Les Cinq Points d'une Architecture Nouvelle Author(s): Werner Oechslin and Wilfried Wang Source: Assemblage, No.

4 (Oct., 1987), pp. 82-93 Published by: The MIT Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3171037 . Accessed: 01/03/2014 17:03
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

The MIT Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Assemblage.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 160.39.47.177 on Sat, 1 Mar 2014 17:03:12 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Werner
Les

Oechslin
Points

Cinq

d'une
Nouvelle

Architecture

Translated fromthe German by Wilfried Wang Werner Oechslinis Director of the Institut ffr Geschichte und Theorie derArchitektur at the Eidgen6ssiche Technische Hochschule in Zurich.

1 (frontispiece). Le Corbusier, "The Five Points of a New Architecture,"1929

Within Le Corbusier'sabundant literature,the essay "Les Cinq points d'une architecturenouvelle" representsthe only self-containednormativework that satisfiesthe classic functions of architecturaltheory:it attends to practical questions of architecturaldesign, and it intends to establish a theoretical basis and codification. Given Le Corbusier's extensive written work, this observationmay come as a surprise;however, it can be supportedby just a few references. Comparabletexts, such as those on the development of fundamental elements (cellule) and figures of the maison standardisee,which is generatedfrom these parts,' or those on the various forms of (plan-related) composition,2 are essentially restrictedto their typological expressionand lack the fundamental, substantiverelation to the project-makingprocess peculiar to the five points. Despite copious applications, other theoretical attempts, as for instance those around the Modulor, do not attain the degree of explicit relation to the design process and to the ultimate architecturalsearch for form that characterizesthe five points. On the contrary,they could be characterized more readilyand exclusively as purely theoretical efforts, even though Le Corbusierhimself was of the opposite opinion. The same applies to the fundamental, constantly recurringobservationson the subject of the architectversus the engineer, whose programmaticintention frequentlyobscured its immediate use (which, in this respect, is clearly noticeable in the five points).3The discussion of the tracis regulateurs,which clearly anticipatedthe reasoningbehind the five points in many aspects, is an exception, and its

83

This content downloaded from 160.39.47.177 on Sat, 1 Mar 2014 17:03:12 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

.EM

TCI-iNl(Ml

MSONT L.SIETTTE

MP.MIE D17) YI TSI ME,,

LE ES OUVIENT

UN NOUVE.\U

YCl-;

I:

l.I:AIll

I.T

:,

,c

c.+

r,

i-

r- 1

r n n

*q

S.

LtL1

J utiadlu' ionton armn et au fer, pour biAtir une maison de pierre, onl inid larges rigoles dtans ia terre et l'on allait chercher le hon sol tr.usait Ipouretahlir la fonldation. On conslitunit ainsi les caves, locaux niudiocres, humides genuralennent.

I'uis on mnontaitls Inurs de pierre. On 6tablissait un premier plancicr p)osCsur lts murs, puis un second, un troisibme; on ouvrait des
fenietres.

IV

\~,'e

Ill

,lllrlc.r

It- n:llm arnfl on supprine entilrement les muFrs.On porte les ulr IdeIlinces polCaux (lisposts A ide grandes distances les uns

le tit est la facadte est enlilbre sos la lmaisonll, I' sol 'l e rteconqiuis, plus lparalys6. li;rlnelt llire. On llt.st

La tabelle dit ceci: A surface de verre gale, Iune piki'' '-elair?:t Ir une fentre eln longueur qui touche aux denx rumrsclmItiglus, comPlllioN Iaue; an z. .. deux zones d'clairement: une ,irezrone tr 6clair6e. sfenutres 'ricrl'em al,:ilri,-I)'autre part, une piece 6clair6e piar deux
nant des trumeaux, comporle quatre zon(es dl'rtlair.lll't

Mclaiire,la zone 2, hin

la zone 3, rail n clair6e,. -c!lair:..

l I;t /.n

. rI. tIn 4., l-ur,.

