Charles-Édouard Jeanneret

I like the sound of Charles's architectural manifesto. For the longest time I've wondered why people build houses the way they do, especially here in the midwest. My roommate this morning was complaining that it was cold inside the house. It was 64 degrees. Outside felt warmer. It was 42 and the sun was shining. Our house has almost no windows on the south side so none of that warm sunlight heats up the house! Amazing.

Le Corbusier (as he was more commonly known) wrote about 'an entirely new kind of building.' He details 5 distinct areas of construction:

1. The supports: these are the supporting and non-supporting elements, the ground floor is elevated from the soil so there's no rising damp. There is a garden underneath the house and on the roof.

2. The roof garden: this is the most favored place in the building. Extreme hot and cold on the concrete is prevented by having constant humidity (provided by a layer of sand and soil on the roof). The waste pipes are in the interior of the building so the latent humidity remains continually on the roof skin.

3. Free designing of the ground plan: concrete supports on the outside of the building.

4. Horizontal windows: these are positioned between the supports and provide maximum illumination.

5. Free design of the facade: the facade is extended beyond the windows, a balcony around the house.

This type of house allows for mass production. The parts and pieces can be shipped in and assembled. It sounds like he's taking into consideration the elements which I like: sunlight, air circulation, heating and cooling and I love the roof garden idea, giving back the greenery to the city. Here's a picture of one of his buildings courtesy of Wikipedia: