Monday, March 28, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Important, Interesting and Key Facts about the Villa Savoye
It was built between the I and II World Wars for a couple, Pierre and Emilie Savoye, as a country home in Poissy, on the outskirts of Paris, France. The house fell into disuse after 1940, and entered a state of disrepair during World War II (occupied twice during the war: first by the Germans and then by the Americans, both damaging the building severely). The Savoye family returned to their estate after the war, but, no longer in position to live as they had done before the war, they abandoned the house again shortly after.
It became the property of the French state in 1958, and after surviving several plans of demolition, it was designated as an official French historical monument in 1965 (a rare occurrence, as Le Corbusier was still living at the time). It was thoroughly renovated from 1985 to 1997, and under the care of the Centre des monuments nationaux.
Drawing inspiration from the design of early 20th century machinery such as electricity turbines and low-pressure ventilating fans, Le Corbusier conceived a space that would be similar in functionality and design to a machine, following his architectural mantra of "machines for living" (machines à habiter).
The villa was designed addressing Le Corbusier's emblematic "Five Points", the basic tenets in his new architectural aesthetic:
1. Support of ground-level pilotis, elevating the building from the earth and allowed an extended continuity of the garden beneath.
2. Functional roof, serving as a garden and terrace, reclaiming for nature the land occupied by the building.
3. Free floor plan, relieved of load-bearing walls, allowing walls to be placed freely and only where aesthetically needed.
4. Long horizontal windows, providing illumination and ventilation.
5. Freely-designed facades, serving as only as a skin of the wall and windows and unconstrained by load-bearing considerations.
Le Corbusier chose a flat roof for the Villa Savoye, a move he argued was for functionality, though it may just as well have been for the appearance of functionality. Eventually, the roof proved less than fully functional and leaked. The owners took Le Corbusier to court. But World War II broke out before the matter was settled, and the building was left in a state of disrepair.
'The approach is by car and as one passes under the building (a demonstration of urban doctrine), and follows the curve of industrial glazing (of which the geometry was determined by the car's turning circle), it becomes clear that one is to be drawn into a machine-age ritual. The plan of the building is square (one of the 'ideal' forms from Vers une architecture), curves, ramp and grid of structure providing the basic counterpoint to the perimeter. The section illustrates the basic divisions of a service and circulation zone below, a piano nobile above, and the celestial zone of the solarium on top: it's the section-type of Le Corbusier's ideal city but restated in microcosm.' Simon Glynn 2001
It became the property of the French state in 1958, and after surviving several plans of demolition, it was designated as an official French historical monument in 1965 (a rare occurrence, as Le Corbusier was still living at the time). It was thoroughly renovated from 1985 to 1997, and under the care of the Centre des monuments nationaux.
Drawing inspiration from the design of early 20th century machinery such as electricity turbines and low-pressure ventilating fans, Le Corbusier conceived a space that would be similar in functionality and design to a machine, following his architectural mantra of "machines for living" (machines à habiter).
The villa was designed addressing Le Corbusier's emblematic "Five Points", the basic tenets in his new architectural aesthetic:
1. Support of ground-level pilotis, elevating the building from the earth and allowed an extended continuity of the garden beneath.
2. Functional roof, serving as a garden and terrace, reclaiming for nature the land occupied by the building.
3. Free floor plan, relieved of load-bearing walls, allowing walls to be placed freely and only where aesthetically needed.
4. Long horizontal windows, providing illumination and ventilation.
5. Freely-designed facades, serving as only as a skin of the wall and windows and unconstrained by load-bearing considerations.
Le Corbusier chose a flat roof for the Villa Savoye, a move he argued was for functionality, though it may just as well have been for the appearance of functionality. Eventually, the roof proved less than fully functional and leaked. The owners took Le Corbusier to court. But World War II broke out before the matter was settled, and the building was left in a state of disrepair.
'The approach is by car and as one passes under the building (a demonstration of urban doctrine), and follows the curve of industrial glazing (of which the geometry was determined by the car's turning circle), it becomes clear that one is to be drawn into a machine-age ritual. The plan of the building is square (one of the 'ideal' forms from Vers une architecture), curves, ramp and grid of structure providing the basic counterpoint to the perimeter. The section illustrates the basic divisions of a service and circulation zone below, a piano nobile above, and the celestial zone of the solarium on top: it's the section-type of Le Corbusier's ideal city but restated in microcosm.' Simon Glynn 2001
Friday, March 11, 2011
Villa Savoye
Villa Savoye is a modernist villa in Poissy, in the outskirts of Paris, France. It was designed by Swiss architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, and built between 1928 and 1931. A manifesto of Le Corbusier's "five points" of new architecture, the villa is representative of the bases of modern architecture, and is one of the most easily recognizable and renowned examples of the International style.
