportion is clearly written therein. so on. We have only to get a clear idea of this and to draw the logical conclusion. To own together a large car and a Breton bed is quite usual, I am sorry to say. Everybody asserts with conviction and enthusiasm: “ The motor-cat matks the style of our epoch! ” but the Breton bed is sold and manufactured every day by the antique dealers. Let us display, then, the Parthenon and the motor-car so that it may be clear that it isa—question—of two-products of ° selection in different fields, one-of-which has reached its climax and the other is evolving. That ennobles the automobile. And what then ? Well, then it remains to use the motor-carPeet pe ne al AUTOMOBILES TRIPLE HYDROPLANE CAPRONI Showing how plastic organisms are created in response to a well-stated problem. as a challenge to our houses and our great buildings. It is here that we come to a dead stop, = Rich menvay plusse slleremwe have no Parthenons. The standard of the house is a question of a practical and constructive order. I have attempted to set it forth in the preceding chapter on airplanes. The standard of furniture is in its full flood of experiment among the makers of office furniture and trunks, clock-makers and so on. We have only to follow this path: a task for the engineer. And all the humbug talked about the unique object, the precious “ piece,” rings false and shows a pitiful et ne eee ina atte Tt t = ies : ae - 5 . ene ~ orem aes RAR centile A ae Ta ee ae ee Gee ee et a at rd eee ed Pleo eto ene SN nee Praesent erie Seales PRT tae Rectan Ewart ra oar ere - - aa te a ped in or dO Te Se eee eth GI OD CEPIDUE ne i 142 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE eS : Oe = - ng h ee eral ree ” ins ao Po. Se. Prat kcaptendetaaine enna Te SENSES OE AEE PIES CAPRONI-EXPLORATION Poetry lies not only in the spoken or written word. The poetry of facts ts stronger still. Objects which signify something and which are arranged with talent and with tact create a poetic fact. S : = - Seas ee Res 2 ees eee Caee ee ee ee rere Jn haan Pm rons lack of understanding of the needs of the present day : a chair is 1n no way a work of art ; a chair has no soul ; it is a machine for sitting in. Art, in a highly cultivated country, finds its means of expression in pute aft, a concentrated thing free from all a Ree nea ere ene eae snianseeet = Se - =a = = sha AS = eect ee ee eet eaeteig cin eieteaaneeee area Oat’ utilitarian motives—painting, literature, music. Every human manifestation involves a certain quantum of interest and particularly so in the esthetic domain; thisAUTOMOBILES 143 interest may be of an order dealing with the senses or of an intellectual order. Decoration is of a sensorial and elementary order, as is colour, and is suited to simple races, peasants and savages. Harmony and proportion incite the intellectual faculties and arrest the man of culture. The peasant loves ornament and decorates his walls. The civilized man wears a well-cut suit and is the owner of easel pictures and books. Decoration is the essential overplus, the quantum of the peasant ; and proportion is the essential overplus, the quantum of the cultivated man. In architecture, the quantum of interest is achieved by the grouping and proportion of rooms and furniture ; a task for the architect. And beauty ? This is an imponderable which cannot function except in the actual presence of its primordial bases: the reasonable satisfaction of the mind (utility, economy); after that, cubes, spheres, cylinders, cones, etc. Gensoral) ss ihene. = athe imponderable, the relationships which create the imponderable : this is genius, inventive genius, plastic genius, mathematical genius, this capacity for achieving order and unity by measurement and for organizing, 1n accord- ance with evident laws, all those things which excite and satisfy our visual senses to the fullest degree. Then there arise those multifarious sensations, which evoke all that a highly cultivated man may have seen, felt and loved ; which release, by means he cannot escape, vibrations he has already experienced in the drama of life: nature, men, the world. = a ae ba Sn aie SAE OTT PD re ae Len ot ree Mier site: ars sitio OEE ETT 5 ee po orinne eae pf tt at aE * en i tana ee ' cy ul i ss i if xy 4 Fishbein atin etlpt ene Te eee Sarde ne roa Pen Fa = r. ee me iL a ae eal ae es Pe at tied ttle GPO enna es ein CO at Sere Eis eatOEE LEE Uo on en 144 TOWARDS =AG NEW, ARCHIE ClURE BELLANGER. SALOON In this period of science, of strife and drama in which the individual is violently tossed about at every moment, the ee Parthenon appears to us as a living work, full of grand har- monies. The sum of its inevitable elements gives the measure TS ET ee ee Sade cance edn een ete tetera aac nena ea ae EEN AA nea of the degree of perfection to which man can attain when he ae Oo Le aren Oe Een eee ae na eee einer is absorbed in a problem definitely stated. The perfection in Generignne a career rec rssener Scorers ee eae ee eran ae Sener ene ee rere n een this case is so much outside the normal, that our apprehension of the Parthenon can only correspond nowadays with a very limited range of sensation, and, unexpectedly enough, with sensations of a mechanical kind ; its correspondence is rather with those huge impressive machines with which we are familiar and which may be considered the most perfect results of our a NG Se res aD Seetaiienieeedhiaeeimnenatiineie eee ee el at — Pee anneAUTOMOBILES 145 VOISIN. SPORTS TORPEDO, 1921 It is a simpler matter to form a judgment on the clothes of a well-dressed man than on those of a well-dressed woman, since masculine costume is standardized. It is certain that Phidias was at the side of Ictinos and Kallicrates in building the Parthenon, and that he dominated them, since all the temples of the time were of the same type, and the Parthenon surpasses them all beyond measure. present-day activities, the only products of our civilization ee which have really “ got there.” Phidias would have loved to have lived in this standardized age. He would have admitted the possibility, nay the certainty of success. His vision would have seen in our epoch the con- clusive results of his labours. Before long he would have repeated the experience of the Parthenon. Architecture 1s governed by standards. Standards are a matter of logic, analysis and precise study. Standards are based SULA SAMtaLaA 110 pats See aa é spo ea — i pti aman Beene Pa nce Guna oA toca tat te eee be heh: peer iadiwn a een caren ah ee ee acinar tS trea Oe Oe Mitel a rest th ener ODEN ee En omen eee ag Ro eran rea aa Sse eC A Smet ee » ae eae PIR Pn ee 7 Sect pecertndte e EOE pase ae ers a a ES OP ee Sp cc etna erase eee : eae ais Ema e cinta A-T NLS eet ce ai Pern errr rs - te ak ertntecme itis 2, pe ees ner a peerMOWERS! Aa NEW. ARGH Ice Ga OiRsE: Resistance. Section at right angles 0.085 to direction. -——-» Sphere. 0.0135 —-» Hemisphere—concave. 0.109 ——» Hemisphere—convex (open behind). » Ovoid body: the greater Biaoe mass in front. are: The cone which gives the best penetration is the result of experiment and calculation, and this is confirmed by natural creations such as fishes, birds, etc. Experimental application : the dirigible, racing car. ahaa ® SSS NT aS : “ VANCETRE™ ; LEXTRAORDIMAIRE VOITURE DE CUGNOT EN 1770 “ VOREISSANTE” D’AMEDRE BOLLSE (5973) QU) ALLA DY MARS A PARIS © — = OD OEE = o ne = ST 3 t . Pees | 2 som towr, les noweeaux records du hietittre ot de le kikewutre ot 234 UL 794 fe ruil “ wer le Seubre > | 7 — EN PLEINE. VITESSE —- 7 . pina ——_ | Jegdt dernier, ainsi que nolis avons publié, le capltaine Malcom i Campbell, sup ub-auto de 50 CV, battit le xecord du monde du is kilormitre/départ lancé. La performance Qu coureur anglais, qui sur 1 mUle-(1,608metres) réussit A-atteindre la vitesse dé 242 kil. 5S7 a) Vheure, fat tablic 4 Peddine, dans Jo Galles du Sud (Angleterre)4) Se s pe ce IN SEARCH OF A STANDARDTL FEAS EAR Speke eee B AUTOMOBILES Pat neta CN TELE Te ee Es ee tc iat vir at A iinet ET EET IIS etal ee ae ee: Pen Peleeetperte lt A — Oe dee eee er eternity rene reser rans ee era ee on LPAI BPI me a Yee RE ah fot TR RENN | a THE PARTHENON NG A ee ye : nie Nee Phidias in building the Parthenon did not work as a constructor, engineer or Te ° ‘= . ry . | Ff designer. All these elements already existed. What he did was to perfect the ‘ i work and endue it with a noble spirituality. ae ih ea ag rr errUy USLIESSMaRA EU TCE EASELS es Ry LS lela ERR AAT ERR EES ROAR AREA ELS as OS RS Re eS ee i 148 TOWARDS sAINEW ARCHILE GEURE on a problem which has been well stated. Architecture means plastic invention, intellectual speculation, higher mathematics. Architecture is a very noble art. Standardization is imposed by the law of selection and 1s an economic and social necessity. Harmony is a state of agreement with the norms of our universe. Beauty governs all; she is of purely human creation; she is the overplus necessaty only to men of the highest type. , But we must first of all aim at the setting up of standards | ~~, in order to face the problem of perfection. / 1Le dts iibaaanbaad 0s! oe lids Billie 1 8 Lredra verso Tampe 9 Lredra SOS VILLA ADRIANA VL S300, Cee Sects” Metri 7 im | < NII LY HADRIAN'S VILLA NEAR TIVOLI, 130 A.D, MC sIIa CITRUS | Hae LESSON OR ROMs: eer . Pee Err Oe ee anes oot6 SOO Oe aio NgFHVEJISAAGIASSSUALALSNUIS LSEREGKASGEOAE4/ FLAG SUA ERAERRLAGE bibs bieAiaakea SARA RTET PAS oi oherere ey Liss aay ie Debs pbysstadetece Sob seat eas = ' The business of Architecture is to establish emotional relationships by means of raw materials. Architecture goes beyond utilitarian needs. ° SO nna Si Sst AP al EE i a i NEN Si Peon TAS Oth A ; peepee Natt rata ee ne a Architecture is a plastic thing. The spirit of order, a unity of intention. cr Seattle The sense of relationships ; architecture deals with quantities. goons tine Pr net Passion can create drama out of inert stone. x TED IO eee alt ee room dinaaih ge greta ner er ae. hh or eee eet ene ? Se ia aetebeted Ame ieee Pa eee atte ye ee aoe mapreainn—Peen bey pp era ete _ See peeriee ea ae De ool cient ae He ani a OTE eatin Fe ees aia eee as een ert G a PT ae SE EAE ee i bo2 O00 Cee ei ae > a) iit rk eh hh oe I hl a ER CS TAS eee io | | | H | i | a ie He i | re eRe ed ate astemaeseot CR nie = ern ARTS SR See oT SS - catgnyeiaaetabtaintnetedintemmioas toereetemint ee ee tated x - Sra Sincere ert ata le eee ea eaetmee eae eaepeabeiemee orapan one rainaee aaa anaanantnenetesteerth area aiemeeeiestTHE LESSON OF ROME 153 You employ stone, wood and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces. That is construction. Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good, I am happy and I say : “ This > is beautiful.” That is Architecture. Art enters in. My house is practical. I thank you, as I might thank Railway engineers, or the Telephone service. You have not touched my heart. But suppose that walls rise towards heaven in such a way that I am moved. I petceive your intentions. Your mood has been gentle, brutal, charming or noble. The stones you have erected tell me so. You fix me to the place and my eyes regard it. They behold something which expresses a thought. A thought which reveals itself without word or sound, but solely by means of shapes which stand in a certain relationship to one another. These shapes are such that they are clearly revealed in light. The relationships between them have not necessarily any reference to what is practical or descriptive. They are a mathematical creation of your mind. They are the language of Architecture. By the use of raw materials and s/arting from conditions more or less utilitarian, you have established certain relationships which have aroused my emotions. This is Architecture. OME 1s a picturesque spot. The sunlight there is so lovely that it excuses everything. Rome is a bazaar where every- thing is sold. All the utensils of the life of a race have remained there—the child’s toy, the soldier’s weapons, the ecclesiastical old clothes, the bidets of the Borgias and the adventurer’s plumes. In Rome the uglinesses are legion. If one remembers the Greeks one feels that the Roman had bad taste, the pukka Roman, Julius Il and Victor-Emmanuel. Ancient Rome was packed within walls always too narrow ; a city is not beautiful which is huddled together. Renaissance Rome had its pompous outbursts, spread about in all the corners of the city. The Rome of Victor-Emmanuel garners its legacy, tickets and preserves it, and installs its modern life in the > corridors of this museum, and proclaims itself “ Roman” by M 53 faa Smo Too a a 2 aS a RA ah Rae # eee fp nh at Aoo petra rr ee en Poe ees RT tint Ey eet ae ssi nearer Coens Ae cas tite es aa St OI errrpcre ar See Acie ee SSE Ne ee ee RN et ee ee tents eh Nolte tae am : merci ry % : a = a TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE IMs PYAR) OO) CIBS MNOS, = 174 VioGe the Memorial to Victor-Emmanuel I in the centre of the city between the Capitol and the Forum... a work of forty years, something bigger than anything else, and in white matble ! Without doubt everything is too huddled together in Rome. I ANCIENT ROME Rome’s business was to conquer the world and govern it. Strategy, recruiting, legislation: the spirit of order. In order to manage a large business house, it is essential to adopt some fundamental, simple and unexceptionable principles. TheHebi baset Ash TeeipbeL Lil 10) ef a si biel SD bey ee ee a THE LESSON OF ROME ony re IES Rabanne nts ae tee Cie adenine ee a eee ane nn tn ee Peat ec teTe THE COLOSSHUM. - A.D. oO a EAT eT re ae rs i ee en aR Tes et Ie ocreTe Sei ana e —— engine Para rer are ee ed engin LO yee Pie OR eA TS enttgheae eee OID ee a8 THE ARCH156 LOWARDS A NEW ARCHITEC TURE INTERIOR OF THE PANTHEON, A.D. 120 Roman order was simple and direct. If it was brutal, so much the worse—or so much the better. They had enormous desires for domination and organ- ization. Old Rome as regards architecture had nothing to show, the city walls were too crowded, the houses were piled up ten storeys high—the sky-scraper of the ancients. The Forum must have been ugly, a little like the bric-a-brac of the sacted city of Delphi. Town planning, a large lay-out ! There was none of this. Pompeii must be seen, appealing in its rectangular plan. They had conquered Greece and, like good barbarians, they found the Corinthian order more beautiful than the Doric,UU MAyAECLALUL ges tree STORACHTT See is Uy THE EESSON OF ROME eae % 2 ae a ot few st Patina ipeO 2 aie wlonet the vert onesie a enh tate whe ow ed ee