1887

born 6 October at 38 rue de la Serre, La Chaux-de-Fonds, de CharlesEdouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier), son of Georges Edouard Jeanneret, watch
engraver and enameller, and of Marie Charlotte Amlie Jeanneret-Perret, music
teacher.
1891
Primary school in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

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1900

Studies watch engraving at the Art School, under Charles LEplattenier.

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1904
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Enters the Advanced Decorative Arts Course (based at the Art School)
directed by Charles LEplattenier, who interests Le Corbusier in architecture.
1905

Commissioned by Louis Fallet, a member of the Board of the Art School, to

design a villa, which he builds in collaboration with the architect Ren Chapallaz.
1906
Watchcase designed and engraved by Jeanneret in Milan.

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1907

In september, trip to Italy de two and a half month : Milan, Florence

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Visits the Charterhouse of Ema in Galluzzo, Siena, Bologna, Padua,

Gargoano, Venice (october - beginning of November).
In November leaves for Vienna via Budapest.

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o

Stay in Vienna four month : where he works on the plans for the Stolzer and
Jacquemet villas in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
1908

Vienna: meets Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser and Gustav Klimt.

En mars, Travels to Paris via Nuremberg, Munich, Strasbourg, Nancy.

In Lyon, meets Tony Garnier.

In Paris, visits Frantz Jourdain, Charles Plumet, Henri Sauvage, Eugne

Grasset.
Works for Auguste and Gustave Perret as draughtsman, half-time.

1909
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Autumn: returns to La Chaux-de-Fonds to supervise construction of the

Stotzer and Jacquemet villas
1910

Foundation of the Ateliers dArt Runis (United Art Studios).

Participation in a national ski race (Grindelwald).

April : commissioned by the Art School of La Chaux-de-Fonds to research the

decorative arts movement in Germany. " Writes his tude sur le mouvement dart
dcoratif en Allemagne (Study of the decorative art movement in Germany) in
1912.

Winter: works for Peter Behrenss architectural practice in Berlin.

Meets Walter Gropius and Mies Van der Rohe.

1911

Meets Heinrich Tessenow, architect of Hellerau garden city in Dresden.

In May, leaves Dresden for his journey to the East : Prague, Vienna,
Budapest, Belgrade, Bucarest, Tarnovo, Gabrovo, Kasanlik, Istanbul, le Mount Athos
(21 days), Athens and southern Italy, in the company of his friend Auguste Klipstein,
an art history student.
During this trip, he made numerous drawings, sketches and notes in his
sketchbooks, as well as several hundred photographs.

He worked his notes up into articles for the Feuille davis, a magazine in La
Chaux-de-Fonds.

October: returns to La Chaux-de-Fonds, via theCharterhouse of Ema , in

order to set up a new section of the Art School with LEplattenier.
1912

La Chaux-de-Fonds : Builds the villa Jeanneret-Perretin the rue de la

Montagne (for his parents) and the Villa Favre-Jacot in the nearby town of Le Locle.
1913

Exhibition of 10 watercolors "Le langage des Pierres" (the language of

stones), at the Salon dAutomne, Paris.
Certificate of competency for teaching art.

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1914
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Closing of the Nouvelle Section at the Ecole dArt in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Travels to Cologne for the Deutscher Werkbund exhibition and conference.

Begins studies on his Dom-ino concrete house project.

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1915
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Occasional trips to Paris to study in the Bibliothque Nationale Print Room.

Works on his manuscript "La construction des villes".

1916
Builds villa Schwob and the Scala cinema (La Chaux-de-Fonds).

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1917

Final departure from La Chaux-de-Fonds

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o

Opens his first Parisian architecture studio at 20 rue de Belzunce (10th

arrondissement), then at 29 rue dAstorg (8th arrondissement).
Lives in Paris at 20 rue Jacob (6th arrondissement) until 1933.

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o

Works as consultant to the SABA (Socit dapplication du bton arm) from

April 1917 to January 1919.
1918

Though Auguste Perret, meets the painter Amde Ozenfant and several
other artists: Georges Braque, Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso, Jacques Lipchitz etc
Paints"La chemine".

