Le Corbusier Quotes

You know, it is life that is right and the architect who is wrong.

The age of personal statues is gone. No personal statues shall be erected in the city or parks of Chandigarh. The city is planned to breathe the new sublimated spirit of art. Commemoration of persons shall be confined to suitably placed bronze plaques.

Here is a fact which may seem discouraging at first blush, but one which on reflection will encourage and inspire confidence; immense industrial undertakings do not need great men.

Vehicular traffic is completely forbidden in the green strips, where tranquility shall reign and the curse of noise shall not penetrate.

...
Faire une architecture c’est
faire une créature. Etre
rempli se remplir s’être
rempli éclater exulter
froid de glace au sein des
complexités devenir un jeune
chien content.
Devenir l’ordre.
...

The problem of the house is a problem of the epoch. The equilibrium of society today depends upon it. Architecture has for its first duty, in this period of renewal, that of bringing about a revision of values, a revision of the constituent elements of the house.

…the skyscrapers of God dominated the countryside. They had made them as high as possible, extraordinarily high. It may seem a disproportion in the ensemble. Not at all, it was an act of optimism, a gesture of courage, a sign of pride, a proof of mastery! In addressing themselves to God, men did not sign their own abdication.

A hundred times I have thought: New York is a catastrophe, and fifty times: it is a beautiful catastrophe.

Arhitectura are un alt sens și alte scopuri decât doar de a scoate în evidență construcția și de a răspunde unor necesități. Arhitectura este arta prin excelență, care atinge starea de măreție platoniciană, de ordine matematică, de speculație spirituală, de percepere a armoniei prin raporturi emoționale. Iată scopul arhitecturii.

(...)mimarlığın, kendilerini bütünüyle ve ateşli bir biçimde ona adayanlara bir tür mutluluk getireceğini, düşüncenin doğum sancılarından ve ışıltılı dünyaya gelişinden doğan o kendinden geçmeye benzer duyguyu yaşatacağını sezemediler. Buluşun, yaratıcılığın gücüdür bu ve insana içindeki en saf şeyleri verme olanağını sağlar.

Contour and profile ['modinature'] are the touchstone of the architect.
Here he reveals himself as artist or mere engineer.
Contour is free of all restraint.

A hundred times have I thought New York is a catastrophe, and fifty times : It is a beautiful catastrophe.

Vous savez, c'est la vie qui a raison, l'architecte qui a tort.

Yaşam, ancak, insan kişiliğini yöneten bu iki çelişen ilke -birey ve topluluk- birbiriyle uyuştuğu zaman gelişebilir.

It is a question of building which is at the root of the social unrest of today: architecture or revolution.