Gallery: 5 Great Le Corbusier Buildings

Image via Complex Original

Born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret on October 6, 1877, Le Corbusier is the father of modern architecture. His start came in designing homes (more accurately villas) and by career end, he'd graduated to stunning public buildings. Known for birthing both the International Style and Brutalism, Le Corbusier's mark on our built environment is quite literally awesome.

In honor of his born day, we look at 5 great Le Corbusier buildings.

Villa Savoye, Poissy, France

1928-1931

Perhaps the most important home of the 20th-century, the Villa Savoye was commissioned by Pierre and Emilie Savoye. They wanted a country home. Le Corbusier delivered a masterpiece. The structure neatly encapsulates all his "5 points" of modern architecture, and quickly became the model building for the burgeoning International Style. Essentially, all you really need to know is that modern architecture exists as we know it because of this house.

Unité d'Habitation, Marseille

1947-1951

Single family villas were not all Le Corbusier accomplished. He also developed new systems of large scale residential housing, this building in Marseille being the first erected. Imagined in collaboration with painter Nadir Alphonso, these structures are cited as the basis of Brutalist architecture (which is characterized by heavy use of raw concrete).

Mill Owner's Association Building, Ahmedabad, India

1954

Essentially a private club, the Mill Owner's Association Building in Ahmedabad is notable for the employment of sun breakers on the East and West facade. Functionally, this feature aided in air circulation and keeping sun bred heat minimized.

Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University

1961-1963

Le Corbusier worked in collaboration with firm Sert, Jackson, and Gourley on the only building he completed in North America (note: he was a consultant on the UN building). It is a dynamic building which again showcases his mind for the elasticity of concrete and eye for marrying a number of shapes in a single, unified whole.

Centre Le Corbusier, Zürich, Switzerland

1967

Also known as the Heidi Weber Museum, this was the last building designed by Le Courbusier before his death. It also marks a departure from heavy use of raw concrete. For the art gallery, he created a freestanding roof to cover airy exhibition space made of multi-colored enamel plates. The building is all about unity, and a fitting last effort from the modernist master.