Towards a New Architecture

LE CORBUSIER AND PIERRE JEANNERET, 1924. HOUSING SCHEME

“FREEHOLD MAISONETTES”: THE HANGING GARDENS
Each garden is completely shut off from its neighbour.

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 is essential in a work of art.
If the works of nature live, and if the creations of calculation move and produce activity in us, it is 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.

An object placed in the center of a room often spoils the room, for it hinders you from standing in the 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; in this matter each case must be judged on its merits.

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.

A PLAN PROCEEDS FROM WITHIN TO WITHOUT

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 fitments 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.
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 is 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.

The number of rooms: one for cooking and one for eating. One for work, one to wash yourself in and one for sleep.

The number of rooms: one for cooking and one for eating. One for work, one to wash yourself in and one for sleep

ARCHITECTURE is the art above all others which achieves a state of platonic grandeur, mathematical order, speculation, the perception of the harmony which lies in emotional relationships, This is the AIM of architecture.