ee a IT ANISH, IVAUNMMSUZOIN, AolDo i ZO) ne enon trte 3 Tp eee because it was more ornate. On then with the acanthus Or capitals, and entablatures decorated with little discretion or taste! But underneath this there was something Roman, as we shall see. Briefly, they constructed superb chassis, but they designed deplorable coachwork rather like the landaus of Louis XIV. Outside Rome, where there was space, they built Hadrian’s Villa. One can meditate there on the greatness of Rome. There, they really planned. It is the first example of Western planning on the grand scale. If we cite Greece on this score we may say that “the Greek was a sculptor and158 MO WARDS Ae NE IW ARG Hil ie Gr URE nothing more.” But wait a little, architecture is not only a question of arrangement. Arrangement is one of the funda- mental prerogatives of architecture. To walk in Hadrian’s Villa and to have to admit that the modern power of organ- ization (which after all is ““ Roman’) has done nothing so far —what a torment this is to a man who feels that he is a party to this ingenuous failure ! They did not have before them the problem of devastated tegions, but that of equipping conquered regions ; it 1s all one and the same. So they invented methods of construction and PPA PLP IPT a ~~ : : - . Oe emo aaee with these they did impressive things—““ Roman.” The word has a meaning. Unity of operation, a clear aim in view, classi- fication of the various parts. Immense cupolas, with their ae ainen supporting drums, imposing vaulting, all held together with es Roman cement; these still remain an object of admiration. They were great constructors. A cleat aim, the classification of parts, these are a proof of a special turn of mind: strategy, legislation. Architecture is susceptible to these aims, and repays them with interest. The light plays on pure forms, and repays them with interest. DO EIS SOE See eNe Simple masses develop immense surfaces which display them- selves with a characteristic vatiety according as it is a question of cupolas, vaulting, cylinders, rectangular prisms or pyramids. The adornment of the surfaces is of the same geometrical order. FR Sap e a E ON ISIS Snir aa The Pantheon, the Colosseum, the Aqueducts, the Pyramid of Cestius, the Triumphal Arches, the Basilica of Constantine, the Baths of Caracalla. Absence of verbosity, good arrangement, a single idea, te nae! mmm Ra ee aie Sn tn et a TN ES a TO etree ninetpreenynara Pea aagaa EE RE SE Eee ne eas Lene Amster ee ae i | ! i | | | | } | | i i L fy it iH H ne WiEYES CU BEE! cheba! sd Ue deg OS Reaehedel eS ebb by THE LESSON OF ROME 159 daring and unity in construction, the use of elementary shapes. A sane morality. Let us retain, from these Romans, their bricks and their Roman cement and their Travertine and we will sell the Roman marble to the millionaires. The Romans knew nothing of the use of marble. Wee screr erie ies, | te ethan A uA beta TPP 4 Sera, EF — Sree pbiiaba eRe GES Pe icnrn ettitnewtrirsatad einai ieaenerat pe Ne en action CO A AE EA AN A oth ON ae ee ae een eee ae rere peas rents a es i em eee ™ Papeete Ned Sees ne cine ASPUTT] SIL iReaaaRa) FL ESLUR TES ERLE ESAS EES LETT OREE Lad RE Ee Re Le = = ee: - : s Re es aie es . ee a ee = tn eon ochan ee = pulp ann Snen trees arene ion < a ee een careneeeneepononiereoeas _ — — zs ee os a S Seiinieemenorecerec caer eT ETE 160 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITEC TURE INTERIOR OF S. MARIA IN COSMEDIN II BYZANTINE ROME Renewed impact of Greece, by way of Byzantium. This time it is not the astonishment of a primitive type before the tich entanglement of an acanthus: Greeks by origin come to Rome to build S. Maria in Cosmedin. A Greece vety far from Phidias but one which has kept the root of the matter, that is to say the sense of relationships and the mathematical Ptecision thanks to which perfection becomes approachable.THE LESSON OF ROME THE NAVE OF S. MARIA IN COSMEDIN, A.D. 7990 AND I120 This quite tiny church of S. Maria, a church for poor people, set in the midst of noisy and luxurious Rome, proclaims the noble pomp of mathematics, the unassailable power of pro- portion, the sovereign eloquence of relationship. The design is merely that of the ordinary basilica, that is to say the form of architecture in which barns and hangars ate built. The walls are on tough lime plaster = dibere is only one colour, white ; always powerful since it is positive. This tiny church commands ioe g rani emite eme a pnp a PP ict OAS an Fata onan os = a: a eT Bee SS eer Stee anh ese lanme Te aT pireea Sra si rrr eri F Meniaas Vighaa Rea aes: ca PrpePeS TRY SP SUDO Oe ee e 162 TOWARDS) Ao NIE Ww ARCHIE GlURE Neate eee enna eee nn nee ae cuaeannnnanrdea pene : © oe wae aN enn eee ee ene Oe eae Nee eu Na eee ee ae casein! Age : meres 5 Na PR eR Ra REA LIOR Pere new age ee ene an an naman! SaaS SS DEE PiU Pi GN Sh MARTA, IN GOSMEDIEN your respect. “Oh!” you exclaim, coming from St. Petet’s or the Palatine or the Colosseum. The sensualists in art, the animalists in art would be annoyed by S. Maria in Cosmedin. To think that this church was in existence in Rome when the SLE Ae Se great Renaissance was in full swing with its gilded palaces and its horrors ! Se ie aru Sender een ee ee eee canal Greece by way of Byzantium, a pute creation of the spirit. Architecture is nothing but ordered arrangement, noble prisms,aU AbisddAtL ADULATELEATIRAEEEGAEAEER ERASERS LES cebEO LCC EEO RES ETI iY 5 eta i dS ts Sli She RHE, LESSON OF ROME 163 seen in light. There exists one thing which can ravish us, and this is measure or scale. To achieve scale! To map out in | rhythmical quantities, animated by an even impulse, to bring i life into the whole by means of a unifying and subtle relation- i ship, to balance, to resolve the equation. For, if this expression ' may be a paradox in talking of painting, it fits well with atchitecture; with architecture which does not concern itself with representation of with any element that relates a etn al Soa to the human countenance, with architecture which works by quantities. These quantities provide a mass of material as a basis for sat ant ane eee hee le ene ene ana ae) work; brought into measure, introduced into the equation, they result in rhythms, they speak to us of numbers, of relation- ships, of mind. In the balanced silence of S. Maria in Cosmedin there stand ee Sn es a ee errr ree crane a RN eee out the sloping handrail of a pulpit and the inclined stone book-rest of an ambo in a conjunction as silent as a gesture i : P i of assent. These two quiet oblique lines which are, fused in i + at . . . \ ae j the perfect movement of a spiritual mechanics—this is the pute i | aa and simple beauty that architecture can give. ad ef tnt rH] i i al ry ! er | i) He .% aad ey OE eee ae eT Se aaatvedTOWARDS Ay NEW ARGCHELEGRURE THE APSES OF ST. PETER’S AT ROME we III ow “ MICHAEL ANGELO Intelligence and passion; there is no art without emotion, no emotion without passion. Stones are dead things sleeping in the quarries but the apses of St. Peter’s are a drama. Drama lies all round the key achievements of humanity. The drama of Architecture is the same as that of the man who lives by and through the universe. The Parthenon is moving; the Egyptian Pyramids, of granite once polished and shining likeTHE LESSON OF ROME 165 5 R . ~ i i a + ; a nf A e i] i uf ' Hy i THE APSES OF ST. PETER’S steel, were moving. To give forth emanations, storm, gentle breezes on plain and sea, to raise mighty Alps with the pebbles that go to form the walls of men’s houses, this is to succeed in a symphony of relationships. As the man, so the drama, so the architecture. We must not assett with too much conviction that the masses give fise to their man. A man is an exceptional phenomenon occurting at long intetvals, perhaps by chance, perhaps in accordance with the pulsation of a cosmography not yet understood. % 5 LRT ie a. NIN nt tt Scie ae. | een ieee Tak Fate ene nnn FAO MME rn ace PA lt arth i a i er a nn naa ieee es tierce oe are pee Oe Se RRO CONT TS nee eran ea ah crotir heen bP so Berar meer EE DLT Te ror SeemaSUG? ULE Des a: HEUTE aa or a TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE ere See a ”n % joa] H ia mB H ”n ee ° > ta 2 ° H ” O - H < pa x H ee ne tte a ae le ee Nene ae Nee cs 7 a nth et oh AN Ps cl Saat Se es NaN Ne ea tenis nein na een nr a neem tet eee ET RTO eee ee a ere ae a eae a etal ns ROT era aes NERD = = QoS SS Deter : ato Belo joa SS aes TTT Saas LSS —— seorgewre eee ST. PETER’S. SCHEME BY MICHAEL ANGELO (1547-1564) The dimensions are considerable. To construct such a dome in stone was a tour de force that few men would have dared. St. Peters covers an area of about 18,000 square yards as against Notre Dame, about 7,000 square yards, and Sta. Sophia at Constantinople about 8,000. The dome is 404 feet in height ; the width across the transepts is 150 yards. The general arrangement of the apses and of the Attic storey is allied to that of the Colosseum ; the heights are the same. The whole scheme was a complete unity ; it grouped together elements of the noblest and richest kind: the Portico, the cylinders, the square shapes, the drum, the dome. The mouldings are of an intensely passionate character, harsh and pathetic. The whole design would have risen as a single mass, unique and entire. The eye would have taken it in as one thing. Michael Angelo completed the apses and the drum of the dome. The rest fell into barbarian hands ; all was spoilt. Mankind lost one of the highest works ot human intelligence. If one can imagine Michael Angelo as cognizant of the disaster, we have a terrifying drama. NE SEIS EI aE er ES parent renarser See seo Aline ee ares pene ee ESET SS a, ae ae EE a TTT TE a ne Salen Seciecienchceentecinedeetnets Bit ot teen inn lietneael eeieeeiale Srna oa Sepperere pers ESTED RTSon ean NG tintntn cine. edie heh oot Ses THE PLAZZA OF Sik RPE TERGS) AG ic LS eaten nodal ee ea Verbose and awkward. Bernini’s Colonnade is beautiful in itself. The facade is beautiful in itself, but bears no relation to the Dome. The real aim of the building was the Dome ; it has been hidden! The Dome was in a proper relation to the apses : they have been hidden. The Portico was a solid mass : it has become merely a front ea ore ewer wn Sitti Re ee ee eee e rere ers SORE ee Caen ore pes Pee nth Gai ld - Me EE eae ein ae ae peer? ree A WINDOW IN THE APSES OF ST. PETER’S 171 oe ease Se ee tie ras2 SOU OTD Ree ee Se Pa 72 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE Cosmedin ; the Medici Chapel at Florence shows on what a scale this work, of which the pattern had been so well estab- lished, would have been realized. But foolish and thoughtless Popes dismissed Michael Angelo; miserable men have murdered St. Peter’s within and without. It has become stupidly enough the St. Peter’s of to-day, like a very rich and pushing cardinal, lacking . . . everything. Immense loss! A passion, an in- telligence beyond normal—this was the Everlasting ica peat has become sadly enough a “ perhaps,” an “apparently,” an Saitemayvebes ian slam norsute.. Wretched failure ! eerie iain naomi . Since this chapter is entitled Architecture, it may be thought ee OTS TEE ae excusable to speak therein of the passion of a man. aera ae or etn Geieretesh eee ee eae ee ee IV ROME AND OURSELVES Rome is a bazaar in full swing, and a picturesque one. LO ET There you find every sort of horror (see the four reproductions Ssanecaieaeiraenetamaratinimarineraamnmnnnamae here given) and the bad taste of the Roman Renaissance. We have to judge this Renaissance by our modern taste, which sp ere eno wat sepatates us from it by four great centuries of effort, the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 2oth. We reap the benefit of this endeavour; we judge hardly, a ene ent eet eet ae but with a warrantable severity. These four centuries are lacking at Rome, which fell asleep after Michael Angelo. Setting foot once again in Paris, we recover our ability to judge. ee Teno aeds eae SRI CE CRS enue Ga CDSE tone OES Le apeeeeneaaat a a cea een a ee nlemetnar arena eras Dordede ear tecieareabeeanaer oe ie area nt eS LT ITNT ae S es ecient A Pei ears aay altiPEEP EEE bE THE LESSON OF ROME 73 The lesson of Rome is for wise men, for those who know and can appreciate, who can resist and can verify. Rome is the damnation of the half-educated. To send architectural students to Rome is to cripple them for life. The Grand Prix de Rome and the Villa Medici are the cancer of French architecture. THE ROME OF HORRORS 1. Renaissance Rome. The Castel 1. Modern Rome. The Palazzo di Saint Angelo. Guistizia. i 2. Renaissance Rome. The Galleria 2. Renaissance Rome. The Palazzo Colonna Barberini.{ j ' A | | 4 4 ai | | i} | as 1 . ay | oceans {] \ i 5 f j 7 Aaa) had i Reh We BAe § \ ¥ ow ay hei i, ened hee ta td A 4 i i ' | i 1 i ft Dy =r i Ear ED ™PTErPaIESEaTCCSArUCaAUE) ESAGA LST LLGATTHLEAL LT EEREHRG LEE EECAD LOR ELUTSOGUSEAEULLEL tee =— SEMAN Lea Lie) EL eee a ll le allel hated Sou OPCS ay 4 , i PRAGA PLP deoleteds bi velidesysuis vis PLAN OF THE CITY OF CARLSRUHE IM SUN aC INU Ie II INE0, WEIGWISIOIN Ole JPMLAIN'S Me eee ee bese ee eee peat reforcitnsersene aire eee i Sin O ive ‘ o Tete tisitrtia a te Rie te a mon, - 5 OTe he tee ae : : > * nel ee = ee anes = OC a ia es errr Fn NI seem Pe, ee i me beat nese eae eee tried NS ertinld fren mtae . a eee Sug pr rn Regine rans Calan aap ees tenons ie Cn a a ee et haa sah act line ato ms ae a es Ne iatit Eee eeeniectet al ete Deena Gatien aaa tone ek Oo 2 on protean Fetes ae S > Nod oda x F Peg tz : Pests i i sepend he Peet ree tt ath rr rT TT , Tate p , \ DETR Lee ere ; ee SAS Sioa = See eee eee re Oe ERPS! ei ee | | | | | i ! | | | | | ES eran ngiega tease eanaesS ena ia ae inipueaiienietelabassnenremdiette teeta: Ee ns isdeieaitnti acini ane atte ee ak em mee ia ee nea Neca inines ~GEA AAIAAA AULA AAAGGA 45454565 AAAALES ALAA AAR A eae, 4 The Plan proceeds from within to without ; the exterior is the result of an interior. The elements of architecture are light and shade, walls and space. Arrangement is the gradation of aims, the classification of intentions. Man looks at the creation of architecture with bis eyes, which are y feet 6 inches from the ground. One can only consider aims which the eye can appreciate and intentions which take into account architectural elements. If there come tnto play intentions which do not speak, the language of architecture, you arrive at the illusion of plans, you | transgress the rules of the Plan through am error in conception, or’ through a leaning towards empty show.ae mw oi CERT TREERTT Reet THE ILLUSION OF PLANS 179 You employ stone, wood and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces. That is construction. Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good, Iam happy and I say: “ This is beautiful.’” That is Architecture. Art enters in. My house is practical. JI thank you, as I might thank Railway engineers, or the Telephone service. You have not touched my heart. But suppose that walls rise towards heaven in such a way that 1am moved. I perceive your intentions. Your mood has been gentle, brutal, charming or noble. The stones you have erected tell me so. You fix me to the place and my eyes regard it. They behold something which expresses a thought. A thought which reveals itself without word or sound, but solely by means of shapes which stand in a certain relationship to one another. These shapes are such that they are clearly revealed in light. The relationships between them have not necessarily any reference to what is practical or descriptive. They are a mathematical creation of your mind. They ate the language of Architecture. By the use of inert materials and starting from conditions more or less utilitarian, you have established certain relationships which have atoused my emotions. This is Architecture. O make a plan is to determine and fix ideas. It is to have had ideas. It is so to order these ideas that they become intelligible, capable of execution and communicable. It is essential there- fore to exhibit a precise intention, and to have had ideas in order to be able to furnish oneself with an intention. A plan is to some extent a summary like an analytical contents table. In a form so condensed that it seems as clear as crystal and like a geometrical figure, it contains an enormous quantity of ideas and the impulse of an intention. In a great public institution, the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the principles of good planning have been studied, and then as time has gone by, dogmas have been established, and recipes and tricks. A method of teaching useful enough at the begin- ning has become a dangerous practice. To represent the inner Kourend obi memes eerie he ek eee a nace ee ees ea Ipan WP iene aS - om Ay ee nate enn a enn See totes een Afar en etn et! 180 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE meaning certain hallowed external signs and aspects have been fixed. The plan, which is really a cluster of ideas and of the intention essential to this cluster of ideas, has become a piece of paper on which black marks for walls and lines for axes play at a sott of mosaic on a decorative panel making graphic representations of stat-patterns, creating an optical illusion. The most beautiful star becomes the Grand Prix de Rome. Now, the plan is the generator, “the plan is the determination of everything ; it is an austere abstraction, an algebrization, and cold of aspect.”’ It is a plan of battle. The battle follows and that is the great moment. The battle is composed of the impact of masses in space and the morale of the army is the cluster of predetermined ideas and the driving purpose. Without a good plan nothing exists, all is frail and cannot endure, all is poor even under the clutter of the richest decoration. From the very start the plan implies the methods of con- struction to be used; the architect is above all an engineer. But let us keep strictly to architecture, this thing which endures through the ages. Placing myself entirely at this one angle of vision I commence by drawing attention to this vital fact: a plan proceeds from within to without, for a house ot a palace is an organism comparable to a living being. I shall speak of the architectural elements of the interior. I shall pass on to arrangement. In considering the effect of buildings in telation to a site, I shall show that here too the exéerior is always an interior, By means of various fundamental elements which will be clearly shown in diagrams, I can demonstrate the illusion of plans, this illusion which kills architecture,Ff ‘ THE ILLUSION OF PLANS 181 ensnares the mind and creates architectural trickery ; this is the fruit of violating undeniable truths, the result of false con- ceptions or the fruit of vanity. A PLAN PROCEEDS FROM WITHIN TO WITHOUT A building is like a soap bubble. This bubble is perfect and harmonious if the breath has been evenly distributed and regulated from the inside. The exterior is the result of an interior. In Broussa in Asia Minor, at the Green Mosque, you enter by a little doorway of normal human height; a quite small vestibule produces in you the necessary change of scale so that you may appreciate, as against the dimensions of the street and the spot you come from, the dimensions with which it is intended to impress you. Then you can feel the noble size of the Mosque and your eyes can take its measure. You are ina eT res pene ree fae ssesecrlenicteeiie tee pein eats Sti THE SULEIMAN MOSQUE, STAMBOUL Se eee tam aaetntets adalah io a CO OT tah eee ee mee ie wena res De eT ee eT Amit ai ARES PO on Ce aTPOndt JS TE EES ESPERO TOWARDS A-NEW ARCHITECTURE Pa aa danaeanabeinamiaareeae : PLAN OF THE GREEN MOSQUE, BROUSSA gteat white marble space filled with light. Beyond you can see NER meine ete nr . a second similar space of the same dimensions, but in half-light and raised on several steps (repetition in a minor key); on each side a still smaller space in subdued light ; turning round, you have two very small spaces in shade. From full light to shade, a rhythm. Tiny doors and enormous bays. You ate SES Se, Oe Sanat are pager er ene sero Ae re Nee eee ee ee a eee ee ee ee ps } aN ; inf Yt Mr Ay ; Nh i ny DAY | Ans et ae ene vA ea SANTA SOPHIA, CONSTANTINOPLE Snare Seperar anne paren naS aarp ate aie ma ene a eS NU a NaS See SES enna Ses So eee a a Na aera ee a enn tn ene Re Ne ae ae mT ete Sena Se ET RTE ee Soe naa ane eee eee ened Aeeteaaneenmaiane cs Hi yf fe , ~ aBe PS nie) Petty WErereeenas: { 4 THE ILLUSION OF PLANS 183 captured, you have lost the sense of the common scale. You are enthralled by a sensorial rhythm (light and volume) and by an able use of scale and measure, into a world of its own which tells you what it set out to tell you. What emotion, what faith! There you have motive and intention. The cluster of ideas, this ts the means that has been used. In con- DHE GASAS DEL) NOGCE: THE ATRIUM, POMPEII sequence, at Broussa as at Santa Sophia, as at the Suleiman Mosque of Stamboul, the exterior results from the interior. CasA DEL Nocs, at Pompeii. Again the little vestibule which frees your mind from the street. And then you ate in the Atrium ; four columns in the middle (four cy/inders) shoot up towards the shade of the roof, giving a feeling of force and a witness of potent methods ; but at the far end is the brilliance of the garden seen through the petistyle which spreads out this light with a large gesture, distributes it and accentuates it, stretching widely from left to right, making a great space.eS ie 5 PNP SS re eS ein eS a ore an in SI SET ied Caen eee ere ee ee racaanniseeii idan anna ares aE = ieee enetet ani aegiaaaed ASS eae rae NE ae = ee ane ne eee : Smee a ee ee et Te pede tanlipeapeio arte irvtedh-tirUi-aptietnclinache tienes an aaa attareeaa inane ae PITTED e a ae a Raa umn ean a es | | a ea SS a ae os E Fe pag eee emesis Sura ee ane tne eenbenteieetee eeee eeee e H re | i | | i = i ee 184 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE Between the two is the Tablium, contracting this vision like the lens of a camera. On the right and on the left two patches of shade—little ones. Out of the clatter of the swarming street which is for every man and full of picturesque incident, you have entered the house of a Roman. Magisttal grandeur, order, a splendid amplitude: you are in the house of a Roman. What was the function of these rooms ? That is outside the question. After twenty centuries, without any historical refer- ence, you are conscious of Architecture, and we ate speaking of what is in reality a very small house. THE CASA DEL NOCEreenenny SETUTLEFELEAEATATLELALALAGALG SREAPA EASA RLELLEELTETALAEAT REAL OE TAAL as A See cL 4 0 oT a eemesiiemeest ceases seaea et ieee ee DAE ToEUSION OF BEANS 185 JN CISUMMEXCALUIRIAL, JHEIEIMIBINGS (Ole Wise; JUN INE OUR Our elements are vertical walls, the spread of the soil, holes to serve as passages for man or for light, doors or windows. The holes give much or little light, make gay or sad. The walls ate in full brilliant light, or in half shade or in full shade, giving an effect of gaicty, serenity or sadness. Your symphony 1s made ready. The aim of architecture is to make you gay of serene. Have respect for walls. The Pompeian did not cut up his wall-spaces ; he was devoted to wall-spaces and loved light. Light is intense when it falls between walls which reflect it. 3 ~— 7 a >) re — on ME Fe Oo = =f ea & Oe HADRIAN’S VILLA, ROME (TIP VIETEN PRONE TERRE LDC Ula ee okaney? 2 “ he 4 Sai . ers - Ay ¢ 2 SOU TD Ee ee Leer s re 186 TOMWINRDS A NEW ARGHUT ER GTURE The ancients built walls, walls which stretch out and meet to amplify the wall. In this way they created volumes, which are the basis of architectural and sensorial feeling. The light bursts on you, by a definite intention, at one end and illuminates the Sn a LIAL ana nacill HADRIAN'S VILLA, ROME walls. The zmpression of light is extended outside by cylinders (I hardly like to say columns, it is a worn-out word), peristyles peed ete enpasedetvtreaee a aaiainas a or pillars. The floor stretches everywhere it can, uniformly and without irregularity. Sometimes, to help the effect, the floor is S aN ~ 7 SSS RRS REE en, a al POMPEII ean nat SE One IPS EP Sse ea eran ah SaaS ae A ee — nS ene a ee a er ane Ne ee pe ne Sa tn a taised by a step. There are no other architectural elements internally : light, and its reflection in a great flood by the walls and the floor, which is really a horizontal wall. To erect well- lit walls is to establish the architectural elements of the interior. There remains to achieve Proportion. rs eae Ss 9 Pe EN ae ee Daa eee ~N en See Saleen eek eect te eee ecient apap aaesEALisihsidtAhibe os AUREL LAE DebUSTON: OR] MANS ARRANGEMENT An axis is perhaps the first human manifestation ; it is the means of every human act. The toddling child moves along an axis, the man striving in the tempest of life traces for himself an axis. The axis is the regulator of architecture. To establish order is to begin to work. Architecture is based on axes. The axes of the Schools are an architectural calamity. The axis is a line of direction leading to an end. In architecture, you must have a destination for your axis. In the Schools they have forgotten this and their axes cross one another in stat-shapes, all leading to infinity, to the undefined, to the unknown, to nowhere, without end or aim. The axis of the Schools is a recipe and a dodge. Arrangement is the grading of axes, and so it is the grading of aims, the classification of intentions. The architect therefore assigns destinations to his axes. These ends are the wall (the plenum, sensorial sensation) of light and space (again sensorial sensation). In actual fact a birds’-eye view such as is given by a plan on a drawing-board is not how axes are seen; they are seen from the ground, the beholder standing up and looking in front of him “he eye (can reachy a considerable distance and, like a clear lens, sees everything even beyond what was intended or wished. The axis of the Acropolis runs from the Piteus to Pentelicus, from the sea to the mountain. The Propylea ate at right angles to the axis, in the distance on the horizon—the sea. Eyer VITeNENOAIMCEENTEEE UU _ sayin Str odin 3 Nees eee eee ¥ : = = - Pee och cde emoteCh ees Se Ce eee eRe RCO BEALS a oT 188 LOWARDS A NEW ARCHITE Glu RE THE ACROPOLIS, ATHENS THE FORUM, POMPEIITEER ELIAGATELEALLAL LAL Soa La Seca aa SL Ead dt ee a | i EE ine wSTON OR RENNs 189 In the horizontal, at right angles to the direction that the archi- tectural arrangement has impressed on you from where you stand, it is the rectangular impression which tells. This 1s archi- tecture of a high order: the Acropolis extends its effect right Fabia ad tndpe en ea tothe horizon. The Propylea in the other direction, the colossal statue of Athena on the axis, and Pentelicus in the distance. That is what tells. And because they are outside this forceful axis, the Parthenon to the right and the Erechtheum to the left, you are enabled to get a three-quarter view of them, in their full aspects. Architectural buildings should not all be placed upon axes, for this would be like so many people all talking at once. Tue Forum oF Pompe: Arrangement is the grading of a xn Janta te it Peete are ae Ne be cern +h one abet checked aims, the classification of intentions. The plan of the Forum contains a number of axes, but it would never obtain even a bronze medal at the Beaux Arts ; it would be refused, it doesn’t make a star! It is a joy to the mind to consider such a plan and to walk in the Forum. And here IN THE HOUSE OF THE TRAGIC POET we have the subtleties of a consummate att. Everything is on an axis, but it would be difficult to apply a true line anywhere. The axis is in the intention, and the display afforded by the axis extends to the humbler things which it treats most skilfully (the corridors, the main passage, etc.) by optical illusions. The axis here is not an arid thing of theory ; it links together the main volumes which are clearly stated and differentiated one from another. When you visit the House of the Tragic Poet, it is clear that everything is ordered. But the feeling it gives is a fich one. You then note clever distortions of the axis which give inten- SETRUPUSEVNP TERT renee encBRE ED ERT ES SEE TE ee Png POE rs TT Ae Cae EEE wanTigs DIES A Pee ee ee een emia emgage - ; oe me = TS IE Eee aE Oe or er ae ee = Meee ee eee ee eee eT re ee eee a SE ar Dac SE OO OO nares memieinere ne tae ee a ot Sepiaeee aera tah eed eee nee ae aetna ee teeaeiaebee a ‘ eee va 9 ne er tn Seems en em Rn ton air haenlinrton tonometer ae Sealetiematiendeceplapehcanenreee ee ee ‘ ansiacais Sara 190 ROW ARDS A NEW ARCHIE Ci Une, sity to the volumes : the central motive of the pavement 1s set behind the middle of the room; the well at the entrance is at the side of the basin. The fountain at the far end is in the angle of the garden. An object placed in the centre of a room often spoils the room, for it hinders you from standing in the HOUSE OF THE TRAGIC POET, POMPEII middle of the room