Graduate Category: Humanities and Arts Degree Seeking: Architecture Abstract ID #1809
The Influence and Functionality of Le Corbusier’s Contemporary City on the Plans of Chandigarh, Brasilia, and EPCOT urban planning - functionality - culture clash historic architectural research by ariella fishkin
QUESTION: Would Le Corbusier’s Contemporary City design be successful if built?
APPROACH: Studies of the Contemporary City, Chandigarh, Brasilia, and EPCOT
ANALYSIS: How do these separate cities and designs relate to each other? Did they succeed?
RESULTS: What can be learned about urban development and planning?
I began my initial research by studying the components of Le Corbusier’s unbuilt Contemporary City of Three Million Inhabitants. Through this site-less design, Le Corbusier wanted to create broad social reform on the city scale, however the city was never built and only variations of his original plan exist. Some of these examples have notably unsuccessful portions and some were not built at all. My research aims to determine whether or not those that attempted to use Le Corbusier’s design were overall successful and why.
The three examples I studied were designed around the same time but on three different continents. My research explored their original design goals, how Le Corbusier’s ideas influenced them, what concepts they used of Le Corbusier’s, and how they used them. The research included sources related to these urban connections as well as individual city based sources and analyses. The resources as well as my own observations contemplated what aspects of these cities had succeeded and where work was still needed.
Chandigarh, Brasilia, and EPCOT all appeared to base their designs in Le Corbusier’s general concepts of decongestion, increased density, efficient traffic circulation, and open green spaces. They have designated parks, rigid street layout patterns, and built up central city areas. Overall though, the cities were designed through an urban scheme that considered modern architecture and Le Corbusier’s design more than the people living in the city. Chandigarh and Brasilia have faced major issues where the cultures of the people directly clash with the urban planning ideas. EPCOT, though unbuilt, faced some questions regarding resident privacy in a city on display.
This research provides insight into large scale urban planning. Understanding why Le Corbusier’s highly studied urban design was less than functional in practice, reveals the importance of cultural understanding and study in architecture and specifically in urban planning. While it is hard to find an opportunity to design cities entirely from scratch, concepts of cultural integration are also important when planning areas for cities already existent. As cities become major areas of population growth, expanding development will be needed and will need to analyze surrounding culture in order to be successful.
THE CONTEMPORARY CITY Le Corbusier
CHANDIGARH Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Edwin Maxwell Fry, Jane Beverly
BRASILIA Lucio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer
EPCOT Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow
The general goals of this urban design were to decongest city centers, increase density in city centers, increase traffic circulation, and increase green and open spaces.
Chandigarh aimed to be the pride of India as a country independent of British rule and so embraced Le Corbusier’s modern urban planning ideas.
Brasilia finally realized the goal of a new modern capital city for Brazil. The city was to influence social change and be designed by architects who had worked with and been inspired by Le Corbusier.
1924, site-less, unbuilt
His principles had modern functional motives and resulted in a more utilitarian design, ruled by the modern machine, and without considerations for how real humans would interact with the spaces.
Ideas carried forward: - gridded street layout - street organization system - traffic layering ideas - programmatic segregation - large city blocks - elimination of narrow side streets - landscaped recreation areas - central towers
Text: Le Corbusier. The City of Tomorrow. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1971 Sutcliffe, Anthony. “A Vision of Utopia: Optimistic Foundations of Le Corbusier’s Doctrine d’urbanisme.” In The Open Hand: Lessons on Le Corbusier, edited by Russell Walden, 216-243. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press, 1977. Fig. 1: Le Corbusier. The City of Tomorrow. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1971 Fig. 2: http://www.mediaarchitecture.at/architekturtheorie/le_corbusier/2011_corbusier_links_en.shtml
1947, Punjab, India
In practice, the car culture Le Corbusier wanted did not exist in India and even with traffic organization, citizens still predominantly use bike or their feet. The tall buildings in Le Corbusier’s original design were not possible due to Indian building technological abilities.
Ideas utilized: - gridded street layout - mega blocks - seven part traffic organization - programmatic sector organization - designated green spaces - intricate initial landscaping
Text: Kalia, Ravi. Chandigarh: The Making of an Indian City. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999 Sarin, Madhu. “Chandigarh as a Place to Live In.” In The Open Hand: Lessons on Le Corbusier, edited by Russell Walden, 374-411. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press, 1977 Fig. 3: http://2014-2015.nclurbandesign.org/tag/chandigarh/ Fig. 4: https://thefunambulist.net/architectural-projects/proletarian-fortresses-the-corbusean-grids-anomaly-burail-inchandigarh
1955, Brasilia, Brazil
The street and outdoor spaces as social elements are a large part of Brazilian culture and are unable to exist in Brasilia creating an empty landscape and general feeling of isolation for those living there.
Walt Disney, WED Enterprises 1963, Orlando, Florida, USA
Ideas utilized: - gridded street layout - street organization - mega blocks - axes of traffic organization - programmatic segregation - green and open spaces - elimination of narrow side streets - central towers
Text: Holston, James. The Modernist City: An Anthropological Critique of Brasilia. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1989. The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Brasilia.” Accessed December 5, 2016. https://www.britannica.com/place/Brasilia Fig. 5: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sandiv999/10939341735 Fig. 6: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Empty_streets_in_Brasilia_during_Brazil_%26_North_Korea_match_at_World_ Cup_2010-06-15_2.jpg
Walt Disney designed a community that would research urban problems and new technologies for use by the public and industries for the purpose of increaseing people’s quality of life. He envisioned it as a functional futuristic showcase city as well as commercial center and research institute. Since EPCOT would be both a city and an attraction, the issue of resident privacy was a contentious design point.
Ideas utilized: - partitioned street layout - central towers - mega blocks - axes of traffic organization - traffic/transit layering ideas - radial programmatic segregation - green and open spaces near housing - elimination of narrow side streets
Text: Mannheim, Steve. Walt Disney and the Quest for Community. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2002. Fig. 7: http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/epcot.htm Fig. 8: https://sites.google.com/site/theoriginalepcot/