Anna Zhao

    anna.whizh@yahoo.com

    MORE than 200 works showing the achievements of Le Corbusier, an avant-garde architect of the 20th century, are on exhibition at OCT Art and Design Gallery until July 31.

    The exhibits include some of Corbusier’s original manuscripts of architecture design and urban planning, furniture designs, paintings, sculptures and publications on architecture design, which underlay Corbusier’s fame as one of the renowned pioneers of modern architecture.

    The exhibition is the first one staged on the Chinese mainland. It is part of the Festival Croisements 2015, as well as a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Corbusier’s death.

    The exhibition’s curator team is presenting the exhibition in the fashion of Corbusier’s early design of the Villa Savoye — the first floor simulates on empty structure to allow public interaction, the second floor reproduces Corbusier’s works by following the timeline of his life and the third floor features films presented in line with Corbusier’s design of a rooftop garden. The space between the first floor and the second floor is an atrium modeled on his design of Convent of La Tourette.

    Corbusier was born Charles Edouard Jeanneret in 1887 in Switzerland. He moved to France in his 30s, where he gradually rose to worldwide fame. Corbusier created more than 400 art pieces, nearly 100 building designs, more than 80 theoretical publications and more than 100 furniture designs.

    His radical theories on architecture design, which were rebellious of tradition, led to praise as well as criticism, but left an indelible mark on architecture design.

    In 1914, Corbusier conceived the design of Maison Dom-Ino as a prototype for mass-produced housing, a minimal design that became one of the most recognizable images of 20th-century architecture. Using as an analogy the game of Domino, the Maison Dom-Ino model proposed an open floor plan consisting of concrete slabs supported by a minimal number of reinforced concrete columns around the edges with a stairway providing access to each level on one side of the floor plan. This type of design is prevalently used nowadays in urban mansions and skyscrapers because of its easily replicable structure that offers maximum freedom of interior configuration.

    In 1926, Corbusier proposed an architecture theory based on Maison Dom-Ino with five points, including a pilotis (elevated ground floor), a roof garden, the free plan, the long horizontal window and the free facade.

    The theory was embraced in the design of the Villa Savoye, built from 1928 to 1931 on the outskirts of Paris. This model of design is still widely applied to today’s urban structures, although the elevated ground floor is often replaced by an underground garage and his idea of horizontal windows are usually vertical.

    With a career spanning five decades, Corbusier designed buildings in central Europe, Africa, India, Russia, and one each in North and South America. The wide acceptance of his designs is inseparable from his theory of “Modulor,” the golden rule and mathematical progression that defines the principle of harmonious proportions in architecture.

    The Modulor theory was tested and declared a success for the first time in a collective housing unit in Marseille built from 1947 to 1952. The building was also designed to include a discrete guest room, a bedroom, a kitchen, several amenities, shopping areas and supportive facilities in the same building — a public housing design that was unprecedented in architecture history at that time.

    His design of The Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut at Ronchamp in eastern France, which was built from 1950 to 1955, is one of the most important examples of 20th-century religious architecture, with its “billowing” concrete roof that appears to float and the aesthetic beauty in the division of window caves on the wall.

    As an avid art enthusiast, Corbusier spent half of his time on drawings and sculptures. He thought that drawing, sculpting and architecture design had a common ground based on configuration, and he attached poetic beauty to the three. Objects in nature, such as shells, were a source of inspiration for his drawings and sculptures.

    His design ambition also entered the sphere of urban planning. He proposed a plan for a city of 3 million inhabitants, with its traffic hub at the city center, high-rise office buildings, cultural facilities, residential areas and industrial zones divided between the city and a green belt on its outskirt. The idea was realized in his design of Chandigarh in India.

    In the publication Urbanisme in 1923, he detailed ways to alleviate traffic congestion by separating pedestrian lanes from lanes for vehicles at different speeds. The idea had a big influence on post-World War II urban planning.

    But as an architect that overturned tradition, his design was poorly accepted at the early stages of his career. His design for a Paris museum, with the idea of “unlimited growth” upon people’s needs, has never materialized.

    The exhibition’s curator Bai Yuxi compared Corbusier to Da Vinci for his versatile talents and his influence on the architecture world. “He was a trend setter who overturned old architecture designs and inspired the next generation. It was audacious of him to break his own rules and set new rules,” Bai said. “He was so gifted and integrated his multi-faceted talents into his works in a condensed way — an ability that is rare among designers. His fascination with design was as vast as the sky and as deep as the ocean.”

    In Bai’s opinion, Corbusier himself is more inspiring than his works. “Corbusier had a thorough understanding of the world from the depth of the human mind, from overall human society, and from the height of humanity,” he said.

    Curator Pascal Mory said Corbusier remains an influence for architects from both China and Europe. “His works inspire the development of modern architecture design, just like the revolutionary figure Marcel Duchamp does for contemporary art.”

    During the exhibition, seminars and lectures centering on Corbusier’s design philosophies will be held along with speeches given by design, art and literature scholars.

    Time: Till July 31.

    Hours: 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. (Closed on Mondays, open on holidays)

    Venue: OCT Art & Design Gallery, 9009-1 Shennan Boulevard, Overseas Chinese Town (南山区华侨城深南大道9009-1号)

    Metro: Luobao Line, OCT Station,Exit C (罗宝线华侨城站C出口)