and getting the axial view ; a monument placed in the middle of a square often spoils the square and the buildings which surround it—often but not always : D sho ‘owls matter each case must be judged on its merits. Arrangement is the grading of axes, and so it is the grading of aims, the classification of intentions.EVOL EEA SGAS-AsLASs444 AGSEAGLLGAPEEEGoAd OL FEGL OCA THE ILLUSION OF PLANS THE EXTERIOR IS ALWAYS AN INTERIOR When, at the Schools, they draw axes in the shape of a star, they imagine that the spectator arriving in front of a building 1s aware of it alone, and that his eye must infallibly follow and remain exclusively fixed on the centre of gravity determined by these axes. The human eye, in its investigations, is always on the move and the beholder himself is always turning right and left, and shifting about. He 1s interested in everything and ts attracted towards the centre of gravity of the whole site. At once the problem spreads to the surroundings. The houses neat by, the distant or neighbouring mountains, the horizon low ot high, make formidable masses which exercise the force of their cubic volume. This cubic volume, as it appears and as it really is, is instantly gauged and anticipated by the intelli- gence. This sensation of cubic volume is immediate and funda- mental; your building may cube 100,000 cubic yards, but what lies around it may cube millions of cubic yards, and that is what tells. Then there comes in the sensation of density : a tree or a hill is less powerful and of a feebler density than a geometrical disposition of forms. Marble is denser, both to the eye and to the mind, than is wood, and so forth. ee es et aE Rotts es ee abe Always you have gradation. To.sum up, in architectural ensembles, the elements of the site itself come into play by virtue of their cubic volume, their density and the quality of the material of which they are com- posed, bringing sensations which are very definite and veryTE: PLLA eet ae 192 TLOwWARDS A NEW ARGHILE GC RURE Fed ay] VT yy fv . PANTS Fa S 1 aa Riper Se ) 7 yaw 9 4% eee Pa SS: Shag? 4 pm THE PROPYLEA AND THE TEMPLE OF THE WINGLESS VICTORY vatied (wood, marble, a tree, grass, blue horizons, near or dis- tant sea, sky). The elements of the site rise up like walls panoplied in the power of their cubic co-efficient, strati- fication, material, etc., like the walls of a room. Walls in THE PROPYLEATHE ILLUSION OF PLANS 193 relation to light, light and shade, sadness, gaiety or serenity, etc. Our compositions must be formed of these elements. On the ACROPOLIS AT ATHENS the temples.are turned towards one another, making an enclosure, as it were, which the eye readily embraces ; and the sea which composes with the atchitraves, etc. This is to compose with the infinite resources HADRIAN’S VILLA, ROME of an art full of dangerous riches out of which beauty can only come when they are brought into order. At HApRIAN’S VILLA the levels are established in accordance with the Campagna; the mountains support the composition, which indeed is based upon them. In the ForuM OF PoMmPE!, with its vistas of each building in relation to the whole and to every detail, there is a grouping of varied interest constantly renewed. TRUCE ULE LLC (eae Pa mo piace Pitan iene en ‘ . Fe rita - — i a eR eterna Pasa Pe - - os a ome eG err peree REF erent see a esate Pereeee me So oe CO re al minaret Sacer nO Ae ate spn ne ae A ie ir eee ee , PP aaa ee eee er re, cette , SI Roe =) SI mye Sor A y, ye J WE, ze — KY << SLUM «SESS VERSAILLES (From a contemporary drawing) only two eyes at a level of about 5 feet 6 inches above the ground, and can only look at one point at a time. The arms of the stars are only visible one after the other, and what you have is really a right angle masked by foliation. A right angle is not a star; the stars fall to pieces. And so it goes on: the great basin, the embroidered flower-beds which are outside the general panorama, the buildings that one can only see in frag- ments and as one moves about. It is a snare and a delusion. Louis XIV deceived himself of his own free will. He trans- gressed the truths of architecture because he did not work with the objective elements of architecture. And a little grand-ducal princeling, a courtier, like so many others, of the glory of the Roi-Soleil, planned the town of ‘PROCTER EERE Eee E.7 eka =~ : ee aea ha Ta aa Es a rT Py LLL Lcaada LES EeLVEEE PERLE Eee Seed eee Ee 198 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE CARLSRUHE which is the most lamentable failure of an inten- tion, the perfect “‘ knock-out.” The star exists only on paper, a poor consolation. Illusion ! The illusion of fine plans. From any point in the town you can never see more than three windows of the castle and they always seem the same ones ; the humblest everyday house would produce as much effect. From the castle, you can never look down more than a single street at a time, and any street in any small market town would have a similar effect. Vanity of vanities! It must not be forgotten, in drawing out a plan, that it is the human eye that judges the result.’ When we pass from mere construction to architecture it is because we are indulging a high aim. Vanity must be avoided. Vanity is the cause of architectural vanities. 1 TJ apologize for the retention here of the original French.—F. E. 2 See the Plan of Carlsruhe at the head of this Section.TPIUSEAELSA/AIAFASAAAGANGHS AIDE OLLAL4SS‘bi4 MkbLS404bAAcALAY4OG534 4004 bLCAGRGALEASOES GARGS ESaAAbALLt CAM MAMIiAOnd C21 THE PARTHENON INC aN CIT Ue, Il CREATION OF Ene vine 2 IES ae sg it ot PLA LOT IOS * Cty cin ep OIE em pectic tsttn SAAN pO eed nation eee CORPO L eT I NT alt aietealeeie tenes: PUUURERTESUUL EY SECTUTECUUSE Preyer eset Eee eka iy:eee each Praia f a Aa ae Se a ei ir Pe : ¥ A y r } ROPE PET TTT PPE SePOSIRIEAR OAT HOATT GARRET SALAAEULLAsaE4 Msn EaLASOAreL HEacbAUGEGL SMALAL Las LaLa eaiEAL Lats baieLun none (Ltt coed : Beet Pde ead cede ditiouse does besser bea eee EL Ae ee ee hl lg le tee ol ee . oY Profile and contour are the touchstone of the Architect. Here he reveals himself as artist or mere engineer. Profile and contour are free of all constraint. There is here no longer any question of custom, nor of tradttion, ET ard roses SETAE nor of construction, nor of adaptation to utilitarian needs. Profile and contour are a pure creation of the mind ; they call for the plastic artist. enero oH ay fl Fo it i i Pets EUUREERIEIULE TE LOTERTUeber ia evi hee Teen Gee Seat DRaCna ina é ' fi ie LY La a = Pert eae oa 2 ~ S 8 =) rN ~? S = < 1) 3 a) [oy] es O 0 Ao. Ss oS a a S . SS a S So 410 ie - Ui < ; Of that unperturbed resolution that wrought its marble with the firm intention of , most clarified, most economical. ‘eached when nothin Ce ea ee ae ee ee neared Na ee ee Oe any eee arena fe eT closely-knit and violent elements, sounding clear and tragic like brazen trumpets. The moment was 7 Emotion is born of unity of aim achieving all that 1s most pure formed. ee ae re anetease ARGHET EGU RE PURE. CREAMION OF etEE NIN D i200; HTHEUM Y Ye _ THE f tenderness and Ionic was born; but the Parthenon dictated their forms to the Caryatides. J There was a breath oPiet LPP LLL DOI LOLA PPL SP PPR LD at Pals Se ee z a < mr Say areca Oey ee SS a ene re ane ieee SE Sea Re ere eee eee SS one res = = nee — Geese Enr er Sirens aR Ennis inna nae Stee beee te eect tenet ee a eee area eea POON HN ea aya) states Pi : Eee 208 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE THE PARTHENON Certain writers have declared that the Doric column was inspired by a tree springing from the earth, without base, etc., a proof that every noble form of art derives from nature. It is most false, since the tree with straight trunk is unknown in Greece, where only stunted pines and twisted olives grow. "The Greeks created a plastic system directly and forcibly affecting our senses : columns and their flutings, a complex entablature rich in meaning ; steps which set off and link on to the horizon. They employed the most delicate distortions, applying to their contours an impeccable adjustment to the laws of optics. This sounding-board which vibrates in us is our criterion of harmony. This is indeed the axis on which man is organized in perfect accord with nature and probably with the universe, this axis of organization which must indeed be that on which all phenomena and all objects of nature are based; this axis leads us to assume a unity of conduct in the universe and toEEEEELERE LOE C CREPE ELEPERRU PEEPLES EL EEO EE DEI LLPATE TA PEE ti HUE Se 2 ul SHEERS EEE Ee desis aba has b' Jebek so se teee Vole side — eae ai deh) 3 ise a " ARGUE EGLURE, PURE CREATION OFF REE MENDE 2co a os se = —— women Z ea RE ¥ ‘Bie Saky t : : te. : ee 4 * THE PARTHENON We must realize clearly that Doric architecture did not grow in the fields with the asphodels, and that it is a pure creation of the mind. I he plastic system of Doric work is so pure that it gives almost the feeling of a natural growth. But, none the less, it is entirely man’s creation, and affords us the complete sensation of a profound harmony. The forms used are 50 Separate from natural aspect (and how superior they are to those of Egyptian or C sothic architecture), they are so deeply thought out in regard to light and materials, that they seem, as it were, linked to earth and sky, as if by nature. This creates a fact as reasonable to our understanding as the fact “ sea” or the fact “ moun- tain.’ How many works of man have attained this height ? admit a single will behind it. The laws of physics are thus a corollary to this axis, and if we recognize (and love) science and its works, it is because both one and the other force us to admit that they are prescribed by this primal will. If the results of mathematical calculation appear satisfying and harmonious to us, it is because they proceed from the axis. If, through ceUEVETETETETULREE TEST PUPELET ERIE UE PELENTETICTInL IE TE ST rer es LoL210 TOW ARDS] A NEW ARCHIE Cine eae t y eee ‘ ze ae Nas oP te Nt ae oa ae Mae a I ee Sn a ee ti Dai ei a ee a) a el ee = Rees THE PARTHENON The plastic system ements et ti aon Sw nee ramet Seed tice ate eee ete ieee eet onetaabeetionmeiatesTIT EATEEHLIREAALOLLLESTESLILELL CARE RIBLAA HLA ARLS LezeL LEASE FORALL OE Ld ARGH DEECLURE. PURE €REATLON “ORF AEE. Man THE PARTHENON Here is something to arouse emotion. We are in the inexorable realm of the mechanical. There are no symbols attached to these forms : they provoke definite sensations ; there is no need of a key in order to understand them. Brutality, intensity, the utmost sweetness, delicacy and great strength. 1nd who discovered the combination of these elements? An inventor of genius. 1 hese stones Jay inert in the quarries of Pentelicus, unshaped. o group them thus needed not an engineer, but a great sculptor. eee at 2a lak SUUTURAESETENUIETEDI NONI Ce tend | Lice h cee 5 a a Re ree ae ee nantes ~ Riis sary ne ern de een et ee ain Eee a eee ee ee a Te Retivabettneetes theo tos ee Pre atee eetmaT ertrtT F Peery 2 Se aie TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE Zeke calculation, the airplane takes on the aspect of a fish or some object of nature, it is because it has recovered the axis. If the canoe, the musical instrument, the turbine, all results of expert- ment and calculation, appear to us to be ~ organized ”’ phe- nomena, that is to say as having in themselves a certain life, it is because they are based upon that axis. From this we get a possible definition of harmony, that is to say a moment of accord with the axis which lies in man, and so with the laws of the universe,—a return to universal law. This would afford an explanation of the cause of the satisfaction we experience at the sight of certain objects, a satisfaction which commands at every moment an effective unanimity. If we are brought up short by the Parthenon, it is because a chord inside us is struck when we see it; the axis is touched. We do not stop short in front of the Madeleine, which is made up, just like the Parthenon, of steps, columns and pedi- ments (the same primary clements). And the reason is that behind and beyond the grosser sensations, the Madeleine cannot touch our axis; we do not feel the profounder hat- monies, and are not rooted to the spot by the recognition of these. The objects in nature and the results of calculation are clearly and cleanly formed; they are organized without ambiguity. It is because we see clearly that we can read, learn and feel their harmony. I repeat: clear statement 1s essential in a work of art. If the works of nature //ve, and if the creations of calculationruns tee aqtyeyent tetetingennERNaEUERERERUEUSGS ELE OE a ea al ak tate t ‘ ‘ fait = ARGHITECLTURE. PURE GREADION OR LEE MUN De ang Poe PROPYL EA Everything is stated exactly, the mouldings are tight and firm, relationships are established between the annulets of the capital, the abacus and the bands of the architrave. move and produce activity in us, it 1s because they are both animated by a unity of the intention which is responsible for them. I repeat: there must be a unity of aim in the work of art. If the objects of nature and if the creations of calculation gain our attention and awaken our interest, it is because both one and the other have a fundamental attitude which characterizes dnc, Il eayneare 2 wwOdls of att must have its own special character. SUVELELETALERSE UCC CREED AEE UTE Te OPENED CRUST Tar CES Cn ONC r ured Ler e Lk ne eCETee See Tn a eS eceaeae teins a Se ineehent ete eapescdabtneanaetakaie lien ate ee rete SSS Ce ee ee Ee eer arene TE ee ea eer ec eeae ere eee ease ce eee asc en e gnap aac aM 214 TOW ARDS A NEW ARCHIE Gru RE THE PARTHENON The fraction of the inch comes into play. The curve of the echinus is as rational as that of a large shell. The annulets are 50 feet from the ground, but they tell more than all the baskets of acanthus on a Corinthian capital. The Doric state of mind and the Corinthian state of mind are two things. A moral fact creates a gulf between them. Clear statement, the giving of a living unity to the work, the giving it a fundamental attitude and a character: all this is a pute creation of the mind. This is everywhere allowed in the case of painting and music; but architecture is lowered to the level of its utilitarian purposes: boudoirs, W.C.’s, radiators, ferro-con- crete, vaults or pointed arches, etc., etc. This is construction,DOPUURTEeET OA EER SLSLSLETSALLLETTLLLTLLLGLaC LLSLEAL LUO LLLSL LEAUAE ERA AEARA LAL OLISOARLG LeanE LLG IOSUSc ASR EEL C3 (OO EE 4) es dt