In the 1920’s a new style of architecture was emerging in the world, one that was named ‘International Style’. This new movement stripped the buildings of unnecessary ornaments and focused more on the intricacies that dealt with the building’s volume. Another focus was on new construction techniques that utilized concrete, steel and industrial glazing as materials. The purpose of the ‘International Style’ was to project this ideal image of machines coming together to provide a higher level of living. ¶ Le Corbusier was one of those architects that strongly believed in this new Style. He was known as a purist that completely believed in the theoretical principles of this new architecture. He incorporated this idea of minimalism with his love of machines through the study of automobiles coming out at the time. ¶ The Villa Savoye was commissioned by Pierre and Emilie Savoye who wanted a weekend retreat overlooking the Seine River. This home of theirs in the middle of the meadow was surrounded by woods and was only a thirty-mile car ride from Paris. The size of the house was in part influenced by Le Corbusier’s love of automobiles, which was determined by the car that would be bringing monsieur and miss Savoye to this building, a 1930s limousine. Le Corbusier took the turning radius of this limousine and incorporated it into the ground level also a three-car garage. ¶ The Villa Savoye is apparent in its absolute simplicity. Many considered this building to be the climax of his work along with
the end of his so-called Purist style architecture. From the outside it almost looks like a white box that’s been raised by white columns. The smooth white of the walls are considered pure and the walls are reinforced with a concrete surface. The white columns that are supporting the building are called pilotis along with a dark green base, the garage, which raises the building so that it appears to be floating. On the top of the building is a flat roof with a garden, which leads into the interpretation of an open design plan of the outside to the inside. ¶ The modular design of the home is a result of Le Corbusier’s fascination with mathematics, the golden section and human proportions, it was also left very open to emphasize a space that could be transformed and altered. The pilotis seem to raise the house on stilts and separate it from the earth, using the land efficiently. He stuck to an abstract sculptural design with no historical ornamenting and therefore chose only a pure white for the exterior of the building with planes of subtle color on the inside. The building comes with built in furniture along with dynamic, non-traditional transitions between floors with spiral staircases and ramps. Another distinctive feature is a beautiful band of windows the ribbon windows, that wrap around the building. ¶ One of the main importances of the Villa Savoye is because it became a precedent to the future buildings of Le Corbusier. There were “The Five Points” that became his basic ideas of a new aesthetic of architecture, which were always constructed in reinforced concrete. First, the pilotis, or ground-level supporting columns, elevate the building from the damp earth allowing the garden to flow beneath the building. Second, a flat roof terrace reclaims the area of the building site for domestic purposes, including a garden area.Third, he free plan, made possible by the elimination of load-bearing walls, consists of partitions placed where they are needed without regard for those on adjoining levels. Fourth, horizontal windows provide even illumination and ventilation. And finally, the freely designed façade, unconstrained by load-bearing considerations, consists of a thing skin of wall and windows. As Le Corbusier went on to design new buildings in the world he made sure to keep to these five points that influenced his design for later years.
alex huang | jen magathan | risd 2009 Sbriglio, Jacques. Le Corbusier The Villa Savoye. Basel, Swizerland: Birkhauser Verlag AG, 2008 Quetglas, Josep. Le Corbusier Y Pierre Jeanneret Villa Savoye, “Les Heures Claires”. Alcorcon, Madrid: Editorial Rueda S.L., 2004 Sullivan, Mary Ann. “Villa Savoye--Introduction and Index” (2006) 4 March 2009 <http://www.bluffton.edu/>
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