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villa savoye

INTRODUCTION:

One of the most famous houses of the modern movement in architecture, the Villa Savoye is a masterpiece
of Corbusiers purist design. It is perhaps the best example of Corbusiers goal to create a house which
would be a "machine a habiter," a machine for living (in). Located in a suburb near Paris, the house is as
beautiful and functional as a machine.
The Villa Savoye was the culmination of many years of design, and the basis for much of Corbusiers later
architure. Although it looks severe in photographs, it is a complex and visually stimulating structure. As
with his church of Notre Dame du Haute, Ron champ, the building looks different from every angle. After
falling into disrepair after the war, the house has been restored and is open to the public.
The design features of the Villa Savoye include:
modular design -- the result of Corbu's researches into mathematics, architecture (the golden
section), and human proportion
"pilotis" -- the house is raised on stilts to separate it from the earth, and to use the land efficiently.
These also suggest a modernized classicism.
no historical ornament
abstract sculptural design
pure color -- white on the outside, a color with associations of newness, purity, simplicity, and health
(Corbusier earlier wrote a book entitled, When the Cathedrals were White), and planes of subtle
color in the interior living areas
a very open interior plan
dynamic , non-traditional transitions between floors -- spiral staircases and ramps
built-in furniture
ribbon windows (echoing industrial architecture, but also providing openness and light)
roof garden, with both plantings and architectural (sculptural) shapes
integral garage (the curve of the ground floor of the house is based on the turning radius of the 1927
Citroen)

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Design:
The Villa Savoye is probably Corbusier's best known building from the 1930s, it had enormous influence on
international modernism.[14] It was designed addressing his emblematic "Five Points", the basic tenets in his
new architectural aesthetic.
Support of ground-level pilotis, elevating the building from the earth and allowed an extended continuity of
the garden beneath.
Functional roof, serving as a garden and terrace, reclaiming for nature the land occupied by the building
Free floor plan, relieved of load-bearing walls, allowing walls to be placed freely and only where
aesthetically needed.
Long horizontal windows, providing illumination and ventilation.
Freely-designed facades, serving only as a skin of the wall and windows and unconstrained by load-bearing
considerations. Unlike his earlier town villas Corbusier was able to carefully design all four sides of the
Villa Savoye in response to the view and the orientation of the sun. On the ground floor he placed the main
entrance hall, ramp and stairs, garage, chauffeur and maids rooms. At first floor the master bedroom, the
son's bedroom, guest bedroom, kitchen, salon and external terraces. The salon was oriented to the south east
whilst the terrace faced the east. The son's bedroom faced the North West and the kitchen and service
terrace were on the south west. At second floor level were a series of sculpted spaces that formed a
solarium. He plan was set out using the principle ratios of the Golden section: in this case a square divided
into sixteen equal parts, extended on two sides to incorporate the projecting faades and then further divided
to give the position of the ramp and the entrance.
In his book Vers une Architecture Corbusier exclaimed "the motor car is an object with a simple function (to
travel) and complicated aims (comfort, resistance, appearance).The house, designed as a second residence
and sited as it was outside Paris was designed with the car in mind. The sense of mobility that the car gave
translated into a feeling of movement that is integral to the understanding of the building. [14] The approach
to the house was by car, past the caretaker's lodge and eventually under the building itself. Even the curved
arc of the industrial glazing to the ground floor entrance was determined by the turning circle of a car.
Dropped off by the chauffeur, the car proceeded around the curve to park in the garage. Meanwhile the
occupants entered the house on axis into the main hall through a portico of flanking columns.
The four columns in the entrance hall seemingly direct the visitor up the ramp. This ramp, that can be seen
from almost everywhere in the house continues up to the first floor living area and salon before continuing
externally from the first floor roof terrace up to the second floor solarium. Throughout his career Corbusier
was interested in bringing a feeling of sacredness into the act of dwelling and acts such as washing and

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eating were given significance by their positioning. At the Villa Savoye the act of cleansing is represented
both by the sink in the entrance hall and the celebration of the health-giving properties of the sun in the
solarium on the roof which is given significance by being the culmination of ascending the ramp.
Corbusier's piloti perform a number of functions around the house, both inside and out. On the two longer
elevations they are flush with the face of the faade and imply heaviness and support, but on the shorter
sides they are set back giving a floating effect that emphasizes the horizontal feeling of the house. The wide
strip window to the first floor terrace has two baby piloti to support and stiffen the wall above. Although
these piloti are in a similar plane to the larger columns below a false perspective when viewed from outside
the house gives the impression that they are further into the house than they actually are. The Villa Savoye
uses the horizontal ribbon windows found in his earlier villas. Unlike his contemporaries, Corbusier often
chose to use timber windows rather than metal ones. It has been suggested that this is because he was
interested in glass for its planar properties and that the set-back position of the glass in the timber frame
allowed the faade to be seen as a series of parallel planes.

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Modern Architecture:
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Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and an absence of applied

decoration. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying
widely.[1] In a broader sense, early modern architecture began at the turn of the 20th century with efforts to
reconcile the principles underlying architectural design with rapid technological advancement and
the modernization of society. It would take the form of numerous movements, schools of design, and
architectural styles, some in tension with one another, and often equally defying such classification.
The concept of modernism is a central theme in these efforts. Gaining popularity after the Second World
War, architectural modernism was adopted by many influential architects and architectural educators, and
continues as a dominant architectural style for institutional and corporate buildings into the 21st century.
Modernism eventually generated reactions, most notably Postmodernism which sought to preserve premodern elements, while Neomodernism emerged as a reaction to Postmodernism.
Notable architects important to the history and development of the modernist movement include Le
Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, Gerrit
Riveted, Oscar Niemeyer and Alvar Aalto.

Characteristics:
The Salk Institute complex in La Jolla, California, by architect Louis Kahn.
Common themes of modern architecture include:

the notion that "Form follows function", a dictum originally expressed by Frank Lloyd Wright's early
mentor Louis Sullivan, meaning that the result of design should derive directly from its purpose

simplicity and clarity of forms and elimination of "unnecessary detail"

materials at 90 degrees to each other

visual expression of structure (as opposed to the hiding of structural elements)

the related concept of "Truth to materials", meaning that the true nature or natural appearance of a
material ought to be seen rather than concealed or altered to represent something else

use of industrially-produced materials; adoption of the machine aesthetic

particularly in International Style modernism, a visual emphasis on horizontal and vertical lines

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International Style:
The International Style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative
decades of Modern architecture.
The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The
International Style, that identified, categorized and expanded upon characteristics common
to Modernism across the world and its stylistic aspects. The authors identified three principles: the
expression of volume rather than mass, the emphasis on balance rather than preconceived symmetry, and the
expulsion of applied ornament. The aim of Hitchcock and Johnson was to define a style that would
encapsulate this modern architecture, doing this by the inclusion of specific architects.
The book was written to record the International Exhibition of Modern Architecture held at the Museum of
Modern Art in New York City in 1932. All the works in the exhibition were carefully selected, only
displaying those that strictly followed these rules. Previous uses of the term in the same context can be
attributed to Walter Gropius in International Architecture, and Ludwig Hilberseimer in International neue
Baukunst

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