Si Ee EEE i atea Peet ath a z eR Bee GHEE GWU RE PURE CREATION OR eevee MOUND ngs FROM A MAGNIFICENT PLASTER GAST AT THE BEAUX-ARTS this is not architecture. Architecture only exists when there is a poetic emotion. Architecture is a plastic thing. I mean by “ plastic’? what is seen and measured by the eyes. Obviously, if the roof were to fall in, if the central heating did not work, if the walls cracked, the joys of architecture would be greatly diminished ; the same thing might be said of a gentleman who = er Se acicbcedesiettetie paint — S listened to a symphony sitting on a pin-cushion or in a bad draught. rT a. eee a rs a f aaaoe PUP YCUIEU cece ele ee een REETETErSUIReIeUr cert vrei Tent nee lien216 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE Almost every petiod of architecture has been linked on to research into construction. The conclusion has often been THE PARTHENON The fraction of the inch comes into play. The mouldings contain a number of elements, but everything is ordered with a view to strength. Astonishing distortions : the bands are incurved or bend over outwards in order to display themselves better to the eye. Incised lines, in half shade, form an edge to Shadows which would otherwise be vague. e drawn that architecture is construction. It may be that the effort put forth by architects has been mainly concentrated on the constructional problems of the time ; that is not a reasonyuu eae ecg ear ga UAE ER H RALGUROHLMTE GPART ———EEE ann wn < —- i ARGHUELE CG EURE CURE CREATION ORs fEtbs MUN De s2nn7, for mixing different things. It is quite true that the architect should have construction as least as much at his fingers’ ends Saeeamnensniameaieienes as a thinker his grammar. And construction being a much et eae et Aint etl eu ante te See core dt ate a once are att tt Ti Stn Sd ce le THE PARTHENON All this plastic machinery 15 realized in marble with the rigour that we have learned to apply in the machine. I he impression is of naked polished steel. mote difficult and complex science than grammar, an architect’s efforts ate concentrated on it for a large part of his career ; but he should not vegetate there. The plan of the house, its cubic mass and its surfaces have been dictated partly by the utilitarian demands of the problem, Q CFTEVEVETTErenerer’ AUTRIRTELECRIRIETOLE LT MIE errrererer einer rit ernt ers Ch thase TTRepee inenee ane ire ence ee . ~* 7 SS = By ‘A a meenereinees SE aT aE a nO eS eee es re er er enaan ene naia Sea neenecrt nen eee teat ieee editeapeemteematae See Re ee eee ee et Ee eae ete oe eae UE EEE ed 218 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE and partly by imagination, 7.e., plastic creation. Here at once, in regard to the plan and consequently in regard to whatever is erected in space, the architect has worked plastically; he has restrained utilitarian demands in deference to the plastic aim he was pursuing ; he has made a composition. Then comes the moment when he must catve the /meaments of the outward aspect. He has brought the play of light and shade to the support of what he wanted to say. Profile and contour have entered in, and they are free of all constraint ; they are a pure invention which makes the outward aspect radiant or dulls it. It is in his contours that we can trace the plastic artist ; the engineer is effaced and the sculptor comes to life. Contours are the touchstone of the architect ; in dealing with them he is forced to decide whether he will be a plastic aftist or not. Architecture is the skilful, accurate and mag- nificent play of masses seen in light; and contours are also and exclusively the skilful, accurate and magnificent play of volumes seen in light. Contours go beyond the scope of the practical man, the daring man, the ingenious man; they call for the plastic artist. Greece, and in Greece the Parthenon, have marked the apogee of this pure creation of the mind: the development of profile and contour. We can see that it is no longer a question of customary use nor of tradition, nor of constructional methods, nor of adapta- tion to utilitarian needs. It is a question of pure invention, so personal that it may be called that of one man; Phidias made the Parthenon, for Ictinus and Callicrates, the official architectsvate tetera AE RP a ARCHITECTURE, PURE CREATION OF THE MIND 219 of the Parthenon, built other Doric temples which seem to us cold and not over-interesting. Passion, generosity and mag- nanimity afe sO many viftues written into the geometry of THE PARTHENON Austere profiles. Doric morality. the handling of the contour,—volumes disposed in precise relationships. Phidias, Phidias the great sculptor, made the Parthenon. There has been nothing like it anywhere or at any period. PETIUT TT Ter : UTAVEVETESIESPCTSUIETENESEre tr seirurrerrrcrirst tre ty EYPUETCRCNTECAe serene nscr Chest ve rer no aah Thea 4 | ae a matt ‘ 7 Sr ; ee SS OSE ae ae % RI eRe ne SN Ste Se tne a RTA DS IE e Ieee en ne cent eee et eel ec ineeaieteealls See nea neater ener Re aS AR See ene eee PURITIVEDIDE PETE ESY DUDES TPE LT CPP CESS PEE 220 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHIE Gili Re, It happened at a moment when things were at their keenest, when a man, stirred by the noblest thoughts, crystallized them in a plastic work of light and shade. The mouldings of the Parthenon are infallible and implacable. In severity they go fat beyond our practice, or man’s normal capabilities. Here, THE PARTHENON The audacity of square mouldings the purest witness to the physiology of sensation, and to the mathematical speculation attached to it, is fixed and deter- mined: we are riveted by our senses ; we are ravished in out minds; we touch the axis of harmony. No question of religious dogma enters in; no symbolical description, no naturalistic representation ; there is nothing but pure forms in precise relationships.ARGHIREGCLTURE. PURE GREATION: OF i LtEy MiENID S225 For two thousand years, those who have seen the Parthenon have felt that here was a decisive moment in Architecture. We ate at a decisive moment. At the present time when the atts are feeling their way and when painting, for instance, 1s THE PARTHENON The audacity of the square mouldings ; austerity and nobility. finding little by little the formulas of a healthy mode of expres- sion and so jars violently on the spectator, the Parthenon gives us sure truths and emotion of a superior, mathematical order. Art is poetry: the emotion of the senses, the joy of the mind as it measures and appreciates, the recognition of an axial principle which touches the depth of our being. Art is this cHayeseagg TCU TAG URU AC HEEEOREUUAERERERTES HOE ER RORY UE ere UIE UTERUS TOC TREREP SU SEG PUTELT RE TUren Deletion ccc ote keaab ke at ILE IEP TT eta ——— Se ee a oS Oa Ne Sat Eee . ae Q = : - - = os Ae n . > = penne = ; Res Fara a ee =a =e - : 2 ad : se 7 = ant “a aes ; ees f ana See RIDIN OE SESE EEE eS ee TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE Ta es leks THE ACROPOLIS,' a 44 e8 ep TUP User tal aa Tere Bea ey) eeepestye pea a UIMIRSLSSUSSSLIALALSCSSSUAEAEACLGAGALEAOGES ES NGRALADEL-AES MARL CALALALAAL AAREAROMUMME CLT ER —— ——E—EEEEEE 4 Ate : ARCHITECTURE, PURE CREATION OF THE MIND 223 pure creation of the spirit which shows us, at certain heights, the summit of the creation to which man is capable of attaining. And man is conscious of great happiness when he feels that he is creating. PTR epee ae PES OL , ae THE PARTHENON The tympanum of the pediment is bare. The section of the cornice is as tight as an engineers outline. Piel ene etapa eae eee Tas ee ry ay { rere cary : MTG eee Coes eee ee rao oo, i CREP TCUE TEE eer ere ee ere ee erecta! &:Pros) SLL cc eamekites )LRPELUYERS HESS EGELEELESEOEEH IOS ES REESE EON TES MST nL TODS ESEEIs Bs ESE SE LES ERO On eR te . Wey ed iy eae f i 4 4 Hh} ry f + | H i r ; i i iPETC ceases Lateef cae tia : : pas 5 . , MASS-PRODUCTION HOUSES colonies ane ne eK ee Oe a = ; en Teek : : ee eayas er > Pat ra ny b A r) | A , Py ys LLLCEAMita es LLLSAERUUEE PEASE ee LE ELASO ARORA RCAD LP EEaS SES SEG LSS OED oH Pe pep ene os Se lee Seni =< ro pers _ 5 ; > Ce ee ee aiaia ana ne See cera eer aera nr One OOO eee ee ae Ee ne ee a oer indeordarte Se SRP I ATE eS ie f ie in ae i ih on oe u | { A | L i ee ease ee serene or esas Benne eee —_ a ae ea > ~ ST TT SR RE I SE BNR a Neen mae Sk Ne pe naman em Sm neat Saeniiee ee c a SS air a a qAl great epoch has begun. There exists a new spirit. Industry, overwhelming us like a flood which rolls on towards tts destined end, has furnished us with new tools adapted to this new epoch, animated by the new spirit. Economic law unavoidably governs our acts and our thoughts. The problem of the house is a problem of the epoch. The equili- brium of society to-day depends upon it. Architecture has for its first duty, in this period of renewal, that of bringing about a revision of values, a revision of the constituent elements of the house. Mass-production is based on analysis and experiment. Industry on the grand scale must occupy itself with building and establish the elements of the house on a mass-production basis. We must create the mass-production spirit. The spirit of constructing mass-production houses. The spirit of living in mass-production houses. The spirit of conceiving mass-production houses. If we eliminate from our hearts and minds all dead concepts in regard to the houses and look, at the question from a critical and objective point of view, we shall arrive at the ‘‘ House-Machine,” the mass-production house, healthy (and morally so too) and beautiful in the same may that the working tools and instruments which accompany our existence are beautiful. Beautiful also with all the animation that the artist's sensibility can add to severe and pure functioning elements. FOPIELIIIIITSGaADALSES IGE SUGESLGSUIA LS SAGASG4 CALGEA GEG UUGSEL/GMLGLtH Ged MALE LASGLEGL ELAAALGGELS GSAS AGOMuaaE Ate Ceca re i a res Che as L. Be) PTT eee eT eae Cee eal y ieee na teersPt ¥ Petre sky Pepys sus eamsedd SAPARD Pea Ea (git ida ECE EERE EEE Ree ee | URED th) P| NCAP Sera ata eS Se PPPPEDEDSD ET UPS SP rETPT Sy reat yea ad 07h Sata: esEAU LUA SeAGEOUOUaTAAEs EMGTSLTLUAUKLELLSCCCaLsEAS LOLFUS CGLGSAAABLOMEGELE CAS GAGGE EL LOcL Ceca C2 BORSE GL CEG ee bee ee ek sha iy MASS-PRODUCTION HOUSES 229 HE programme demanded in France by MM. Loucheur and Bonnevay was for a law authorizing the construction of 500,000 dwellings to be built well and cheaply. This was an exceptional event in the annals of construction and required exceptional means and methods. Now, it was necessary to start from the very beginning ; nothing being ready for the realization of such an immense programme. The right state of mind does not exist. The state of mind for mass-production houses, the state of mind for living in mass-production houses, the state of mind for conceiving mass-production houses. Everything must be begun from the beginning, nothing is ready. Specialization has hardly touched the domain of the dwelling-house. There are neither the wotkshops nor the technical specialists. But at any moment, if once the mass-production spirit came to life, everything would quickly be begun. In fact, in every branch of building, Industry, as formidable as a natural force and overrunning everything like a flood that rolls on to its destined end, tends more and more to transform natural raw materials and to produce what we call “ new materials.” They are legion: cements and limes, steel girders, sanitary fittings, insulating materials, piping, 1ronmongery, water-proofing com- positions, etc., etc. All this stuff is dumped in bulk into buildings in course of construction, and is worked into the job on the spot; this involves enormous costs in labour and leads Q2 if . ON WUVENULEULTIBIE LUT EEEREST SRE INETeTratrentne nts nier cc. errrvues SLOPE TETEeee eee EEA EA PELATOnTTOPPOPE POenOvOOOEE PT aT hea gg gpa wit) LE CORBUSIER, I915. A GROUP OF MASS-PRO- The walls and partitions were a light filling of bricks, breexe slabs and so agree with that of the doors, cupboards and windows, which were all worked to was fixed before the walls, and so dictated the alignment both of these and of the and the houses were thus completed by a single body of workmen : masons, All WS p\sy GYAN vd ener GEST ——_ Cea Vy yy t yey ye mpi sts (hy bated LE CORBUSIER, 1920. ce eee was poured in from above as you would fill a bottle. A house can be shoe ww 6 pao tei Seeks beae bs Loa ts tt ha 5 a es KF LE CORBUSIER, 1922. MASS-PRODUCTION WORKMEN’S HOUSES A sensible housing scheme; the same house-unit being used in varied ways. Four concrete piers ; “‘ cement-gun” walls. Its aesthetic? Architecture is a plastic, not a romantic, affair. HOUSES OF COARSE CONCRETE and the gravel was run with lime into a raft 12 inches in thickness ; the ~~ ° . cc eT > method employed, and to use the resources of the modern industrial “ yard” to this is the grand acquisition of modern architecture, and it is a great gain. 239) ori eUUET EEE TUUEERULETTITAUIT TITEL TTERELELITLIEL etn resco n oa Tee oes reyPEREVTNTZT NT EUT Tre eeepivep? Bits LE CORBUSIER, I1g21. MASS-PRODUCTION HOUSE / “< Citrohan’”’ (not to say Citroén). That is to say, a house like a motor-car, conceived and carried out like an omnibus or a ship’s cabin. The actual needs of the dwelling can be formulated and demand their solution. We must fight against the old-world house, which made a bad use of space. We must look upon the house as a machine for living in or as a tool. When a man starts any particular industry he buys the necessary equipment of tools ; when he sets up house he rents, in actual fact, a ridiculous dwelling. Till now a house has consisted of an incoherent grouping of a number of large rooms ; in these rooms the space has been both cramped and wasted. To-day, happily, we are not rich enough to carry on these customs, and as it is difficult to get people to look at the problem under its true aspect (machines for living in), it is nearly impossible to build in our towns, with disastrous results. Windows and doors must have their sizes readjusted; railway carriages and saloon-cars have shown that man can pass through smaller openings, and that these can be worked out to the last square inch ; it is criminal to make W.C.’s 36 feet square. As the price of building has quadrupled itself, we must reduce the old architectural LE CORBUSIER, 1922. MASS-PRODUCTION VILLA Framework of concrete. A large living-room 30 Jeet X 16 feet; kitchen, maids’ room ; bedroom, bathroom, boudoir ; two bedrooms and a“ solarium.” 