This content downloaded from 160.39.47.177 on Sat, 1 Mar 2014 17:03:12 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

assemblage 4

Ikeole Polyleeflique

theoreticalstance formed the point of departurefor the theory of proportionsand harmony of the Modulor. This is not so surprisingif one takes into account that the five points drawtogether the experience and thoughtsfrom as far back as the Dom-ino and the buildings of the early 1920s, especially the Maisons La Roche, by which Le Corbusierexemplified the tracesrdgulateurs. That in this sense the normativework of the five points has been crystallized from the rich range of experience has to be stressed as much as the circumstancesof the fortuitouscodification on the occasion of the 1927 Weissenhof exhibition in Stuttgart,or in its accompanyingpublication. What might be observedhere is characteristic of Le Corbusier'sentire theoreticalwork. Beginning with the collection of essaysof Vers une architecture,it remains as something pieced togetherfrom fragments,despite the fact that in the recurrenceof the themes as well as the formulations a continuity is unmistakable,one that allows us to This externaland formal speak of Le Corbusier's"theory." which was also aspect, significantin the five points, can be the explained by preferencefor the medium of the newspathe per, pamphlet, and the manifesto, for which all moveand ments groupingsof modernism had a predilection. the Thus, "points"of the De Stijl movement have often been considered a model for the five points. More important is that Le Corbusiermade conscious use of the modern method of communicating theoreticalcontents. In this respect, too, he set himself apartfrom the official tradition of the Beaux-Arts,which even in 1930 revealedas a model a Gustave Umbdenstock'sCours d'architecture professe l'Ecole polytechnique,the title of the systematictreatise since FrangoisBlondel and Jacques-Francois Blondel. Hence the occasion for the codification of the five points was fortuitous. Le Corbusierexpressedhimself on the subject of the Maison Citrohan in the firstvolume of the At last c'est I'occasionenfin!"4 Oeuvre compldte: "Stuttgart, this house - or better, this house type - could be realized. Le Corbusierdid not talk of individualobjects or designs;he hinted at the continued developmentof one idea stretchedover many instances. And it is exactly in this manner that he presentedthe five points he had writtenfor "Ce sont ici les conclusions theoriquesd'observaStuttgart:
84

COURSS 'ARCHITECTURE
G. UMBDENSTOCK I-. volume

U E-, IMPRIMEURSLUIBRAIRES GAUTFllER-VILLARS

PARIS

1930

tCOLE P*LYTECHNIQUE

COU

RS

2. Title page and frontispiece of Gustave Umbdenstock, Cours d'architecture,1930

This content downloaded from 160.39.47.177 on Sat, 1 Mar 2014 17:03:12 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Oechslin

tion successives faites dans le chantier depuis plusieursann6es." The five points are thereforeintroducedas a theoretical conclusion; it is only for this reason that they fulfill the classic (Vitruvian)function of theoretical statements. In the manuscript, "successives" replacesthe crossed-outword "fr6quentes." In this manner, the process of a logical sequence of observationsis emphasized, as opposed to the mere accumulation of frequentlyrecurringremarks, just as this is representedin the continuation of the idea for the Maison Citrohan up to Stuttgart. The lack of interest for an obligatoryor ultimate formulation of the five points certainly correspondsto this logical development over time. The original text,5 which has hitherto remained unpublished and whose divergingformulations merit our interest, was sent to Alfred Roth in Stuttgart,who translatedand published it in Zwei WohnEven in the hauser von Le Corbusierund PierreJeanneret.6 text bore the dual the signaturesof Le original manuscript Corbusierand Pierre Jeanneret.7In 1929 a completely different text appearedin the first volume of the Oeuvrecomplete.8 It lacked the ambiguous introductoryremarks,and the manifestolikecharacterwas reinforcedby abandoning the long-winded sentence construction in favor of a telegramlike sequence of concepts and reflections. The only thing that remained more or less constant here and in later adaptationsis the five points themselves:pilotis; toits-iardins; plan libre;fenetre en longueur;and faCadelibre. One could thereforededuce that Le Corbusier- once again in - gave adequate the best traditionof architectural,theory weight to the definition of the idea itself. This emphasizes the "theoretical" characterand use and enables a meaningful application outside the original context, as SigfriedGiedion demonstratedwhen he explained the basic principles of Le Corbusier'sarchitecturewith just these points on the occasion of the 1958 exhibition of Le Corbusier'swork.9 On the one hand, Giedion would attributeLe Corbusier's later works(the Unite d'Habitationat Marseille, that of Nantes, the Governor'sPalace at Chandigarh, and even Ronchamp) to these notions; but on the other, he also expanded the field of vision backwardin historyand introof the free plan, duced Frank Lloyd Wright as the "father" as if to credit the translationof the (Loosian)Raumplan to

