Villa Savoye: Le Corbusier’s Modernist Masterpiece

Posted on Dec 19, 2024 in Arts and Humanities

Villa Savoye: Le Corbusier’s Architectural Revolution

Contextualization

Throughout the early 20th century, an architectural revolution took place. This revolution reflected the new economic conditions created by the Industrial Revolution. This renewal of modern architecture is linked to two styles: Rationalism and Organicism.

Identification of Villa Savoye

The Villa Savoye is a significant work of the 20th century by Le Corbusier. It is a family home located in a natural setting near Paris, built between 1929 and 1931. It condenses the achievements of the aesthetic language of rationalism and the principles of the new architecture, which Le Corbusier outlined in his book, The Five Points of a New Architecture.

The function of this work is the humanization of industrial society and the functionality of architecture. Le Corbusier considered architecture an instrument of social progress, serving collective needs. Therefore, his architectural forms serve the function, calling the house a “machine for living”.

Analysis of Villa Savoye

1. New Materials: Iron, concrete, and glass.

2. Building System: Structural architecture. The essence of the building is the framework of metal beams covered with concrete. The structure of the house rests on free-standing stilts. The cover is a lintel structure. The structure introduces important new features, such as the loss of the sustaining function of the walls and the adoption of an open plan inside.

3. Spatial Organization: Plan and elevation. In this work, Le Corbusier introduced the five principles:

  • a) Free Pillars: These allow the building to be raised, away from moisture, and allow car access to the door of the house.
  • b) The Roof Garden: A flat roof that can be used to provide gardens and recreational areas.
  • c) Open Plan: The void in the sustaining role of the wall allows for the free distribution of the interior. In this work, the space is divided into three levels:
    • Ground Floor: U-shaped, with the garage, lobby, and service area.
    • First Floor: For housing.
    • Rooftop: Garden terrace.
  • It renews the concept of space, seeking a continuum, connection, and a multiplicity of views.
  • d) The Ribbon Window: The wall recedes and is replaced by large windows, providing light and airy interiors.
  • e) Free Facade: The facade lacks any decorative elements.

4. Formal Language and Aesthetic:

  • Functional Rationalist: Formal simplicity. It has aspects of Cubism, with the building reduced to pure geometry, precise volume, rectilinear profiles, and a trend toward horizontality. It has straight and angled forms.
  • Functionalism: Prioritizes habitability. Decorative elements are avoided.

Modernism: 1890-1910

Modernism was a broad cultural and artistic movement that extended throughout the Western world during the transition from the 19th to the 20th century. It had great significance for the renewal of architecture, showing a proactive and innovative character that became a precedent for modern architecture, with the following contributions:

  • An open break with historicism and the architectural heritage of the past.
  • Adoption of new materials and systems of metal structures.
  • An aesthetic language of great expressive freedom: A great interest in creating integrated, open, and bright spaces.
  • A keen interest in the decorative and ornamental: Design of decorative objects such as furniture and lamps. Great ornamental effect: Imitating the ways of nature, describing undulating rhythms, winding, etc.

However, Modernism failed to respond to the architectural needs of the new industrial society.

Antoni Gaudí: A Unique Modernist

Antoni Gaudí is considered the creator of modern architecture in Spain, demonstrating a style of great creative genius and originality. His style is inspired by two sources: national medieval art (Mudéjar and Gothic) and nature. Gaudí developed a new and original architecture with the following features:

  • New, bold constructive solutions.
  • Fantastic and imaginative language, with undulating, curved, helical, and very capricious shapes.
  • A strong sense of color and ornamentation, with decorative motifs adapted to the undulating lines of nature.
  • Buildings conceived as inclusive and harmonious spaces.

His most representative works are: Park Güell, Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló, Casa Milà, and El Capricho.

Architecture in the 20th Century

The 20th century saw a true revolution in architecture, completely and definitively breaking with the technical assumptions, formal and aesthetic legacy of the past, and imposing a new architectural language. This revolution reflected the new socio-economic conditions created by the Industrial Revolution and was based on the following premises:

  1. Responding to the changing needs of industrial society by addressing the renewal of traditional building types and focusing on the construction of new types: houses, skyscrapers, train stations, bridges, roads, airports, hospitals, schools, stadiums, museums, urban plans, etc.
  2. Creating a new architectural design through the application of architectural innovation (materials, structures, and volumes) and new approaches to views and tastes (utilitarianism and rationalism).
  3. Rationalist functional language: form follows function.

Two styles can be distinguished:

  • The Rationalism of Bauhaus and Le Corbusier.
  • The Organicism of Wright.