Le Corbusier – A pioneer of the International Style
Le Corbusier (1887–1965) was an influential architect and city planner. He was born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris in the Swiss watchmaking town of La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1917, he moved to Paris, assumed the pseudonym Le Corbusier and became a French citizen in 1930. He was one of the pioneers of the Modern Movement and the International Style, two closely related architectural movements. This pioneering architect was the fist to make use of rough-cast concrete (béton brut). His designs were ascetic and functional in appearance, combining rigorous geometric forms with a strong sense of expressionism.
Although Le Corbusier is best known as an architect and urban planner, he was also a talented artist who was equally adept at painting, writing, sculpting, and designing iconic furniture. His architectural masterpieces can be admired in seven countries: Argentina, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Japan, and Switzerland. In 2016, his unique legacy was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List under the official title: The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement.
Although the villas on this webpage are not official World Heritage Sites themselves , these early masterpieces did lay the foundation for his later iconic style.
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Villa Schwob in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland is an early work by the architect and town planner Le Corbusier. The building was designed in an Oriental style and is also known as the Turkish Villa). This monumental structure stands as one of the most remarkable villas created by Le Corbusier in his watchmaking home town. Villa Schwob is widely considered a masterpiece from the early period of modern architecture. The villa is one of the earliest expressions of his pioneering spirit; as it was here that he experimented for the first time with a flat roof, which was a true revolution at the time.