Le Corbusier:"[Le Corbusier]excavatesthe house from the top as well as from the bottom." Giedion changed the content of the five points as well. The "freefacade"led him to a discourse on the faqadeas the "face of a building," which he comparedto the faces of Indian gods. Le Corbusier, on the contrary,had held to the discussion of the constructionalprinciple and the formal possibilitiesresulting from it. Giedion also suppressed the fenetre en longueur and instead advanced the "independence of frame and wall" as the second point, in any case a rearranged order. For Le Corbusier,this was the inherent principle of the free plan and the free faqade:it did not require separateenumeration but was part of the rationale of those five points, which designatedgeneralized but always concretizable forms and figures. With these changes, Giedion shifted the accents in favor of his more "historical" view of architecture'sdevelopment from its technical conditions. As basically correct as the assessmentmight be that "Corbusierhad transformeda technical process into an artisticmeans of expression,"the formulation appears reductive in view of the various, more nuanced interpretations of Le Corbusier. Comparabletheoretical models that appearedat the time of the two versions of the five points prompt similar considerations. In 1929 Andre Lurqatpublished his "616ments nouveaux"in the book Architecture,and not without repeatedly referringto Le Corbusier.'oHere the methods of production stand at the forefrontunder the banner of serialization and standardization,something that was to become immediately embodied in the conception of his own five points:they appearto be reduced to the characteristic motifs and other phenomena of modernism. Terrace,pilowas the sequence. Absent tis, fenetre, couleur, electricite' from Lurqat's is Le Corbusier's points argued connection; his theory lacks the internal coherence that testifiedto the new architecturalpossibilitiesthat were a logical consequence of altered constructionalprerequisites.The accent had shifted from the theoreticallyas well as practicallyrelevant standardwork to a recipe. It was differentin the case of Le Corbusier'spersonal opponent, Gustave Umbdenstock." In the introductionto his sur la composientitled "G6neralit6s Cours d'architecture,
85

This content downloaded from 160.39.47.177 on Sat, 1 Mar 2014 17:03:12 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

assemblage 4

3. "LesCinq points d'une architecture nouvelle," original text, 24 July 1927

LES CINQ POINTS D'UNA ARCHITECTURE NOUVELLE.-

Ce sont ici f-p6qu-ie faites

th6oriques d'observations leas conclusions dans les chantiers depuis plusieurs ann6es. th6orique conduit

L'expiee aten formu le.

A la simplicit6
esthAtiques

de la

Ce ne seont point des fantaisies modes; ae sont des faits tuent arohitecturaux on eux-m~mes la r6forme radicale jusqu'au palais. La poursuite low LES PILOTIS : tifique peut-on conduit

ou des constila

et pr6cis

qui,?s

de la maison,

depuis

maison d'habitation

de sl solution

scien-

Au lieu sans contr81e pilotis, d'apres

A classer les divers 616ments d'un Ainsi, probl.me. tout oe qui esat partie portante d'une maison. locoliser d'admettre les anciennes fondations soutenant l'bdifioe pr6cis, les anclens murs sont remplao6s per des est calcul6e exaotement et la fondation de chaque piloti la charge qui lui est transmise. Ces pilotia sont dispos6s compte des dispositions du sol et s'61lvent
O-..prn

rAguli rement sans tenir 6tages. portant Ces pilotis

des 'divers

sortent

sur 3, 4, 5 ou 6 m.