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Purist exhibition at the Galerie Thomas in Paris, with the painter Amde
Ozenfant.
1919

Launches LEsprit Nouveau magazine " with Amde Ozenfant and Paul
Derme.
1920
Meets Fernand Lger.

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Adopts the pseudonym Le Corbusier for his architectural persona, derived

from his maternal grandfather, Lecorbesier.
1921

With With Amde Ozenfant, buys Cubist paintings at the Kahnweiler and
Uhde sales for Raoul La Roche (1921-1923).

Exhibits paintings in the Galerie Druet. .

Trip at Rome with Amde Ozenfant.

1922
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Architectural partnership with Pierre Jeanneret begins.

Lectures at Sorbonne.

Meets Yvonne Gallis, a model from Monaco, whom he will marry in 1930.

Exhibits the plan of a contemporary city for three million people at the Salon
dAutomne.

Builds the Villa Besnus (in the Vaucresson suburb of Paris) and the Ozenfant
Studio in Paris.

Works on a number of unexecuted architectural projects: maison Citrohan,

Immeubles-villas...
1923

Publishes Vers une Architecture (based on articles published in LEsprit

Nouveau), published in English in 1927 as Towards a New Architecture
Exhibits with Amde Ozenfant at the Rosenberg Galerie de lEffort Moderne

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the La Roche and Jeanneret-Raaf villas (1923-4) and the the little house "Le
Lac" at Corseaux on Lake Geneva for his parents.
1924

Establishes his architectural office at 35 rue de Svres(6th arrondissement).

Gives lectures in Geneva, Lausanne and Prague.

Meets Krishnamurti.

Publishes LUrbanisme (based on articles in LEsprit Nouveau).

six workers houses and a dormitory and refectory at Lge (near Bordeaux)
and villas Lipchitz-Miestchaninoff (Boulogne sur Seine).
1925

Publishes Almanach darchitecture moderne (An Almanach of modern

architecture) and LArt dcoratif daujourdhui (Decorative Art of Today) and (with
Amde Ozenfant) La Peinture Moderne (Modern Painting) (all based on articles
published or intended for LEsprit Nouveau).

Builds Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau (Paris) and thePessac housing estate near
Bordeaux . Studies for Plan Voisin for a modernisation of Paris and the Villa Meyer.
Introduced to the Minister Anatole de Monzie by Gertrude Stein.

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1926

Death of Georges Edouard Jeanneret, father of Le Corbusier, on 11th april.

Publishes Architecture dpoque machiniste (Architecture of the machine

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age).
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Builds the Villa Cook (Boulogne-sur-Seine), the Guiette house (Antwerp), the
Salvation Army hostel (Paris) and the Ternisien house (Boulogne-sur-Seine).
1927

Lectures in Madrid, Barcelona (sees the buildings of Antonio Gaudi who died
in that year), Brussels and Frankfurt.

Enters the competition for the League of Nations building in Geneva (one of
nine sharing first prize).

Builds Villa Stein-de Monzie in Garches, a suburb of Paris, villa Planeix (Paris)
and two houses at the Deutscher Werkbund housing exhibition at Weissenhof,
Stuttgart..
1928

Founder member of CIAM (Congrs Internationaux darchitecture moderne)

at the castle of La Sarraz, in Switzerland..

Publishes Une Maison - un Palais (A house - a palace).

Lectures in Prague and Moscow.

Holidays at Picquey in the Basin of Arcachon.

Builds the Baizeau Villa (in the suburb of Carthage, Tunis) and the Villa
Church (Ville dAvray) and builds an exhibition stand for Nestl and Centrosoyus
(Moscow).
1929

Trip in South America.

Lecture tour in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

Meets Josphine Baker during this trip on the boat between Bordeaux and
Rio.

Exhibits an apartment interior in the Salon dAutomneParis, in collaboration

with Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand
Second CIAM conference at Frankfurt.

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o

Works on the Villa Savoye (Poissy), the Mundaneum (a center of world

knowledge) and urbanism in South America.
1930

Takes French nationality.

Wedding with Yvonne Gallis on 18th December.

