Le Corbusier
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)
My dear mother, I am always thinking of you. You are the rock on which I build my life.
To create a work of art is to create a world.
The right angle is the basis of all human construction.
Modern life demands a new plan, both for the house and for the city.
I have been working like a madman, but I feel that I am on the right track.
The hand is the extension of thought.
The house should be the jewel box of life.
Art is a battle. It is a struggle against the ordinary, against the commonplace.
The city must be a tool for freedom.
I am an architect, a painter, a writer, a sculptor. I am all of these things, and none of them.
The sun, the space, the trees, the steel, the concrete, in this order, are the elements of modern architecture.
I have always believed that architecture should serve humanity.
The problem of the house is the problem of the epoch.
I am constantly seeking the absolute, the pure, the essential.
The Modulor is a harmonic measure to the human scale, universally applicable to architecture and mechanics.
To be an architect is to be a poet of space.
The true joy of architecture is in its creation, not in its completion.
The city is a tool. It must be a tool for living.
I have no doubt that the future belongs to those who dare to innovate.
The spirit of truth is the spirit of architecture.
Contemporaries of Le Corbusier
Other Architectures born within 50 years of Le Corbusier (1887–1965).