240eit aSiehesbh iat PADATAGLELSRSPED LLCS ASA bi stba dasleueads bibki i443 pretensions and the cubage of houses by at least one-half ; henceforth the pro- ble mis in the hands 0] the technical ex pert < we Must enlist the discoverle 45 made in industry and change our attitude altogether. As to beauty, this is alvays present when you have proportion ; portion costs the landlord nothing, it is at the charge of the architect! The emotions will not be aroused unless reason is first satisfied, and this comes when calculation is employed. There is no shame in living in a house without a pointed roof, with walls as smooth as sheet iron, with windows like those And one can be proud of having a house as serviceable as a type- and pro- of factories. writer. Ocre sor Crsce LE CORBUSIER, ““CITROHAN ’ HOUSE Framework of concrete, girders made on the site and raised by a hand-winch. Hollow walls of 14’ concrete and expanded metal with a 7% cavity ; all floor slabs on the same unit of measurement ; the factory-window frames, with adaptable ventilating, on the same unit. Lhe arrangements in conformity with the running of a household ; abundant lighting, all hygienic needs met and servants well cared for. R3 241 CURLER TUTE LETT CEILI Lee ERTNITE SCRE i) EPERETITTOTIE ree TICE Ue cece cee a a ae Se ae. © a sem ts ae ee ee ean ino ae Sa OEE etterMR eee ceria) LE CORBUSIER, I919. The ordinary house weighs too much and involves the cost of transportation of a Jactory-made house is needed. The constructional principle is that of casings filled in with rough material, aggregate, rough rubble, etc., found on the site, walls an important insulating quality ; ceilings and floors of arched corrugated or so thick. The corrugated sheets remain permanently and form a definitely time as the casings. The house is completed by one class of labour, and the only LE CORBUSIER. When one talks of mass-production houses one means, of course, the “ housing- housing scheme affords the variety necessary for architectural composition and mapped-out scheme, constructed on a mass-production basis, can give a feeling America has given us an example by the elimination of hedges and fences, property which took its rise over there; such suburbs oive a great sense of 242 :ESEDL ET EEET ESE ETE TET dh de hi ls vt r’ ce A MONOL” HOUSE quantity of material _bricks, woodwork, cement, tiles, timber, etc. The of asbestos sheeting about 5" thick, forming courses about 3 feet in height, lightly bound with lime mortar, leaving between them cavities which give the asbestos sheets which form a shuttering and receive a coating of concrete an inch insulating layer. The n oodwork, windows and doors are adjusted at the same transport needed is that of a double shell of $° asbestos sheeting. fs | FETs chy \ emery ee) Pt | a = cee = ae 8 = 2a ia aaa = | SS — = a > A ““MONOL” BUILDING scheme? Unity in the constructional elements is a guarantee of beauty. A lends itself to design on a large scale and to real architectural rhythms. A well- of calm, order and neatness, and inevitably imposes discipline on the inhabitants. rendered possible only by the modern feeling of respect for other people’s space ; for once hedges and fences are removed, light and sunshine reign over all, 243 WRENUpevirinerrresr tcc e eke. SUE A TUETELELUCA ELSE LERCau LAS caed cee ee ’ 4 itm Se UUETEUTEVEPTROSETEDTIUICTTICLTELT UTE) rere AASTESEEERTED Lt omHEE EE ee ee TOWARDS A NEW ARG GaleurRes: SS = as — a = ——$<—— SS Sunes — wae ™ Zhan goo r sd i eer as —™ ———_ sree ie - F = S : LRM |.) 2S SS ee = ki at 5 fe meh) 2 a Sor = ~ E es 7 " i es ( (a ay e f mig _ I Ye 7 ~ a L Ki > oye | / ~ | r JS LE CORBUSIER, I921. A SEASIDE VILEA CONSTRUGLED WETH MASS-PRODUCTION UNITS Reinforced concrete piers every 16 feet in each direction; slightly vaulted ceilings of reinforced slabs. Within this framework, which is exactly like that of industrial buildings, the plan is arranged as required by means of slender partitions. The net cost is extremely low. On the esthetic side there is a gain of the utmost importance in the use of standard units of dimension. The lower cost of such a building, as compared with that of a more complicated form of construction, enables a greater ground area to be covered with a larger building. The lightly constructed walls and partitions can be rearranged at any time and the plan altered at nill. peaprenrneesanenttar erent nope ser aro Seti eee 7 Sows Riese saa ae PLAN OF THE VILLA, SHOWING THE PIERS REGULARLY DISPOSEDPUTO eee eee dee eee Dest HOUSES {ASS-PRODUCTION INTERIOR OF THE SEASIDE VILLA The concrete piers of uniform section, the flat vaults of the ceilings, the standard- ized window-units, the solids and the voids make up the architectural elements of the construction. SAA De h ——— NJ A ToT = —_ ny pM wg Pee) eS a alas - “3 ee et Petar SS “ce INTERIOR OF A MONOL ” MIDDLE-CLASS HOME LE CORBUSIER. HOUSE, ARRANGED AS A od that mass-construction houses can be built of perfect ss cost than their flat in town, they would at so that a real use might be made I f cultivated people realix design and proportion, and at le once insist on a better suburban train service, of the cit ty’ S$ Surrounding country-side. R4 SUIVATITTTTILTE TUTTLE ST NTL ELL Tene WETTIIINTRETEMICT Ue leer aia:ABE eee aetiat eS) “FREEHOLD MAISONETTES’ > 120 maisonettes in one block of several storeys. > c ~ = See | en, es KK a HET Liny. u RR Oa” A tH oe \y we TAY tA \ \ We A ), ; Nese pea ee - ‘“S aNce “ / a > wa. _— é | 1 te FREEHOLD MAISONETTES”: THE HANGING GARDENS Each garden is completely shut off from its neighbour. 246a A Teese aed t - y Plan of one Storey. At street level @ great entrance hall; on other floors the grand staircase and the main corridor. Ground floor plan : The shading indt- cates the hanging gardens LE CORBUSIER, I922. A GREAT RENT-PURCHASE SCHEME The drawings show the arrangement of a group of 100 maisonettes disposed in Jwe storeys, each maisonette having two floors and its own garden. A communal service provides for all necessities and provides the solution to the servant guestion (which is only just beginning and is an inevitable social fact). Modern achievement, applied to so important an enterprise, replaces human labour by the machine and by good organization ; constant hot water, central-heating, ‘ ’ ! | 5 GIT A wr 7p DIOL TT OE OLTT F{ o® iA gy Z Kf VY H 4 “Uf % . % tLe | Y Z) 4 } Yj r 1p a Le Y/Y Zl a y: Y tijjf < | r YY 7, = & h / A 2 = | Af, 4, 3} 3 Or 4 a WLELLZG se : b 4) 1] | ri } i} | | j x A * Y 4 | | f Y Y | : 4 } (Bes ~ — | C4 “ | f= a - ! w} vl < | Rez oc Gtauyee | race | 2? ‘“FREEHOLD MAISONETTES Cg epee te San Mass-production construction of concrete piers and slabs. Cavity walls. 247 panto a4 nits rare ita Poh ar bestia eS nearer Saar oe oon 7 4 i rer EET TEnrMEENE TTTUITITESEEL TCL TETSETEIRETL a ca EMORTTOTUP pre ee ee TirHOMO RE bien bx SS, ey ages WE: >> “FREEHOLD MAISONETTES One of the hanging gardens. refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, pure water, etc. Servants are no longer of necessity tied to the house ; they come here, as they would to a factory, and do their eight hours ; in this way an active staff is available day and night. The provision of food, whether cooked or not, is arranged by a special purchasing service, which makes for quality and economy. From avast kitchen the food a earner enter er ee Sees Se =< = ee “FREEHOLD MAISONETTES” SSO SE a eI Sides tei ie econ ; Saari eatin ted View of a dining-room (the hanging garden is seen through the window on the right). 248 —_— [ana peara SANE PROveep i airy genet ann EEE UTE EU TY ss y ik (mes i - Hye So eh (et foe ba, Sm aap 4 A = Ps Te Ie (ad I 9? “FREEHOLD MAISONETTES General view of one block is supplied as required to be eaten, either privately or in the communal restaurant. Each maisonette has its own gymnasium and sports room, but on the roof there is a communal hall for sports and a 300 yards track. On the roof too ts an entertainment hall for the use of the inhabitants. The ordinary narrow entrance lobby of the house is replaced by a vast hall, and a porter is on duty day and night to receive visitors and show them to the lifts. There is the great covered court, on the roof of the underground garages, for tennis. Trees and flowers all around this court, and all along the street in the gardens ; in each hanging garden flowers and creepers. ““ Standardization ” here comes into its own. The maisonettes represent a type of house-arrangement which is rational and sensible, without emphasis in any particular direction, but sufficient and prac- tical. By the system of rent purchase the bad old property systems no /onger exist. No actual rent is paid ; the tenants take shares in the enterprise ; these are payable over a period of twenty years, and the interest represents a very low rent. Mass-production 1s even more essential than anywhere else in great enterprises of this kind: low cost. And the mass-production spirit brings with it many unhoped-for benefits at a difficult time : domestic economy. ENTRANCE HALL “ FREEHOLD MAISONETTES ae 249] ) < 7 => a ~ ny , ‘ j AK | ke (A lk A tS ——--— — oS v—— =<7t LE CORBUSIER AND If we analyse the 400 square yards allotted to each inhabitant of a garden city, 300 square yards are given up to lawns, fruit and vegetable gardens, flower- result 1s often a few bunches of carrots and a basket of pears. There is no and sports generally at any time on any day right at one’s door, not in “ sports Let us put the problem more logically : house 50 square yards with small pleasure or at the sixth storey arranged in “‘ honeycomb’? fashion). Around the blocks of 150 square yards per house. In front of the houses a similar area of ground yield (irrigation, farmed-out labour, small trucks for moving manure, soil, The agricultural labourer is deserting the country-side ; with three shifts of eight hours each in operation, the artisan here becomes his own agricultural labourer and produces an important part of the food he consumes. Archi- tecture? Town planning? The logical study of the cell and its functions in relation to the mass may furnish a solution rich in results. NEW DWELLINGS AT BORDEAUX A first group in course of construction 250NETO uc arc i ea os > *2 ee E “A i ie | Ps A (A \. / a) p> { $ \ i ? |" M ie é \ } ee Deen tcade Pint Rar EL, etn, AY PIERRE JEANNERET, 1925 pet wine eS we find that the house and its outbuildings take up 50 to 100 square yards ; and beds, etc. All this involves an absorbing, costly and laborious upkeep. The Space left for games or sports. Now it ought to be possible to indulge in games 9 . . ] P r . mi vyme grounds,” which are really only suitable for professionals or people of leisure. garden 50 square yards (both garden and house may be on the ground-floor level of flats or maisonnettes large playgrounds for football, tennis, etc., to the tune devoted to agriculture of an industrialized and intensive kind, giving a large produce, etc.). A farmer acts as superintendent and manager of a grouping. SAIS IAL SIRE ? SERS ed ER pct 3 + $ 3 Sekt 1S £ ES Sas ESE 576 MAISONS POUR 270000n7 =468m" VAL MAISON HOUSING SCHEME FOR GARDEN CITIES ON THE *““ HONEYCOMB” PRINCIPLE 251Pry LLL cegamiv gy FLRSEVAEE YTS ERE ae PPS EE ne DWELLINGS ve been minutely fixed and are multiplied with endless variations. of the Builders’ Yard. LZ, mm Q Fig ee Ss SN 3 es Ss rea . &8 & Let =S Lace) Ni Ee » Bas A Ss ee Sy yY mw Ss FA SS Z & SS D 8 S ZS x The p This is a genuine in BORDEAUX-PESSAC, = 7 - sm ee ————— - -scheme. Showing part of a large housing ~ ee ee ein ntemeen ere insane ee > a < nsPULALEIPAAAAOLIALAALADLAGAAADAMMAAASALASALAGSACALAAGRbubAsukiLA te TALSAAREAS AAAS LAALSA ALACRA: ea ALLEL LEE te SE A noble For the first time perhaps Economy, p.- < It was decided to make a clean start. ke a daring ste =} A + we vs i tr , eo oy f 4 { ne giomomm at eae se iE ctl Apr ee A tL EP e 3 i | a i se BORDI : | ! qo ZAUX-PESSAC Laat tein omen aeamaein Architecture, led this manufacturer to ta i Me cry Li ; ie i 4 , qs rh ] = ' 3% ane Pes 4 ‘3 =) Fs q j i = ipo rr kc Fd ) a Sas ; J mes a new solution, using new methods. Ad ey Eu ees aa AIST wee eS oF e i ™ The first edition of this book had a profound effect on a large manufacturer of Bordeaux. (as far as France is concerned), the pressing problems of Architecture, thanks to him, were solved in a modern spirit. Sociology, esthetics : conception of the aims of Industry, and those of PRUGER- BORDEAUX LOTISSEMENT DE PRSSAC . ae _ TH rT TEES HERTLEYERERETEREDESEL TURE Ce ee errr ean eo, BUTTE RST Hite PPYPSVreveresesevertiiecriervertrer ter ee eedNS rd PRES | ants Mod oy TETAS LOLOL aU AKOracs: ae he OKS: Ea bese rckeye f UU ECEOEEEG EEE COE SePAL TPAALSAAASASTALALAUAAALA A LESEEAAL SEARLS EROLELE Rete ticlias shit inc LE CORBUSIER AND PIERRE JEANNERET, 1924. MASS-PRODUCTION ARTISANS’ DWELLINGS The problem was that of housing artisans in a large and well-lit workshop ; of lowering costs by the elimination as far as possible of partitions and doors, and by the reduction in the normal wall surfaces and heights of rooms—this by a little architectural management. The houses are built round a single hollow column of reinforced concrete. The walls are of compressed straw sheets (which have good insulating properties) rendered on the outside by 14" cement rendering thrown on under pressure by a “ cement-gun,” and plastered inside. There are only two doors to a house. The loft or upper floor, on the diagonal, allows the ceiling to be developed to its full extent (21 feet < 21 feet) ; the walls also are displayed to their full dimensions, and, moreover, the use of the diagonal creates an unexpected dimension : this little house, 21 Jeet square, gives along the diagonal the effect of a dimension of 30 feet in length. pepe i i INTERIOR 25) 0 OPITTe ee eeeky CESAR Es Ce eR ee rEg ¢ (hebaberareneé 5 ; 4 eaeaea: PT Pana) EER EP ES ee ed ee Pe ed Dd ee UESTEP HSS ERTS S EESSTEATEE 256 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITE CITE AUDINCOURTE. Fe A Se 2 eet theca . yo 2 bane eS. ete as Deel fries Sak oa See CR eS Mam et} Bb. MAPTRISI EMPLOYES | | \ OUVETERS | C. PISCINI | ECTIALLE. 0002 P METRI LE CORBUSIER AND PIERRE JEANNERET, 1924. well able to express itself in a precise fashion. CTURE SUPERFE MOY DES LOTS 290 M2. 