Trip to Moscow where he meets Ysevolod Meyerhold, Aleksander Tairov,

Sergue Eisenstein.

Travels across Spain with Fernand Lger and Pierre and Albert Jeanneret.

Third CIAM conference in Brussels.

Publishes Prcisions sur un tat prsent de larchitecture et de lurbanisme

(based on his 1929 lectures in South America).
Contributes to the magazine Plans.

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Builds a penthouse apartment for Charles de Beistegui on the Champs

Elyses, a villa for Hlne de Mandrot at Le Pradet, near Toulon, the Clart
apartment block in Geneva and the Swiss Pavilion at the Cit Universitaire in Paris.

Works on urban designs for Algiers et and studies for Ville Radieuse and for
the Palace of Soviets, Moscow.
1931

Travels across Spain with Pierre Jeanneret and then on to Morocco and
Algeria.
Visits the Mzab (Ghardaa).

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o

Builds the apartment block at 24 rue Nungesser-et-Coli, Boulogne-sur-Seine,

including a penthouse apartment and studio for himself.
1932

Takes part in the planning competition for the Exposition internationale des
arts et techniques (1937).

Lectures in Stockholm, Oslo, Gteborg, Antwerp and Algiers. CIRPAC in

Barcelone..
1933

Receives Honorary Doctorate at the University of Zrich.

Participates in Fourth CIAM conference, on the SS Patris and in Athens..

Contributes to the Athens Charter.

Member of the review Prludes.

1934

Moves into appartment and studio spaces on the seventh storey of the
Immeuble 24 rue Nungesser et Coli , where he resides the rest of his life.

Lectures in Rome, Milan, Algiers and Barcelona.

Frequent trips to Algiers.

Visits the Lingotto Fiat factory in Turin by Giacomo Matt-Trucco .

Designs the Radiant Farm project with Norbert Bzard.

1935
Publishes Aircraft and La Ville Radieuse (The Radiant City).

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First trip to the USA, where he lectures in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia,

Madison and Hartford...

Trip to Zlin in Czechoslovakia (works on Bata plans for the valley of Zlin).

Meets Joseph Savina.

Louis Carr puts on an exhibition of primitive art in Le Corbusiers apartment.

Builds the week-end house (La Celle Saint Cloud) and the Villa Le Sextant in
Les Mathes, near Bordeaux.
1936
Second trip to Brazil on the Graf Zeppelin.

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Gives advice to Lcio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer, Alfonso Reidy and others for
the Ministry of National Education and Health building in Rio.

Lectures in Rio de Janeiro.

Designs a 100,000 seater stadium, Paris.

Paints wall mural in Vzelay in Jean Badovicis house.

Marie Cuttoli first tapestry.

1937

Receives the title of Chevalier de la Lgion dHonneur by the French

government.

Honorary Member of RIBA.

Fifth CIAM conference in Paris.

Lectures in Brussels and Lyons.

Publishes Quand les Cathdrales taient blanches (When the Cathedrals

were white).
Works on the plan of Paris and his Cartesian skyscraper.

Builds the Pavillon des Temps Nouveaux at the International Exhibition in

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Paris.
1938
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Painting exhibitions at the Kunsthaus Zrich et la and at the Louis Carr

Gallery in Paris..

Following a severe accident while swimming (caused by a power boat

propeller) is operated on in the hospital at St Tropez.

Publishes Des canons, des munitions? Merci! Des logis S.V.P (Guns and
ammunition? No thanks! Give us housing please) and Ilt Insalubre N 6 (Insanitary
Zone N 6).
Paints eight wall murals in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in Eileen Grays house.

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1939
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Meets Jean Giraudoux during the launch of the C.E.P.U. (Committee for
preparatory urban studies).

Awarded a foreign nationals Diploma at the Royal Fine Arts Academy in

Stockholm.

Publishes Le lyrisme des temps nouveaux et lurbanisme (The lyricism of

the new age and urbanism) in the magazine Le Point.
1940

Closes his office at 35 rue de Svres on 11 June and leaves for Ozon in the
Pyrenees with Yvonne , and Pierre Jeanneret.
1941
Extended stay in Vichy.