haut le rez-de-chaussbe Ainsi de l'humidit6 passe re

de la maison. la maison eat bien b2tie, les du sol; le terrain sous la maison. peut Stre

locaux sont hors est entierement

d'atteinte r6cup6r6;

A bftir

Et ce mme terrain
26-

doubl6 sur la toiture, est doubl6 par 1'6ta.

LES TOITS JARDINS.- Le terrain

blissement

des jardinsaoituresa

86

This content downloaded from 160.39.47.177 on Sat, 1 Mar 2014 17:03:12 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Pour la bonne protestion saire d'6tablir des Jardins

du ciment

srm6, ii

eat n6ces-

sur lee toits-terrasses.

Lrennemi du

ciment arm6 est la dilatation temp6rature. de l'eau que oette terrasses ciment; bacs Pour 6viter

brusque provenant des changemarnts de

il est bon de maintenir sla dilatations et pour en permanence sur le b6ton arm6 de le toiture eau ne s'6vapore pas, ii faut constituer les Jardins(couche de sable et de gravier recouverte de dalles de

lee

joints

&arbres

de ces dalles sont remplis de gazon; les grands et A fleurs font communiquer la terre v6gbtale qu'ils de sable de la terrassee s'6coulent ) tres lentement par

contiennent

aveo le lit Ainsi les

eaux de pluie

e de la maison et elles maintienl'int6rieur les desoentes plajces nent en permanence, une humidit6 latente sur le toit de la maison. une v6ghtation p Les toits-jardine fournissent z jru1na ndinaeiro; les arbustes et les 4" riante g^'eA 1arbres (3 ou 4 m6tres de haut) y pouseent facilement. Le toit G6n6raliser le cas, jardin o'est est l'endrolt rbcuprer privil6gi6 luxupetite

la toitures disposition tage. 16geres

3O- LB PLAN LIBRE&.o portant leurs planchers. des oloisone verticales

la totale so poursuivent Lee pilotis

de la maison. superfie d'une ville jusqu'A A obaque

HIl ne gpnent aucunement la qui sont diff6rentes ii ya les

Ii n'~y a plus de mure portante, et tous les 6tages

des membranes uns des autres.

sont diffbrents

DU PLANJ De tl, une 6conomie consid6LIBER4EABSOLUE rable qui contrebalanoe de ciment arm6, facilement les prix plus 61ev6s de la construction

87

This content downloaded from 160.39.47.177 on Sat, 1 Mar 2014 17:03:12 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

assemblage 4

s3

40*

LA FENETRE ENiLONGUEUR.- Lee pilotis planchers port6s par ceux-ol totalement

se poursuivent en faga-

en poteaux et les de, des ouvertures

fournissent ouvertes

rectangulaires

A la lumiere. Le bt-

poteau 6tendre des fenttres On peut de poteau &A hauteur s6parpar timent n'a plus de fen'trfeen Les chambres sont 6clairbes exp6rimentale nosit6 tioales 8 fois rbv~1e que des ohambres ainsi plus forte que colles 6olairbes

en longueur. des meneaux.

de mur A mur. 6clairbes

La soienoe ont une lumiver-

par des fenStres

aveoc trumeaux. Toute l'histoire de l'architecture tourne autour de la d'uncou p, donne 1

fen8tre

pour donner de la lumiere.