1 & 0” HOUSING SCHEME All the houses are constructed of standardized elements, forming a “ cell”? ‘ype. Ihe plots are all equal, the arrangement regular. Architecture is very 4 fo of SIN ee NO Nee, | | |SUP sR ee gOnTNCU ace TE Oe CC EC a COL TCNULU — - — ce MASS-PRODUCTION HOUSES Z LE CORBUSIER AND PIERRE JEANNERET, 1924. ONE OF THE CELLS OF A “FREEHOLD MAISONETTE” BLOCK (SEE EARLIER ILLUSTRATIONS). A mass-production scheme, for the man of to-day : the elements are archi- tectural, the construction is entirely industrialized. A Pe Lt a ' 1 = 2 et Ae te SSE ENTERS TTI TELE T eT) PEPE eeeeA ED I eS ee SE ne ND or ae ree onan re enn ne ae Seteieerarane inameeionarertpaosiareetie a entire oi pas sions era EE si Hy a : i i i TOWARDS) Ay NEW, “AR CHIVGE CG RUE >) N = < . STs ¢ ~ te a | = , sie I S » it n | ( Gas ie 7" f S ~ — v Teakoek A uur eNAMBBE ann 2] SNe SSS \~ \ i ~ 5 vat Se = of LE CORBUSIER AND PIERRE JEANNERET, 1925. A VILLA AT BORDEAUX. Constructed Of mass-production elements with the same machinery as was used for the garden-city houses at Pessac. Mass-production is not an obstacle to Architecture. On the contrary, it brings unity and perfection in detail and offers variety in the mass.Tee eee ee Oke t eS beak ok LG HOUSES MASS-PRODUCTION A ‘ ZA f t X ' 7 Ye (p : x: \ ! : \ Site + \ ant} \ \ ‘ ; 3] \ = 3 { S i, A A Y ZA Z \ A{_A a 4 a | 4 Diva pS [A y ZA AT BORDEAUX A VILLA ME ETE cr tat ELLE ECEL CCGA CELL TCG EA OLA URes eccaceateed Cot Eee i EAAIAAAEAIAAAASAIAA LMALSAAA ASSAM LAA HAL LEER FRALARGLE LAS ae SPL od crear teeta eee vadUNIVERSITY QUARTER Attempts are made at enormous cost to build quarters for university students which may reproduce the poetry of the old buildings at Oxford. A costly poetry, disastrously so! The modern student is in any case inclined to protest against an old-world Oxford: an old-world Oxford is the dream of the modern Macenas, the donor of such a university quarter. What the student wants 7s a monk's cell, well lit and heated, with a corner from which he can look at the stars. He wants to jind opportunity for games with his Sellow- students at a stone’s throw. His cell should be self-contained, as far as possible. PLAN AND SECTIONS Every student has a right to exactly the same type of cell : it would be invidious that the poor student should occupy a cell different from that of the rich student. There is the problem to be solved: the university-quarter-caravansary : each “cell” has its antechamber, its Kitchen, its W.C., its living-room, its sleeping- loft, its roof-garden. Each student is cut off by walls from his neighbours. All the students can forgather on their Sports-grounds or in the communal halls in the large buildings destined for communal services. We have to classify, form a type and settle the Jorm of the cell and its elements. Economy. Efficiency. And Architecture? We can always achieve this when the problem is clear. The university quarter is here conceived in a “ shed”? form ; a mode of con- struction which allows of indefinite expansion, with ideal lighting and an absence of constructional (and so costly) masses. The walls are mere fillings in light insulating materials. 260BRST a AMIS AACA ANG A cA IT sl oh L j Cet LULL coury AB courr on EE en rT at . RE ie va Se SPE Sees DETAIL OF THE TERRACE-GARDEN 261 . eet CSTE i. pevereveTe rrr TET OeTeNT TNT nenrrrrrenrnenny rT ee cea a FTTTET PERRET CTTSUEECHCLET SLE Te oesi) HE HH c SD © ARTIST’S AN RRE JEANNERET. tr) By H m& A 4 < CORBUSIER LEee DPAMAAAAAAASAAAS AAAS AAMAGAAAAAASLA AMSA AAAUSMA Rac ULS SIF x MASS-PRODUCTION HOUSES 263 longer be an archaic entity, heavily rooted in the soil by deep foundations, built “ firm and strong,” the object of the devotion on which the cult of the family and the race has so long been concentrated. Eradicate from your mind any hard and fast conceptions in regard to the dwelling-house and look at the question from an objective and critical angle, and you will inevitably arrive at | the “‘ House-Tool,” the mass-production house, available for everyone, incomparably healthier than the old kind (and morally so too) and beautiful in the same sense that the working tools, familiar to us in our present existence, are beautiful. It will be beautiful, too, with the vitality that the artist’s sensibility can give to its strict and pure organism. But it is essential to create the right state of mind for living in mass-production houses. Everybody, quite rightly, dreams of sheltering himself in a sure and permanent home of his own. ‘This dream, because it is impossible in the existing state of things, is deemed incapable of realization and so provokes an actual state of sentimental hysteria ; to build one’s own house is very much like making one’s will. . . . When the time does arrive for building this house, it is not the mason’s nor the craftsman’s moment, but that moment in which every man makes ove poem, at any fate, in his life. And so, in our towns and their outskirts, we have had during the last forty years not so much houses as poems, poems of an Indian summer, for a house is the crowning of a career ... at that very moment when a man is sufficiently old tda a F epeaenae 5 Sin A : 5 Pe Ty LSA pr SMMs aS) SLESEAREPEDES ESTOS SSEE ME ED EESTI BL Eat Eos Se +. ' eee Si I ee Se a ee ———— peter iaernensanaer yor eetrsee Sep oreo ec ” on ey 4 5 ease or ~ rea : — SRS eS Se TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE 264 and worn by life to be the prey of rheumatism and of death . and of crazy ideas. Al question of a new spirit: Iam 40 years old, why should I not buy a house for myself ? for I need this instrument ; a house built on the same principles as the Ford cat I bought (or my Citroen, if I am particular). Collaborators already consecrated to the task: big industry, the specialized factories. Collaborators who must be brought in: the suburban railway lines, financial organizations, transformed Architectural Schools. The aim: mass-production houses. The coalition: one between architects and men of taste, and the universal love of the home. The executive: business concerns and true architects. Irrefutable proof : 1. The Salon de l’aviation ; 2. Towns celebrated for beauty (the Venetian Procuracies, the rue de Rivoli, the place des Vosges, la Carriére, Versailles, etc. : all mass-production). For the mass-production house implies general lines of a generous and ample sort. It necessitates a minute study of every detail connected with the house, and a close search for a standard, that is for a type. When this type has been created, we are already at the gates of beauty (cf. the motor-cart, the liner, the lorry, the airplane). For the mass-BSA mU AA NAGA AAG . . ¢ ae MASS-PRODUCTION HOUSES 265 production house will impose unity in the various elements, windows, doors, methods of construction, materials. Unity im this was the demand, in Louis detail and large general lines XIV’s reign, in the muddled, congested, inextricable and uninhabitable Paris of that time, of a very intelligent adbé, Laugier, who busied himself with town-planning : Uniformity in detail and variety in the general effect (the exact opposite of | what we do to-day: a mad variety in details, and a deadly uniformity in the setting out of our streets and towns). Conclusion: We are dealing with an urgent problem of our epoch, nay more, with “le problem of our epoch. The balance of society comes down to a question of building. We conclude with these justifiable alternatives : Architecture or Revolution. i A LOW-PRESSURE VENTILATING FAN ene OI oad Re ei ngeitind ethene a OT omen aeitl Opie Sd parte teeter teste oe te oe K it y : $ "i | y NFIEERTIETHRIL TUITE ETE OL Ge ee LO HHH MELPTTYPTEr eeLAU REARS PRATER EPEC HEPAT EES S20) ERPIEEEEDEEERO HUTTE EDEN EDE ERENT HEATER ETAT LEAR ETS RL a . - Fy) ko SAF ree anata mares ee See ES ee ee ES Se I ee an — ae we = Traore 40,000 KILOWATT TURBINE FOR ELE GORGE LION Ce need ARCHITECTURE OR REVOLUTION Soe a ae PI il etna idee foe . cates t fog RR ee ae z popsre 2 espe i. Pipi on en ate re - Pore eeepc RE nna ee = . > i ; VRE iATEsILIAISOA UAE SLEL AOA AAF ALAA ESAAALIAPIAALALAGA GAEL PAIAMIGAGGAASIALLSALESASSGALiLLAIS4 COASUGLLGLOLLULSCMLGLLLGEASEGALELSLLSLAAUCLLALCACLEAIOGLLLGGGAAGs Fee pea In every field of industry, new problems have presented themselves and new tools have been created capable of resolving them. If this new fact be set against the past, then you have revolution. In building and construction, mass-production had already been begun; in face of new economic needs, mass-production units have heen created both in mass and detail, and definite results have been achieved both in detail and in mass. If this fact be set against the past, then you have revolution, hoth in the method employed and in the large scale on which it has been carried out. The history of Architecture unfolds itself slowly across the centuries as a modification of structure and ornament, but in the last fifty years steel and concrete have brought new conquests, which are the index of a greater capacity for construction, and of an architecture in which the old codes have been overturned. If we challenge the past, we shall learn that ‘styles’ no longer exist for us, that a style belonging to our own period has come about ; and there has been a revolution. Our minds have consciously or unconsciously apprehended these events and new needs have arisen, consciously or unconsciously. The machinery of Society, profoundly out of gear, oscillates between an amelioration, of historical importance, and a catastrophe. The primordial instinct of every human being is to assure himself of a shelter. The various classes of workers in society to-day no longet have dwellings adapted to their needs; neither the artisan nor the intellectual. It is a question of building which is at the root of the social unrest of to-day ; architecture or revolution.Sam ee é , a re ‘ 5 ¢ F Pe SL) SUis a2) PLETE EEE Ln Eres LS a Bo ed SP RaRE VOEUPELON ARGH e Ga U Rees OR N every province of industry, new problems have arisen and have been met by the creation of a body of tools capable of dealing with them. We do not appreciate sufficiently the deep chasm between our own epoch and earlier periods ; it 1s admitted that this age has effected a great transformation, but the really useful thing would be to draw up a parallel table of its activities—intellectual, social, economic and industrial—not only in relation to the preceding period at the beginning of the nineteenth century, but to the history of civilizations in general. It would quickly be seen that the tools that man has made for himself, which automatically meet the needs of society, and which till now had undergone only slight modifications in a slow evolution, have been transformed all at once with an amazing rapidity. These tools in the past were always 7 man’s hands ; to-day they have been entirely and formidably refashioned and for the time being are out of our grasp. The human animal stands breathless and panting before the tool that he cannot take hold of ; progress appears to him as hateful as it is praiseworthy ; all is confusion within his mind; he feels himself to be the slave of a frantic state of things and experiences no sense of liberation or comfort of amelioration. This ts a great but critical period, above all of a moral crisis. To pass the crisis we must create the state of mind which can understand the human animal must learn to use his what is going on ; harness tools. When this human animal has put on his new a A Pe res , ae . = ee "2 a et Tr ceaiehiattiet eee Hee ee erat ec er rs eet een ae OP th a went yy E pee. i AICTEeM NULLLTTT Hung 53 | RSE ERED Ee EP ET Pe US CHRDENT ECD RURET ETE TA PECPEUEO TER TULSA) TECAMETSES CS tbagv gern cre eta ye et Eete Sees: ad! fe OE An he ROW ARDS ANEW ARGH EGU WSR EEUE NEM ei Piyaiit PPTL ute seay “TTC TOTE GE SE Ot ; UU cat 2 inland ; ; ADVE FEE LUTTE GES uta cE “ui uk ¥ Wu W PT ¢ « 4 NEN ENE “tn oo ot eas ' Wivyqy Nagy ; iy ai ae "iin af a THE EQUITABLE BUILDING, NEW YORK and knows the effort that is expected from him, he will see that things have changed: and changed for the better. One more word on the past. Our own epoch, that is to say the last fifty years only, confronts the ten ages that have gone before. During these earlier ages, man ordered his life in conformity with what people call a “natural” system; he took his tasks upon his own shoulders and brought them to a satisfactory conclusion, bearing all the consequences of his ownPe PRRROR DEC eke eld ARCHITECTURE OR REVOLUTION STEEL CONSTRUCTION. THE STEEL CORPORATION little enterprises: he rose with the sun, went to bed at dusk; he laid down his tools preoccupied with the task in hand and what he would begin on the morrow. He worked at home in a little booth, with his family around him. He lived like a snail in its shell, in a lodging made exactly to his measure ; there was nothing to induce him to modify this state of things, which was indeed harmonious enough. The family life unfolded itself in a normal way. The father watched over his children in the cradle and later on in the workshop : effort and gain succeeded one another peacefully within the family order ; and in this the / family found its profit. Now when this is so, society is stable ry SFERORITERITOREETICUERRSUTROT EIT TITTIES TETIUTLATTLGCAEILOT LIT UT POUT LOGS ad Coa ECE Eu cee POPTeUNIETPSTITerieerer er roe— a ae eee ee ee a rene i ga I a eet etn eek A a — < aren eee RnES See! ee So Peano RE ELSE Eke ee eek ae HOWARD'S =A INE WW ARCHIT REC TORE SAME RIGA Al Racing Car of 250 h.p., capable of over 160 m.p.h. and likely to endure. That is the story of ten ages of work organized within the family unit; and the story too of every past age up to the middle of the nineteenth century. But let us observe to-day the mechanism of the family. Industry has brought us to the mass-produced article ; machinery is at work in close collaboration with man; the tight man for the right job is coldly selected; labourers, workmen, foremen, engineers, managers, administrators—each in his proper place ; and the man who is made of the right stuff to be a manager will not long remain a workman ; the higher places are open to all. Specialization ties man to his machine ; an absolute precision is demanded of every worker, for the atticle passed on to the next man cannot be snatched back in order to be corrected and fitted ; it must be exact in order thatPSION O A ROSAS SA CACO LUC tC ARCHITECTURE OR REVOLUTION 275 it may play, by that very reason, its part as a detailed unit which will be required to fit automatically into the assem- bling of the whole. The father no longer teaches his son the vatious secrets of his little trade; a strange foreman directs severely and precisely the restrained and circumscribed tasks. The worker makes one tiny detail, always the same one, during months of