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Publishes Destin de Paris (Destiny of Paris) and Sur les Quatre Routes (On the
four roads).
1942

Founds ASCORAL (Constructors meeting for architectural renewal).

Official trip to Algiers.

Reopens the office at 35 rue de Svres.

Publishes Constructions Murondins (the 'Murondins' constructions) and La

maison des hommes (The house of men) with Franois de Pierrefeu.
1943
Begins collaboration with Joseph Savina.

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Publishes the Charte dAthnes (Athens Charter) and Entretiens avec les
tudiants des coles darchitecture (Conversations with architecture students".
1944
Works on the Units dHabitation.

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1945
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Founds ATBAT (Builders Studio).

Meets Eugne Claudius Petit.

On the Liberty ship Vernon S. Hood he works on the Modulor system of

proportions.
Publishes Trois tablissements Humains.

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1946
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Travels to USA at Princeton.

Meets Albert Einstein.

Publishes Manire de penser lurbanisme (A way of thinking about urbanism)

and Propos durbanisme (An urban proposition).
1947

Involved as consultant to the committee responsible for the United Nations

Headquarters building in New York.

Sixth CIAM conference at Bridgwater, England.

Publishes U.N. Headquarters.

Builds the Claude et Duval factory in Saint-Di.Foundation of Unit

d'Habitation, Marseilles..
1948

Several exhibitions in the United States: Galerie Paul Rosenberg in New York,
Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and Detroit, San Francisco; Colorado
Springs, Cleveland,...

Begins collaboration with Pierre Baudouin on the design of tapestries.

Wall mural of the Pavillon Suisse at Cit Universitaire.

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At the request of employees of Le Corbusier studiopaints a wall mural in the

studio at 35 rue de Svres.
1949

Signs a contract with the Colombian authorities for the study of urbanization
in Bogot.

Seventh CIAM in Bergamo. Builds the Currutchet house, La Plata.

Visits Unit dhabitation in Marseilles with Jean-Pierre Aumont, actor.

Visits Unit dhabitation in Marseilles with Pablo Picasso.

1950
Starts working on the Chapel at Ronchamp.

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o

Consultant to the administration of Punjab for the planning of the new capital
city of Chandigarh, with Pierre Jeanneret, Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew.

Publishes Modulor I, Posie sur Alger (Poem on Algiers) and LUnit

dHabitation de Marseille.
Builds the Cabanon in Roquebrune Cap Martin , Le Corbusier's holiday resort.

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1951
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18 February, first trip to India : visits Chandigarh and Ahmedabad.

Seventh CIAM conference at Hoddesdon.

Lectures at Bogota.

Sojourns in New York. Works at Constantino Nivola'son sandcast and murals.

Plans for the U.N.E.S.C.O. Headquarters in Paris are rejected

Exhibition at MOMA (New York).

Presentation of the "Open Hand" monument in Chandigarh.

Construction of the Chapel at Ronchamp , villas Shodan and Sarabha

(Ahmedabad), Museum (Ahmedabad), Mill Owners Association (Ahmedabad)

Second trip to India in November. Begins the projects for Chandigarh :

Assembly, High Court, Governors Palace, Secretariat, Museum.
Lectures at the Milan Triennale.

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1952

Receives the title of Commandeur de la Lgion d'Honneur.

Third trip to India in March 1952.

Inauguration of the Unit d'habitation in Marseilles on 14th october.

Builds Jaoul Houses (Neuilly sur Seine) and Unit d'Habitation (Rez les
Nantes).
1953

Appointed as member of the Five-person Committee to oversee the project

for U.N.E.S.C.O. (Paris) with Gropius, Breuer, Markelius et Rogers.

Visits Jean Martin, enamel in Luynes.

Ninth CIAM in Aix en Provence.

Art works exhibition at the Muse d'Art Moderne in Paris.

Builds Dominican Monastery at Sainte Marie de la Tourette (Eveux) and de la

Maison du Brsil at Cit Universitaire (Paris) with Lucio Costa.
1954
Trip to Japan, project for the Museum of Western Art in Tokyo, November.

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1955

Honorary doctoral degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in

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Zurich.

Inauguration of Chapel of Ronchamp and Unit d'habitation (Rez).

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Trip to Chandigarh for the inauguration of the High Court building by

Jawaharlal Nehru.

Publishes "Pome de l'Angle Droit", "Modulor II", and "L'Architecture du

bonheur - L'urbanisme est une clef".

Construction of the stele for the tomb of Le Corbusier' wife and Dam
(Bhakra).
1956

Refuses a teaching post at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.

Publishes "Les plans de Paris".

Exhibition in Lyon.
1957

Death of Yvonne Le Corbusier (on 5th october).

Large retrospective exhibition, entitled "Ten cities", curated by W. Boesiger in

Zurich, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Vienna, The Hague, Paris etc...

Exhibition at the Muse des Beaux Arts in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Honorary Citizen of La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.

Receives the title of Commandeur des Arts et Lettres.

Publishes "Von der Poesie des Bauens" and "Ronchamp".

Builds Unit d'habitation (Berlin), Maison du Brsil at Cit Universitaire (Paris)

with Lucio Costa, Dominican Monastery Sainte Marie de La Tourette (Eveux), Unit
d'habitation (Briey en Fort) and Museum of Western Art (Tokyo).
1958

Trip to USA.

Diploma "Litteris et Artibus" in Sweden on 12th september.

High Honor from the Universal and International Exhibition of Brussels.

Builds Philips Pavilion at the Worlds Fair in Brussels.

Designs the visual composition "Pome Electronique", music by Edgar

Varse.
Inauguration of the Secretariat in Chandigarh.

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1959

Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Cambridge.

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International Campaign for classification as protected heritage of the Villa

Savoye.

Trip to India.

Builds Maison de la Culture (Firminy).

Commission from Eugne Claudius-Petit for the Unit d'habitation in Firminy-

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vert.

Publishes wallpaper for Salubra.

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1960
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Death of his mother, Marie Charlotte Amlie Jeanneret-Perret , in Corseaux,

15 February.
Lecture at La Sorbonne, 4 February.

Inauguration of Dominican Monastery at Sainte Marie de la Tourette, 19

October.

Publishes "L'Atelier de la Recherche Patiente".

Sluice facilities on the Rhine River at Kembs-Niffer.

1961

Receives the title of Commandeur de l'ordre du Mrite.

Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Colombia.

Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects.

Frequent trips to Firminy. Studies for Saint Pierre Church.

Designs seven sketches for the tapestries of the High Court in Chandigarh.

Designs a dinner service for Prunier restaurant (London) inspired from the
tapestry Les Mains.

Exhibition in Zurich and Stockholm.

Publishes "Orsay - Paris 1961".

Trip to India.

Builds Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts (Cambridge) with J-L. Sert.
1962

Trip to Brazil for the project of the Embassy of France in Brasilia.

Retrospective exhibition at the Muse d'Art Moderne (Paris).

Inauguration of the Assembly Building in Chandigarh and Construction of

Housing Units (Firminy).
1963

Gold Medal of the City of Florence..

Receives the title of Grand officier de la Lgion d'Honneur.

Conferred Honorary Doctorate from the University of Geneva.

Inauguration of the Carpenter Center for Visual Arts.

Exhibition at the Palais Strozzi (Florence)

Designs the Maison de l'Homme for Heidi Weber, Zrich.

1964
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Receives the Grand Croix of the Legion d'Honneur from Malraux in the
Studio, 35 rue de Svres in June.

Designs the project for the Venice Hospital

Exhibitions in Zrich and La Chaux-de-Fonds.

1965

Revises the study of the Monument of the Open Hand for Chandigarh.

Awarded Diploma by the Architectural Society of Boston.

Publishes Textes et Dessins pour Ronchamp (Texts and drawings for

Ronchamp).

Construction of the stadium in Firminy.

On 27 August, Le Corbusier dies while swimming at Cap-Martin.

On 1 September, Official Funeral in the Cour Carre at the Louvre. Burial in

the cemetery at Cap-Martin.