Le b6ton arm,

le maximum do lumibre et apporte sla fen~tre en lon~ueur. Le fengtre en hauteur (6poque Haussmsnn) eat la dernibro manifestation de 1'arohitecture de pierre 50- LA FaCADE LIBRE.des au-delA poteaux en fagon de baloone tout porte-vi-faux la fagade, on avance cette fagade au-devant a plus de la partie une arte la faqade).* In fpoteauyderribre en fagade les fengtres en longueur guise et au gr6 des divisions de 10 metres pour une petite appa.-ill6e. En poursuivant le plancher on

autour de portante portant A leur en bien

peuvent se d6velopper

int6rieures

du plan; oes fenbtres

longueur Itre

maison peuvent tout aussi projet de Palais

de 200 m~tree pour un palais A Genbve). La facade est entierement

x
x x

(notre

des Nation

libre.

88

This content downloaded from 160.39.47.177 on Sat, 1 Mar 2014 17:03:12 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Oechslin

Ces Ocig points

ont uie r6aotion

esth6tique

fondamentale.

et iI ne reste plus rien eteplus de'i architeoture ancienne rien des enseignements & 1 lettre des 6ooles.

Ii r

& PIERRE LE CORBUSIER JEANNERET.

89

This content downloaded from 160.39.47.177 on Sat, 1 Mar 2014 17:03:12 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

assemblage 4

4. Four Stages of Verificationof the Five Points

4a. Maison Citrohan: i. without pilotis, ii. pilotis, model of 1922

4b. Maison Cook: i. "on entre sous la maison," ii. toit-jardin

tion architecturale,"he, too, was concerned with six groups of "616ments composants."'2Umbdenstockforwent any manifesto-like, pointed formulations. After all, it was an introduction, if kept similarly brief, to a two-volume work with approximatelythirteen hundred pages. The designation of the six groups suggestsa conventional reading of Le Corbusier'snotions: la masse solide et la place relaet tives a*l'homme:l'echelle;les elements geometriques et le schema composants; m.canique; g.om.trique m.canique les dimensions et leurs rapports;la matie're,la coloration, In their forles le cadre et accompagnements. l'&clairage; the closer to are Umbdenstock's mulation, "generalites" terms of traditional(Vitruvian)architecturaltheory. However, some of this can be found at places in Le Corbusier. The "e1ementsgeometriqueset mecaniques composants," which Umbdenstock made precise with the addition of "droitesangles, courbes, effets de direction et de mouvement, rhythme," certainly took up a central position in Purist theory, as, for instance, it was formulatedin Ozen-

fant'sArt of 1928,13in the classic sense of a Euclidean basis for determiningform. On the other hand, for Umbdenstock the "tramed'ossature" appearedto be assignedto the more general categoryof the "schemageometriqueet mecanique." (One is tempted to say assignedin exactly the way the constructionalinnovations in the architectureof Umbdenstockand his like frequentlyremain hidden in the historiciststylistic envelope!) Here Le Corbusier'sfive points clearly demonstratetheir true value. He did not try to codify the motifs of modern architecture(Lurqat),nor was he concerned with characterizing the elements on the basis of an architecturedeveloped from the technical conditions (Giedon), nor did he restricthimself to the eternal universalitiesof architecture (Umbdenstock)without precise explanationof their new rethe new realality. Instead, he succeeded in incorporating ity of constructionalpossibilitieswithin a superimposed realityof architecturalprinciples, without forfeitingthe ad90

This content downloaded from 160.39.47.177 on Sat, 1 Mar 2014 17:03:12 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Oechslin

4c. Weissenhof at Stuttgart: fenetre pilotis, i. toit-jardin, ii. en longueur, etc.

