Le Corbusier ─ Beton Brut and Ineffable Space, 1940-1965: Surface Materials and Psychophysiology of Vision

This groundbreaking new perspective on Le Corbusier is based on exhaustive archival research and the study of neglected or completely unknown documents. It is innovative in showing the role of materials and construction techniques in the architecture of Le Corbusier and the book also delves into the project management and the construction of several buildings in the period 1940 – 1965. Each worksite, from the Unité d’Habitation (Housing Unit) in Marseille to the city of Chandigarh, and the Tokyo museum, the Carpenter Center in Cambridge and the Unité d'Habitation in Berlin, is analyzed in detail.

Roberto Gargiani obtained his degree at the Faculty in Florence in 1983 and completed his Ph.D. in history of architecture and urbanism in 1992. He has taught the history of architecture in Florence, Rouen, Paris, Venice and Rome. He is now Professor of the history of architecture and construction at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Among his books: Perret e Le Corbusier, confronti (1990), with G. Fanelli; Auguste Perret (1993); Il principio del rivestimento (1994), with G. Fanelli; Storia dell’architettura contemporanea (1998), with G. Fanelli (also translated into french); Idea e costruzione del Louvre (1998); Principi e costruzione nell’architettura italiana del Quattrocento (2003); Archizoom Associati, 1966-1974 (2007); editor of La colonne, nouvelle histoire de la construction (2008); Rem Koolhaas/OMA. The Construction of Merveilles (2008); and Superstudio (2010), with B. Lampariello.
Anna Rosellini received her degree at the Faculty in Venice in 2003 and a European master in history of architecture at the University of Rome in 2004. In 2008 she completed her Ph.D. on the history of architecture at the School of Advanced Studies in Venice. Currently, she works at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne as a postdoctoral fellow. Among her publications: La sede dell’INAL a Venezia di Giuseppe Samonà, 1947-1961: oltre lo strutturalismo (2006); Oltre il “béton brut”: Le Corbusier e la “nouvelle stéréotomie” (2007); Les pilotis de Le Corbusier: les questions de la “la colonne ronde et évidée” et du coffrage (2008); “Sculptures moulées” di Le Corbusier (2010).

1. The Discovery of "Béton Brut" with "Malfaçons": the Worksite of the Unité d'Habitation in Marseille 2. "Entrainement d’Acrobate": the "Provocateur des Formes Neuves" 3. Unités d’Habitation in Rezé-lès-Nantes, Berlin and Briey-en-Forêt 4. Chandigarh, or the Cosmic Vision 5. "Epiderme Brutal" in Pisé, Brick and Wood 6. "Machines à Habiter" for Tropical Climates and Vision 7. Automatisms and the Projection of Sound and Image 8.Towards a "Nouvelle Stéréotomie"