Phaidon has released a dramatically oversized book, a spectacular visual biography of the life and work of Le Corbusier (1887–1965), one of Modernism's most influential architects, urban planners, and theorists.
With approximately 2,000 images and documents, many previously unpublished, feature his major built works, urban plans, paintings, publications, and furniture as well as sketches, archival photographs, and personal correspondence.
The rarely seen photographs and correspondence shed new light on Le Corbusier’s relationships with Josephine Baker, Eileen Gray, Fernand Léger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Prouvé, and many others.
Le Corbusier was not only the creator of some of the most important and impressive buildings of the last century--Villa Savoye at Poissy, the Chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Haut at Ronchamp, the capitol complex in Chandigarh, India--he was also an accomplished painter, sculptor, furniture designer, urbanist, and author. His work and social theories continue to be a dominant force in the world of architecture and design, while his elegant bearing, bow tie, and round black eyeglasses are still today a signature look for architects around the world.
The book includes an insightful introductory essay by France’s most authoritative architectural historian and critic, Jean-Louis Cohen, and incisive chapter introductions by highly regarded Le Corbusier scholar Tim Benton.
All images courtesy Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris
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