Given that Villa Savoye is an excellent example of Le Corbusier's Machine for Living ideal, it is no surprise that the house employs a number of mechanical devices for easing manual tasks. In the sun room, for instance, the large windows crank open with a lever. In the kitchen, the cabinets efficiently slide open on either side. The kitchen is all utilitarian white, in contrast to the almost decadent master bathroom with its aqua tiled bath tub. He also exposes radiators throughout the house.
Spatial dynamism flows throughout the house as the walls bulge and curve to push and pull at the spaces and entice the occupant from one room to the next. Views of the landscape are framed to draw the eye into the frame and beyond. Le Corbusier uses ramps to speed one from floor to floor. In one homemade film, he rides a bicycle around the roof. The building is a spatial playground.
"Unlike the confined urban locations of most of Le Corbusier's earlier houses, the openness of the Poissy site permitted a freestanding building and the full realization of his five-point program. Essentially the house comprises two contrasting, sharply defined, yet interpenetrating external aspects. The dominant element is the square single-storied box, a pure, sleek, geometric envelope lifted buoyantly above slender pilotis, its taut skin slit for narrow ribbon windows that run unbroken from corner to corner (but not over them, thus preserving the integrity of the sides of the square)."
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
The 5 Buildings
1. Villa Muller (1928-30): Adolf Loos
The Villa Müller is located in Prague, Czech Republic. The building was commissioned by František Müller and his wife, Milada Müllerová. Mr. Müller was an engineer and co-owned a construction company called Kapsa and Müller. The company specialized in reinforced concrete, developing new construction techniques. The architect Karel Lhota set František Müller up with Loos to design the villa. In 1989, the house was turned over to the Müllers' daughter, Eva Maternová. She sold it to the City of Prague in 1995, who put it in the care of the City of Prague Museum. The house was restored in 1998 and finally, re-opened as a museum in 2000.
The Villa Müller is located in Prague, Czech Republic. The building was commissioned by František Müller and his wife, Milada Müllerová. Mr. Müller was an engineer and co-owned a construction company called Kapsa and Müller. The company specialized in reinforced concrete, developing new construction techniques. The architect Karel Lhota set František Müller up with Loos to design the villa. In 1989, the house was turned over to the Müllers' daughter, Eva Maternová. She sold it to the City of Prague in 1995, who put it in the care of the City of Prague Museum. The house was restored in 1998 and finally, re-opened as a museum in 2000.
Image Source: http://www.mimoa.eu/projects/Czech%20Republic/Prague/The%20Villa%20M%FCller2. Villa Savoye (1929-31): Le Corbusier
The Villa Savoye is a modernist villa in Poissy, in the outskirts of Paris, France. It was designed by Swiss architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, and built between 1928 and 1931. A manifesto of Le Corbusier's "five points" of new architecture, the villa is representative of the bases of modern architecture, and is one of the most easily recognizable and renowned examples of the International style.
Image Source: http://forums.intpcentral.com/showthread.php?25209-Beautiful-Buildings3. Villa Mairea (1937-39): Alvar Aalto
Villa Mairea is a villa, guest-house, and rural retreat designed and built by the Finnish modernist architect Alvar Aalto for Harry and Maire Gullichsen in Noormarkku, Finland. Told by the family that they want an 'experimental house', Aalto seems to have treated the house as an opportunity to bring together all the themes that had been preoccupying him in his work to that point but had not been able to include them in actual buildings.
Image Source: http://www.designboom.com/history/aalto/villa.html4. Antonio Carlos Siza House (1976-78): Alvaro Siza
A building on an irregular corner lot, it appears inconspicuous on the outside. However the inside contains various masterful techniques. The floor plan evolves out of the two intersecting axes, which define the dynamic of the interior. The rooms are arranged around a patio according to their function. Varying room heights differentiate the meaning of individual areas. Playful treatment of exterior and interior: Some openings are placed on sightlines, which transition repeatedly between the interior and exterior space.
Image Source: http://www.elcroquis.es/Detail.aspx?articlesId=301885. Bordeaux House (1995-98): Rem Koolhaas
The house was designed to accommodate a man who was confined to a wheel chair after an automobile accident. Koolhaas describes the building as three houses because it has three separate sections layered on top of one another. The lowest part, Koolhaas says, is "a series of caverns carved out from the hill for the most intimate life of the family." The middle section is a smaller 3 x 3.5 meter (10 x 10.75 feet ) glass room where the wheelchair bound resident has his private living area. The entire room is an elevator platform which rises and lowers to other levels of the house. Bookshelves line one wall of the elevator shaft. The upper level, which Koolhaas calls the "top house," has separate areas for the husband and wife and for their children.
Image Source: http://arch1101-2010nn.blogspot.com/
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