4d. Villa Savoye: i. "arriveedes voitures sous les pilotis," ii. "promenade architecturale" (synthesis)

vantagesof classical argumentation. In this regard,the parallels in the manner of argumentationto the (belated) of classic (French) architecturaltheory representative should come as no surprise. "Rappelonsbien qu'il ne s'agit pas ici de 'formule,"'wrote Umbdenstock.'4Le Corbusierintroducedthe five points in a comparableway: "Ce ne sont point des fantaisiesesth6tiques ou des modes; ce sont des faits architecturaux."'5 Both assuredthemselves of the degree of abstractionin their points: "L'expos6theorique conduit ia la simplicit6 de la formule," wrote Le Corbusier;and Umbdenstockexplicated, "Ces l66ments composants se retrouventen nombre assez restreintpour constituer un ensemble de faits simples et frequents."However, a diametricallyopposed interpretation is equally valid. Umbdenstock'sstatementagainstthe "formule"could also be read as a critique of Le Corbusier's "simplicit6de la formule." And of course Le Corbusier's formulation of 1927 was clearly pointed againsttradition:

"I1ne demeure ici plus rien des moyens de l'architecture ancienne et il ne reste plus rien des enseignements 'ala lettre des ecoles." On the other hand, even here the corrections to the manuscriptcertainly indicate a changing attitude in Le Corbusier:instead of "il ne reste plus rien de l'architectureancienne," one now reads"il ne demeure ici plus rien des moyensde l'architectureancienne." This refinement is peculiar to the five points and distinguishes this manifesto from its later adaptationsand interpretations. Evidently, the theoreticalbasis and aim of the five points should be taken more seriously than many critics (beginning with Giedion) had wanted to believe; for them the illustrationof the visible resultsof a modern architecture had sufficed. Of all comparisons, the one with Umbdenstock shows how much had remained of the traditional, general aim of theoretical reflectionson architecture.In his introduction, Umbdenstockexpresseda double intention behind his Cours d'architecture."Exposeret prouver
91

This content downloaded from 160.39.47.177 on Sat, 1 Mar 2014 17:03:12 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

assemblage 4

des lois de compositionartistiquecommunesa la peinture, was the firstaim, one thatwasalso la sculpture,-I'architecture" followed by Le Corbusierin his "synthese.""Appliquer... ces lois a l'architectonique, en degagerune conception philosophique"without doubt also accordedwith Le Corbusier's intention to relate theoretical bases to the "faitsarchitecturaux."(But with the addition of a "voie d'une Le Corbusierwould have architecturenationale franqaise" on the application remarks The been in hardly agreement.) of the "elements composants"also presentanalogies to Le Corbusier. Umbdenstock formulated, "Ces recherches, toutes d'intuition, procederontpar analogies selon le mode des sciences dites comparees."In the end, they servedto of the "elements composants."Simelaboratethe "valeurs" the text on the pilotis as introduced Le Corbusier ilarly, follows: "La poursuite de la solution scientifique conduit A classer les divers 616mentsd'un problkme."The comparison becomes even clearer when more remnantsand proofs viare brought forth. In the spring issue of L'Architecture nouveau en vante in 1927, Le Corbusier'stext "L'Esprit was accompanied by a quotation from Elie architecture" Faure: "L'imaginationest la plus scientifique des facultes, parce que seule elle saisit l'analogie universelle."'6In the autumn issue, Le Corbusierintroducedthe readersof vivante to a variationon the five points unL'Architecture en est l'architecture?"'7 der the title Although the "Ofi long-winded and ratherunsystematicintroductiondwelt extensively on the achievements of 1927, when Le Corbusier returnedto his elaborationof the "typede la maison (afterall the five points were exemplified in d'aujourd'hui" of the machine one-sided interpretation the it), he derived were les Germains" et "les Slaves which to only a habiter, inclined. 18 On the subject of the house's function, he was of the opinion, "Mais je pense aussi." Despite all hazardous demarcations, there were thoughts of the "esprit rationnel"as well as the "constantes6ternellesde l'ame humaine." And he answeredthe introductoryquestion "Oii - perhapseven somewhat surprisen est l'architecture?" ingly - with, "Elle est au delaide la machine." As unsystematic or "philosophic"as Le Corbusier'sformulations may have occasionally been, he did constantlypreempt misunderstandingswith the indication to universals,to the "recherchede l'invariant."

