Le Corbusier

Architecture Swiss-French 1887 – 1965 365 quotes

Pioneer of modern architecture

Most quoted

"The architect, by his arrangement of forms, realizes an order which is a pure creation of his spirit; by forms and shapes he affects our senses to produce plastic emotions; by the relationships which he creates, he awakens in us profound echoes, he gives us the measure of an order which we feel to be in accordance with that of our world, he determines the various movements of our heart and of our understanding; it is then that we experience the sense of beauty."

— from Towards a New Architecture, 1923

"Architecture is the masterly, correct, and magnificent play of masses brought together in light. Our eyes are made to see forms in light; light and shade reveal these forms; cubes, cones, spheres, cylinders, or pyramids are the great primary forms which light reveals to advantage; the image of these is distinct and without ambiguity. It is for this reason that these are beautiful forms, the most beautiful forms."

— from Towards a New Architecture, 1923

"Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light. Our eyes are made to see forms in light; light and shade reveal these forms; cubes, cones, spheres, cylinders or pyramids are the great primary forms which light reveals to advantage; the image of these is distinct and without ambiguity. It is for this reason that these are beautiful forms, the most beautiful forms."

— from Towards a New Architecture, 1923

All quotes by Le Corbusier (365)

The city must be a place of movement and circulation.

Urbanisme 1930

The machine is a tool for progress.

Vers une architecture 1923

The house is a place of beauty and simplicity.

L'Art décoratif d'aujourd'hui 1925

The architect is a creator of environments.

Précisions sur un état présent de l'architecture et de l'urbanisme 1929

The city must be a place of green spaces and nature.

Urbanisme 1930

The straight line is the line of the future.

Vers une architecture 1923

The house should be a place of light and transparency.

L'Art décoratif d'aujourd'hui 1925

The architect is a problem solver, a designer of solutions.

Précisions sur un état présent de l'architecture et de l'urbanisme 1929

The city must be a place of efficiency and functionality.

Urbanisme 1930

The machine is a tool for human progress and well-being.

Vers une architecture 1923

The house is a place of harmony and balance.

L'Art décoratif d'aujourd'hui 1925

Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light.

Book 1923

The materials of city planning are sky, space, trees, steel and concrete, in that order and that order only.

Book 1929

Space and light and order. Those are the things that men need just as much as they need bread or a place to sleep.

Book 1923

The home should be the treasure chest of living.

Book 1929

Cars are the chariots of the twentieth century.

Book 1923

Architecture is the starting point for anyone who wants to understand life.

Interview 1950

I am only a painter who turned architect.

Letter 1930

The city is the place of maximum opportunity.

Book 1947

Standardization is admirable. But only if it is based on reason.

Book 1923