Le Corbusier

Topic C - Proportion and Construction
group 4

Villa Stein de Monzie Le Corbusier Josephine Baker House Adolf Loos
Floris Coolen, Tim Maier, Percijn Vlaming

4|C

Architectural Analysis | Raumplan versus Plan Libre

Content
I. Essay 6

II. Analysis Villa Stein de Monzie Le Corbusier
.1 Project description .2 Context .3 Exterior .4 Interior .5 Conclusion .6 Bibliography

12
1422 23 30 47 48

III. Essay

49

IV. Analysis Josephine Baker House Adolf Loos
.1 Project description .2 Context .3 Exterior .4 Interior .5 Conclusion .6 Bibliography

55
55 62 63 70 85 86

V. Comparison Villa Stein de Monzie - Josephine Baker House

87

Raumplan versus Plan Libre | Architectural Analysis

C|5

I. Essay
Proportion

6|C

Architectural Analysis | Raumplanversus Plan Libre

Proportion
_History in architecture The dictionary defines proportion as: 1350–1400; ME proporcio(u)n < L prōportiōn- (s. of prōportiō) symmetry, analogy or balance: comparative relation between things or magnitudes as to size, quantity, number, etc.; proper relation between things or parts: to have tastes way out of proportion to one’s financial means; a portion or part in itsrelation to the whole: Mathematics. a relation of four quantities such that the first divided by the second is equal to the third divided by the fourth; the equality of ratios. Within this definition the architectural aspect of proportion is clarified, but the essence of the architectural meaning of proportion can only be understood with a historical view of proportion. In the history of architecturethere are three systems of proportions. The first system is used by the Greek, based on the square. The second system was used in the Renaissance by Andrea Palladio and Leon Battista Alberti, based on the musical ratios. The last system was introduced by Le Corbusier`s Modulor and it is was derived from the Golden Section. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (±85 -25 BC), was a Roman architect and engineer,probably born in Formiae (now Formie), Italy. Vitrivius was an artillery engineer in the service of the first Roman emperor, Augustus. He is mostly known for his writings in his Ten books of Architecture, ‘De Architectura’. The writings were famous because Vitruvius describes in his book how a structure must exhibit the three qualities of firmitas, utilitas and venustas (durable, useful andbeautiful). Vitruvius refers architecture to an imitation In the Renaissance period several important architects studied and tried to refine the system of proportions that was introduced by the ancient Greeks. The Italian architect Leo Battista Alberti (1404-1472) studied the ‘De Architectura’, by Vitruvius, and Alberti designed a system that was based on the Pythagorean divisions of the octave. His workbecame the first architectural treatise of the Renaissance. It covered a wide range of subjects, from history to town planning, and engineering to the philosophy of beauty. De “re aedificatoria”, was not fully published until 1485, after which it became a major reference for many architects. Another Italian architect in the Renaissance, Andrea Palladio (1508 – 1580), was also influenced by the Roman andGreek architecture. The architectural work of Palladio, known as the Palladian Style, adhered to the classical Roman principles that Palladian rediscovered, implemented in his works and underlines in the publication of his treatise “Quattro Libri dell’Architettura” “Art is poetry: the emotion of the senses , the joy of the mind as it measures and appreciates, the recognition of an axial principlewhich touches the depth of our being. Art is thus 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 capable of great happiness when he feels that he is creating” (_Le Corbusier|Precisions) “Without symmetry and proportion there can be no principles in the design of any temple; that is, if there is no...