Design Matters
Le Corbusier: An Archipelago of Ideas
It is well-known that Le Corbusier (1887-1965) was enamoured by the sea and by ocean liners, seashells, beaches, and the like, he also enjoyed voyaging and looking at the world, particularly from an airplane. Le Corbusier was a widely influential architect who remains complex and controversial.
This exhibition charts his work beginning with his early houses in Switzerland to late work in India. In between he produced projects in Paris and France, various countries in Europe, the USSR, North Africa, the Americas, Iraq, and Japan. The models on display are organized geographically as a group of “islands” that establish a kind of global archipelago of projects that allows the viewer to understand the evolution of Le Corbusier’s work, along with the geographical range of his designs.
Modern architecture, as a project initiated in Europe and America, was effectively imposed on many nations, especially those operating under colonial regimes. As countries around the world became independent of colonialism they typically attempted to balance modernity with an emerging sense of their own histories, traditions, and identities. Le Corbusier was effectively the leader of the international movement to establish modern architecture, even as his own work had largely abandoned the idea of a universal modernism in the 1930s. The legacy of his projects around the world continues to be studied and interpreted. Suffice it to say his ideas have permeated modern and contemporary architecture globally.
Date: Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Time: 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. (MT)
Location: City Building Design Lab, 616 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary
Time: 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. (MT)
Location: City Building Design Lab, 616 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary
Speaker information
Miquel Adriá, architect, historian and critic. Architect from the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Barcelona and a Doctor of Architecture from the European University of Madrid. Author of over 30 books on Latin American architecture and director of Arquine architecture magazine (a review of architecture in Mexico and Latin America since 1997), jury member on multiple international awards, Director of MEXTROPOLI Architecture &City Festival and Director of Architecture at CENTRO University.
Miquel is author of the book “La Sombra del Cuervo. Arquitectos Mexicanos tras la senda de Le Corbusier” (The Shadow of the Crow. Mexican architects on the path of Le Corbusier). A critical and historical review of the impact of Le Corbusier on modern Latin American architecture, specifically in Mexico, through the lenses of the work of Luis Barragan, Juan O’Gorman and Teodoro González de León, among others. Their seminal work helped define Mexico’s national architecture and created a ripple effect in Latin America.
The School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape is proud to partner with
The event is free to attend, however registration is required.
Please contact [email protected] with questions.