Le Corbusier was a well-known swiss architect, famous for his bold and functional building style. His buildings combined a strong sense of modern expressionism with the unique sense of unhindered functionality that his generation of architects praised. The greatest example of this was quite possibly the convent of La Tourette in Eveux-sur-Arbresle, a concrete fortress atop a peaceful valley. This project was the perfect representation of functionality and bold design working in harmony to create something uniquely useful for the group that commissioned it.
The convent was designed specifically for the group that was set to live there, using information about their religion and daily routines to create a space that would serve their needs while still maintaining an aesthetic that was representative of their ideals. To do this, Le Corbusier meticulously studied the monks and their way of life, deciding in the end to create a space that served many different purposes while still occupying just one large space. Examples of the types of buildings he combined include a housing area (consisting of around 100 concrete blocks containing only the bare necessities for daily life, which Le Corbusier claimed was perfect for contemplation and meditation), a church, a dining area, a school, public areas, etc. He created what appears to be one large, concrete, rectangular building from the outside, but in reality, his purpose was to create a sense of unity between the spaces by using a simple material uniformly across the whole space and enclosing them in something comparable to an old Spanish or Italian town which was very small and enclosed by large walls and had one common public area. In doing so, he provided the monks with a peaceful and religious experience that perfectly suited their lifestyles.
This building, however, was not simply a perfect representation of the monk’s lifestyles, it was also a fine representation of many of Le Corbusier’s theories on architectural design, namely his five points of architecture. These five points include replacing the supporting walls with a grid of supporting columns to bear the load of the project, doing away with restrictions on the internal use of the project by incorporating a free design of the floor plan, separating the exterior of the building from its structural function, a horizontal window which lights the inside of the project equally, and roof gardens so as to provide a sort of protection for the concrete roof as well as serve a domestic purpose. These elements are all present in the construction of the convent of La Tourette, making it a perfect example of his architectural theories.
Le Corbusier’s architectural theories proved quintessential in the development of the convent of La Tourette which cemented him as one of the most influential and important architects of our time. The harmonious combination of functionality and bold expressionism is something worth learning and taking inspiration from.
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