Le Corbusier and the Concept of SelfAlthough Le Corbusier never explicitly defined his concept of self, Richards finds extensive evidence of it in the urbanist's writings and work. Richards argues that Le Corbusier was indebted to Enlightenment philosopher Blaise Pascal, who believed the individual should withdraw from society and meditate in solitude on the nature of God and self. Le Corbusier's cities were designed accordingly to isolate people in cell-like apartments for the purpose of spiritual self-exploration. Richards explores Le Corbusier's position in 20th-century intellectual life in the light of this fresh understanding, and he identifies a previously unrecognized alignment between the thought of Le Corbusier and of such figures as Albert Camus and Georges Bataille. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
How to Go About | 9 |
Preface | 21 |
3 | 46 |
Léger and the Purist Object | 73 |
Conventionalism | 90 |
Ozenfants Impasse | 112 |
Preface | 125 |
Vers la limite critique | 171 |
Conclusion | 188 |
Notes | 203 |
a | 241 |
41 | 247 |
Bibliography | 276 |
Acknowledgements | 290 |
Common terms and phrases
Accursed Share Action Française alchemical alchemist antisocial approach architect Architecture artist attempt Bataille believe Camus Chandigarh CIAM committed consciousness considered conventions Corbusier Corbusier's cities Cubisme distractions emphasis added environment epistemological Euclidean experience external Fernand Léger Fishman formal French geometric human iconostasis ideas important individual interest involved Jansenists Jeanneret Jencks Jung knowledge Kuisel L'Esprit nouveau Le Corbusier Le Corbusier's Léger living London Loos M'zab maintains mass McLeod meaning milieu modern Modulor Mumford mystical nature object world one's Ornament and Crime Ozenfant Ozenfant's paradigm Paris Pascal passim philosophy poem Poème Poincaré political Precisions psyche Purist painting quotation Radiant Radieuse Raeburn and Wilson reality reason rebellion represents sacred seems selfhood Seligmann sense Sketchbooks social society solitude space spiritual symbols technocrats temenos theory things three-dimensional tion trans understanding universe urban Vichy Ville Contemporaine Ville Radieuse violence visual Wilson eds