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Go to shop22 September 2025
Le Corbusier revolutionized the concept of housing, introducing a functionalist and rational vision of domestic space.
Sixty years ago, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, better known as Le Corbusier, died. The anniversary of his passing is a precious opportunity to reread his lessons on residential architecture and, by extension, furniture design.
To understand his personality, the first issue to unravel is his pseudonym: born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, he chose Le Corbusier to author some articles in an architecture magazine, distorting the name “Le Corbesier” of his maternal great-great-grandfather. This choice would become a successful form of personal branding and also gave rise to the abbreviation LC, which identifies the famous furniture he designed.
Even more surprising is the fact that Le Corbusier didn’t study to be an architect: he enrolled in the School of Art, where he was taught how to decorate watch cases, essentially to allow him to follow in the footsteps of his father, a watch dial enameler. But it was at the art school that Le Corbusier met a teacher who broadened his educational horizons towards architecture, which led to his first project. The fee paid for this project financed a trip to Italy, a crucial step in his career and his method.
It was the 14th-century Certosa di Ema in Florence that particularly impressed Le Corbusier: the corridors, cells, and common spaces were perfectly distributed and became an example of how a residential building should function.
Function, in fact, was what interested the designer at that moment, and he would keep this in mind when he began designing buildings, neighborhoods, and entire cities throughout his career.
He calls them “machines for living,” precisely to emphasize their functionality and purpose, which must be achieved through five fundamental rules. The first is that the building must rest on concrete pillars that allow it to be raised above the ground, creating drier and healthier homes, while shelters are created underneath. The second is the reinforced concrete structure, which must free itself from the use of internal load-bearing walls, allowing for free management of the floor plan. The third rule is the façade free to assume different configurations and shapes. The fourth rule is the ribbon window: horizontal and spanning the entire façade to maximize interior light. The fifth, and perhaps most innovative, is the roof garden, which can restore green spaces to urban living spaces.
Le Corbusier applied these five points to single-family homes, apartment buildings, and even his own personal spaces, such as the famous Cabanon, the cabin on the French Riviera built as a birthday gift to his wife.
Among the most famous and illustrative buildings is the Cité Radieuse in Marseille, also known as the Unité d’abitation, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Austere in form, tempered by the presence of color, it was built between 1947 and 1952 and conceived as an expression of a new concept of living that placed man and his daily well-being at the center, with 337 apartments of 23 different types and common spaces designed to be not only passageways but also meeting places.
The interiors of the apartments are structured based on the “modulor,” the system of proportions codified by Le Corbusier himself, starting from the male figure, to create a comfortable and functional environment.
Man is at the center and the measure of his surroundings: this principle would guide Le Corbusier even in the design of his most iconic furnishings. From the LC4 chaise longue designed with Pierre Jeannaret and Charlotte Perriand to the 1 Fauteuil armchair and 3 Fauteuil sofa, to the LC14 Tabouret stool, now produced by Cassina, to name just a few.
Image credits: Lamy FLC/OTLCM