However, what is most importantis that Le Corbusierwas able to relate this range of ideas to the "axe nouveau," to the changed realitiesof architecture,in a convincing way. It is the manner of discussionthat provesthe worth of the theoretical structure,in a much clearerand more convincremarksand incantations. In ing way than in all "flanking" the discussion of the tracesrgulateurs, the mediating characterof the argument is discernible. They are introduced by means of the dual function of an "operationde - quite without the traditionalapproachof verification" - and a "correction" and "assurance contre l'arbitraire"'9 "satisfaction d'ordrespirituel."The latterproduces"eurythmie. "20And just as this processis describedin a correct Vitruvian manner, so the terminologyrefersto the approbienfaipriate French traditionsince Blondel: "perception sante de l'ordre,""moment d6cisif de l'inspiration."2' Accordingly,one always finds three moments of reasoning in the explanationof the five points. The artisticprinciple is always consideredthe real achievement, for example where the pilotis are designatedas the "manifestation esth6tiquearchitecturalesignificative."22 There is constant referenceto the functional advantagesconferredby these aspects. Thus the pilotis act as a protectionagainstdampness, liberatethe building site, and allow the garden itself to extend beneath the house.23 This thought is continued with the toit-jardin:"C'estr6cupererla totale superficie d'une ville.'"24In the end, all these advantagesare aligned with the new constructionalpossibilities.The artisticmoment as well as the extended usefulness are the result of those "recherchesassidues"and those "acquitsde laborabut not an end in themtoire," which are prerequisites selves:25 "Le ciment arme nous donna les pilotis";"Le ciment arm6 est le nouveau moyen permettantla r6alisation de la toiture homogene" (as a prerequisitefor the "Le beton arme dans la maison apportele toits-jardins); plan libre";"Le ciment arm6 fait revolutiondans l'histoire de la fenetre."26 Here, the new technology is systematically representedas the release mechanism for a new architecture. The manner of discussion can be relatedalmost without effort to the basic Vitruviannotions of venustas, utilitas, and firmitas. New architectonic(aesthetic)expressions are made possible by the revolutionizedfirmitasby means of the "ciment arm6,"which, additionally,are cast
92

This content downloaded from 160.39.47.177 on Sat, 1 Mar 2014 17:03:12 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Oechslin

in the right light by means of an improvedutilitas. Thus, in the discussion of the toit-jardins, the "raisonstechniques" (firmitas), the "raisonsd'economie" and the "raisons de confort"(utilitas), and ultimately the "raisons sentimentales"27 (venustas)are displayed, so to speak, as a Vitruvian synthesis.28 The much-criticized "artisticposition"of Le Corbusierwas clearly crystallizedin the five points. The radicalopenness to new technical-constructionalpossibilitiesdid not make him stop at standardization and Taylorization. Rather,he used them as the point of departurefor a new, equally radical, foundation for classical concerns in architecture. Notes
1. Le Corbusierand PierreJeanneret, Oeuvre complhte1910-1929 (1929; Zurich: Editions Girsberger, 1964), p. 69: "la maison standardiproblem of the dual authorship. The following text contains only the incorrect referenceto Le Corbusier. 8. Oeuvre compldte,pp. 128-29. 9. See SigfriedGiedion, "Le Corbusier und die architektonischen dieser Zeit," in Le Ausdrucksmittel Corbusier,exhibition catalogue, 1958. The captions of the five points differ in the versions of 1927 and 1929; but their subsequent interpretationderives from later formulations by Le Corbusier, especially in the special issue "Le Corbusier/Pierre Jeanneret,"of L'Architecture d'aujourd'hui10 (1934): 19, which reads:"1. Les Pilotis, 2. L'OssatureInd6pendante, 3. Le Plan Libre, 4. La Fa;ade Libre, 5. Le Toit-Jardin." 10. See N. Schwering, "Andre Lur;at," in Stanislausvon Moos and P. Couwenbergh, Parijs 19001930 een Architectuurgids (Delft, 1984), p. 142. 11. The thorough discussion of Umbdenstock in the wake of the competition for the League of Nations Palace is known; cf. Le Corbusier, Croisadeou le Crepuscule des Acadgmies(Paris, 1933).