work, perhaps during years of work, perhaps for the rest of his life. He only sees his task reach its finality in the Gnished work at the moment when it is passed, in its bright and shining purity, into the factory yatd to be placed in a delivery-van. The spirit of the worker’s booth no longer exists, but certainly there does exist a more collective spirit. If the workman is intelligent he will understand the final end of his labour, and this will fill him with a legitimate pride. When the Auto announces that such and such a car has reached 180 miles an hour, the workmen will gather together and tell one another : < Our car did that |”? There we have a moral factor which is of importance. The eight hours ely || IE axe three “ eights ” in the factory ! The shifts working in relays. This one starting at Io p.m. and finishing at 6 a.m. ; another one ending at 2 p.m. Did our legislators think of that when they granted the eight hours day ? What is the man going to do with his freedom from 6 a.m. till from 2 p.m. till night 2? What becomes of the family IO p.m. ; The lodging is there, you will say, to under these conditions ? and welcome the human animal, and the worker is althy use of so receive sufficiently cultivated to know how to make a he manv hours of liberty. But this is exactly what is mot the case ; SEVTATUTIRTITINITETTSETTITIL TUTE LCL LEC LEP SPU bo LEVER UOTLEASUEUULIL EULER EROUI everete tet e "= NTU kaneis) DRE ae Es ed aT Pe SEE ee eed sag) ee eee Pa ry Pers Lat Eee Epo fe pe a iS faa TOWARDS AINE W ARCHITEGCLURE NEW YORK the lodging is hideous, and his mind not sufficiently educated to use all these hours of liberty. We may well say, then: Architecture or demoralization—demoralization and revolution. Let us examine another point : There is a formidable industrial activity at present in pro- gtess, which is inevitably and constantly at the back of our minds ; at every moment either directly, or through the medium of newspapers and reviews, we are presented with objects of an arresting novelty whose why and wherefore engrosses out minds, and fills us with delight and fear. All these objects of modern life create, in the long run, a modern state of mind. Bewilderment seizes us, then, if we bring our eyes to bear on the old and rotting buildings that form our snail-shell, our habitation, which crush us in our daily contact with them—INARI AAD IAA AAAS AAS ORS AI ASIA AMAA ASSMAN SOLAS AAACLOLLULLLSCLLELCUR GLACE Sc SPAS USSU Ee AG High E GU Rees © Re REV OE Ueh lOmin A CRANE putrid and useless and unproductive. Everywhere can be seen machines which serve to produce something and produce it admirably, in a clean sort of way. The machine that we live in is an old coach full of tuberculosis. There is no real link between our daily activities at the factory, the office or the bank, which are healthy and useful and productive, and our activities in the bosom of the family which are handicapped at every turn. The family is everywhere being killed and men’s minds demoralized in servitude to anachronisms. Every man’s mind, being moulded by his participation in contemporary events, has consciously or unconsciously formed certain desires ; these are inevitably connected with the family, an instinct which is the basis of society. Every man to-day realizes his need of sun, of warmth, of pure air and clean floors ; he has been taught to wear a shiny white collar, and women love fine white linen. Man feels to-day that he must have intel- lectual diversion, relaxation for his body, and the physical WENTVPETEYETITTITIETETETTITIVETTET Te ce BRITT reir REET an TITHE Lat ATE i He i weAINE W ARCHITEC LURE TOWARDS SHIP’S COALERS ON THE RHINE culture needed to recuperate him after the tension of muscle ot brain which his labour—“ hard labour ”—brings. This mass of desires constitutes in fact a mass of demands. Now our social organization has nothing ready which can answer these needs. Another point : what are the conclusions of the intellectuals face to face with the actualities of modern life ? The magnificent flowering of industry in our epoch has created a special class of intellectuals so numerous that it con- stitutes the really active stratum of society. In the workshop, in the technical departments, in the learned Societies, in the banks and in the great stores, on newspapers and reviews, there are the engineers, the heads of departments, legal representatives, secretaries, editors, accountants who workTIA SEAEEALEME EEL SUALALIAAARL SA APIAALAT EAA ALZAAAMUnAAA A Gad SEALs Ma Aabe UCL CLs ucts LEGG LALLA LL CLLEGE MUG LALOLELHCELCEE LE Lot LA Catstecsccaeeeebed 1120 ee pecs Abb cent bentnee nang bese eee be Peat nent neataemmmnemen ARCHITECTURE, OR REVOLUTION 279 out minutely, in accordance with their duty, the formidable things which occupy our attention: there are the men who design our bridges, ships and airplanes, who create our motors and turbines, who direct the workshops and yards, who are engaged in the distribution of capital and in accountancy, who do the purchasing of goods in the colonies or from the factory, who put forth so many articles in the Press on the modern production of so much that is noble and horrible, who record as on a chart the high-temperature curve of a humanity in labour, in perpetual labour, at a crisis—sometimes in delirium. All human material passes through their hands. In the end their observation must lead them to some conclusion. These people have their eyes fixed on the display of goods in the great shops that man has made for himself. The modern age 1s spread before them, sparkling and radiant . . . on the far side of the barrier! In their own homes, where they live in a precarious ease, since their remuneration bears no real relation to the quality of their work, they find their uncleanly old snail-shell, and they cannot even think of having a family. If they do so there will begin the slow martyrdom that we all know. These people, too, claim their rights to a machine for living in, which shall be in all simplicity a human thing. Both the worker and the intellectual are precluded from following their deepest instincts in regard to the family ; each and every day they make use of the brilliant and effective tools that the age has provided, but they are not enabled thereby to use them for themselves. Nothing could be more discouraginges Pe te LEP ee ‘a " i - ASP EP! 280 MOWER Sao INIEIW. AR GEL TP eiG il URE or more irritating. Nothing is prepared. We may well say: Architecture or Revolution. Though modern society does not recompense its intel- lectuals judiciously, it still tolerates the old arrangements as to property which are a serious barrier in the way of transforming the town or the house. Established property rests on inheri- tance and its highest aim is a state of inertia, of no change and of maintaining the status quo. Although every other sort of A TURBINE DISC FROM THE CREUSOT WORKS: 40,000 KILOWATTS.PAsLAAAiAAA As AU AMIAAAARELABASAMAALALAS TEE TET PED TREEELELULULELEACREESA TEAS EERERR CEL OEE LOE acd tease recat at oe Ema # ee ‘ : all v re i a ARGHITECLURE OR REVOLUTION 281 human enterprise is subject to the rough warfare of competition, the landlord, ensconced in his property, escapes the common law in a princely fashion: he is a king. On the existing prin- ciple of property, it is impossible to establish a constructional programme which will hold together. And so the necessary building is not done. But if existing property arrangements were changed, and they are changing, it would be possible to build: there would be an enthusiasm for building, and we should avoid Revolution. The advent of a new period only occurs after long and quiet preparatory work. VENTILATORS Hourly output 57,000 cubic metres. pr ereavererausa anna ESET TETSU ET TELE ELCTEELLETTEUTOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE ‘> ~ epee Soe a en AY SBUGAGIT 2 ENGINE rat th tn an ttm ee Pap ea ee en PR agen ee ene a Se — CHICAGO, CONSTRUCTION OF A WINDOW: INDUSTRIALIZATION m5 > Aaa : ; ~ = = . Ne ne ee Oe ee aE ee ena Peden tectonic imate Basten need en decennial dheiieetaetiibeaeteaatane eeOUI LAidAAAM AAP GAAAMAAR SSAA LULU UTC TESTS a ARGHITLECLURE OR REW OLUMION 6a eon Ss SSE ee See = 3 z gn SEO CLIT A FORECAST: THE AIRPLANE OF TO-MORROW Industry has created its tools. Business has modified its habits and customs. Construction has found new means. Architecture finds itself confronted with new laws. Industry has created new tools: the illustrations in this book provide a telling proof of this. Such tools are capable of A FACTORY (FREYSSINET & LIMOUSIN) EETEDEUEAG TE TENE ROLEL EDU R CERT EE OM} ppereeerre rere rrse uN TSSUTT ONSET ETESUUEEEUOTIINT IUTUTTIT TOT ELLGUIE OCU ELCEEET CELLS LLL Gee AOS ECOSOC UAC ~.F Pr S/T LLDT Ercamhe a) | LESTE EDE ED EEL ELITE LEG OSE EEEET REV IDG ES OPEd PERE LESTE TELE FOP RPS PETE EEE PEE a Lo v TOWARDS A NEW ARGHITECTURE 284 adding to human welfare and of lightening human toil. If these new conditions are set against the past, you have Revo- lution. Business has modified its customs: it bears a heavy respon- sibility to-day: cost, time, solidity of the work. Engineers in numbers fill its offices, make their calculations, practise the laws of economy to an intensive degree, and seek to harmonize two opposed factors : cheapness and good work. \ Intelligence lies behind every initiative, bold innovations are demanded. The morality of industry has been transformed : big business is to-day a healthy and moral organism. If we set this new fact against the past, we have Revolution in method and in the scale of the adventure. A HANGAR (FREYSSINET & LIMOUSIN) Width 250 feet, height 150 feet, length over 900 feet. The Nave of Notre Dame is 40 feet wide and about 107 feet in height.SISAMMABLIALSADAIAEAAAADIAAISFAALEEARSOOSSAFAUSUGESIACULASSEROLSLULELEOSLEESCOELSIOEOCELSGESCLELGLZLeCeAS tT eROAEOteA Raed 78 ARCHITECTURE OR REVOLUTION 2 tn Sire ni Dana DD tren ae a SS ee ee omaninn Sess A LARGE AIRSHIP HANGAR AT ORLY (FREYSSINET & LIMOUSIN) Width 250 feet, height 170 feet, Jength over 900 feet. tre tod pee pefratintersint Oe oe 4 F prprperreryreesrr a VENEETHSTTN TECRIETEETUEESTILIT SIL LEHI EAE LULL ULE LULL LLL LLLE SEU eS U ELS UE ft (on ,SUT ELECT ui) PREP PPE ER PS Ee EEE 286 TOWARDS “A NEW ARCHITECTURE Construction has discovered its methods, methods which in themselves mean a liberation that earlier ages had sought in vain. Everything is possible by calculation and invention, provided that there is at our disposal a sufficiently perfected body of tools, and this does exist. Concrete and steel have entirely transformed the constructional] organisation hitherto known, and the exactitude with which these materials can be adapted to calculation and theory every day provides encour- aging results, both in the success achieved and in their appear- ance, which recalls natural phenomena and constantly repro- duces experiences realized in nature. If we set ourselves against the past, we can then appreciate the fact that new formulas have been found which only need exploitation to bring about (if we ate wise enough to break with routine) a genuine liberation from the constraints we have till now been subjected to. There has been Revolution in methods of construction. Architecture finds itself confronted with new laws. Con- struction has undergone innovations so Crea thatthe old " Styles,” which still obsess us, can no longer clothe it; the materials employed evade the attentions of the decorative artist. There is so much novelty in the forms and thythms furnished by these constructional] methods, such novelty in arrangement and in the new industrial programmes, that we can no longer close our minds to the true and profound laws of architecture which are established on mass, thythm and proportion : the = styles no longer exist, they are outside our ken; if they still trouble us, it Is as parasites. If we set ourselves against the past, we are forced to the conclusion that theSeetHST ere iserrer rete eetRRR Ete kU LLL OLS, TEEETELEAEICUREEL ULLAL GT LPRER EAA ACLECAELERA AT ALAS TEREEE LAGE Te Orpy eRyET PRE CEALEAE Meth oe ete a ee attics reed cent hen ee ke ee i WORKSHOPS AT TURIN WITH THE TESTING TRACK ON THE ROOF 287 PEIPera 288 TOWARDS A NEW ARCHITECTURE old architectural code, with its mass of rules and regulations evolved during four thousand years, is no longer of any interest ; it no longer concerns us: all the values have been revised ; there has been revolution in the conception of what Architecture is. Disturbed by the reactions which play upon him from every quarter, the man of to-day is conscious, on the one hand, of a new world which is forming itself regularly, logically and clearly, which produces in a straightforward way things eich are useful and usable, and on the other hand he finds himself, to his surprise, living in an old and hostile environment. This framework is his lodging ; his town, his street, his house or his flat rise up against him useless, hinder him from following the same path in his leisure that he pursues in his work, hinder him from following in his leisure the organic development of his existence, which is to create a family and to live, like every animal on this earth and like all men of all ages, an organized family life. In this way society is helping forward the destruc- tion of the family, while she sees with terror that this will be her ruin. There reigns a great disagreement between the modern state of mind, which is an admonition to us, and the stifling accumu- lation of age-long detritus. The problem is one of adaptation, in which the realities of our life are in question. Society is filled witha violent desire for something which it may obtain or may not. ee naan Everything lies in that : everything ibiibdiasintiaieieane mein ad , ; _ : = $e Rare eines nants Cannas ets ereneietsaas —if 8 SEE aA 4 UAT ISLSALARAAAAAUASAIAAAIAIAPUAAAAIAR LAL PASPUAIAM ALAS DAASAASARIASASAIGASLSMASAASSHAGGLOGLASIOLSLALAELLISLULQALIOLALSCLKARLOSLECLLCOS CUED CLT ACCeySSeRUc Grea EE? ARCHITECTURE OR REVOLUTION 289 depends on the effort made and the attention paid to these alarming symptoms. Architecture ot Revolution. Revolution can be avoided. BRIAR PIPE A perrrrerntvTrerrrterererrinirl Tertrrenrrrn i eek e LaLs TUFUTATTUL EEE TR ete ee| ; i ae i cee) £9) wLs ees , dt ate achak BY Phe a i nas Pi i 2 Lena i 7 i é I | f | i / | Regu rener eon Pe eeaesesy > : ere saeues ie Sitn neem] a ade heenea a CN Cana Fiiiptvengs eerie ae nae aeons ete tenn ieee — = ry = emi Senet a. 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