Le Corbusier: The Poetics of Machine and Metaphor (Foreign Architecture and Design Series)

Author: (Dutch) Zonis, translated by Jin Qiuye, Wang Youjia
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-11-01
Features: Since Palladio, no architect has had the same lasting influence as Le Corbusier, just as Einstein and Picasso have in their respective fields. Within and beyond the architecture industry, Le Corbusier created a profound impact. Through numerous architectural designs, urban projects, paintings, sculptures, blueprints, and writings, he successfully developed a unique poetics of machines and metaphors, revolutionizing the way people observe, apply, and create architecture. Le Corbusier was not just a designer of modern architecture but also a designer of modern life. This book explores Le Corbusier's architectural career in a concise and comprehensive manner, a method closely tied to the revolutionary advancements of the last century, the very soil in which Le Corbusier's architectural career flourished. From it, we can read how Le Corbusier worked within the context of new philosophical systems, avant-garde culture, social, political, and economic movements, as well as new technologies, creating not only delicate balances but also achieving integration. The book further clarifies that as a creator, Le Corbusier himself conceived, inspired, and facilitated many aspects of the 20th-century progress. Le Corbusier was not just an architect of the 20th century but also a prototype of human creativity.