12. Gustave Umbdenstock, Cours d'architecture,2 vols. (Paris, 1930), vol. 1, p. 1. 13. See Am6d6e Ozenfant, "Constantesdes sensations et des formes616mentsdans la nature et dans l'art,"in Art (Paris, 1928), pp. 246ff. 14. Umbdenstock, Cours d'architecture, vol. 1, p. 2. 15. From the original manuscript. 16. L'Architecture vivante 5, no. 17 (Spring 1927): 8ff. vivante 5, no. 17. L'Architecture 18 (Autumn 1927): 7ff.

24. According to the 1927 manuscript. The passage is missing in the published version of 1929. 25. This combination of the constructiveand the useful appears already in the proposalfor the "ossaturestandardDom-ino." 26. The formulation of 1929, from Oeuvre complete, p. 128. 27. The notion of "sentiment"is very easily traced in the theoretical tradition of France, via Charles Blanc and Boullre to Blondel; for of raisonthe notional "triangle" esprit-sentiment,see Knabe, p. 191. Schliisselbegriffe, 28. Oeuvre complete, p. 128: "Des raisonstechniques, des raisons d'6conomie, des raisons de confort et des raisons sentimentales nous conduisent Aadopterle toitterrace."

18. Ibid., p. 10.

19. See Werner Oechslin, "Auf der Suche nach dem 'wahren Stil,' Die Unterscheidungvon 'richtig'und 'falsch' bei den Rigoristen,"Daida-

see."

21ff. los 8 (1983):

20. On the ratherrare use of the notion of Eurythmy, see Werner Oechslin, "Symmetrie- Eurythmie oder: 'Ist Symmetrie sch6n?' " Daidalos 15 (1985): 16ff. 21. On the notion of "biens6ance," see P.-E. Knabe, Schliisselbegriffe des kunsttheoretischen Denkens in Frankreichvon der Spiitklassikbis zum Ende der Aufkldrung(Diisseldorf, 1972), pp. 100ff., and Werner Szambien, Symetrie, goat, caractere (Paris, 1986), pp. 92ff. 22. Thus for instance in conjunction with the exhibited plaster model of the Maison Citrohan at the Salon d'Automne of 1922, see Oeuvrecompldte,p. 45. 23. According to the variationof the text of 1929; see Oeuvre complate, p. 128. The text of the manuscriptof 1927 reads:"Ainsi la maison est bien batie, les locaux sont hors d'atteintede l'humidit6 du sol; le terraina batir est entierement le jardin passe sous la recupere; maison."

2. Ibid, p. 189 (in connection with the Villa Savoye). 3. See Werner Oechslin, "Auch wenn die Architekturvon der Mathematikabhingig ist," Daidalos 18 (1985): 27ff. 4. Oeuvre complete, p. 45. 5. The manuscriptis with Alfred Roth, to whom I am indebted for having allowed me to consult it. It bears the date "24 July '27." Here I cite the text in its original form. For variationsor corrections, see also Werner Oechslin, "Die zahlebige Verachtungvon Esprit und geistreicherErfindung,"Daidalos 22 (1986): 58ff., in which, for the first time, I referredto the divergent original of the famous text. 6. Alfred Roth, Zwei Wohnhduser von Le Corbusierund PierreJeanneret (Stuttgart: Dr. Fr. Wedekind & Co., 1927). The "Five Points" appearas the subtitle of the publication. 7. It is not possible to examine the

Figure Credits
1. Le Corbusierand PierreJeanneret, Oeuvre complete 1910-1929 (Zurich: Editions Girsberger,1964), p. 129. 2, 3. Courtesy of the author. 4. Drawings by Paul Hanley.

93

This content downloaded from 160.39.47.177 on Sat, 1 Mar 2014 17:03:12 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions