The Word on Modernism:

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Le Corbusier admired the energy and industrial might of North America but was highly critical of its architecture. He described New York as a ‘savage city’ and complained that the skyscrapers were too small and too few.

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Le Corbusier [C.E. Jeanneret]. When the Cathedrals were White: A Journey to the Country of the Timid People. London: Routledge, 1947. Leith St, Bliss KUB

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Le Corbusier was the adopted name of Charles Édouard Jeanneret (1887–1965), a Swiss-born architect and theorist. He was enormously influential on the generation of architects born close to the turn of the 20th century. Many read Vers une Architecture as students and described a ‘road to Damascus’ experience where after they were converted to modernism.

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Le Corbusier [C.E. Jeanneret], Vers une architecture. Paris: Les Editions G. Crés, 1924. CL NA 2520 L4 A55

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The two Modulor books describe Le Corbusier’s philosophy of architectural proportion that is derived from the scale of the human body. The figure of Modulor man appeared in Le Corbusier’s publications as well as murals in architectural projects including the Unité de Habitación in Marseilles. Theories of proportion and visual harmony were a major part of the teaching system of modern design.

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Le Corbusier [C.E. Jeanneret], The Modulor: A Harmonious Measure to the Human Scale. (London: Faber and Faber, 1954) and Modulor 2: Let the User Speak Next (London: Faber and Faber, 1958). CL NA 2760 LF19.