Le Corbusier: From the primitive hut to the cabanon

Abstract

Insufficient attention has been paid to Le Corbusier’s search for origins in the vernacular dwellings he observed, drew and inhabited. In parallel with his development of a machine-age architecture dominated by geometry and reason he explored the basis of contentment in the simple life of peasants and fishermen, and the rough shacks they built with their own hands. The ten years during which he spent his vacations in the little village of Le Petit Piquey on the Bassin d’Arcachon were fundamental for stimulating a revolution in his painting and, eventually, his architecture. This article explores the various ramifications of Le Corbusier’s search for a closer connection with nature and with a more primitive existence protected from ‘civilisation’. His book La Ville Radieuse is a witness to this patient research, as well as houses such as Le Sextant aux Mathes and the petite maison de weekend, La Celle Saint Cloud.