For example, the Grand Comfort chair by Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand was neither functional nor standardised. The machine aesthetic remained just that, as few of the designs were capable of being standardised. Greenhalgh, Sparke) has argued that this functionalism of Modernist theory was not based in reality. However, a substantial body of criticism (e.g. This house was therefore a product of Le Corbusier’s intention to apply the principles of mechanical mass production to domestic architecture.
The components were all to be standardised and pre-fabricated, which would allow for rapid construction. An external staircase communicates between each level, and its location permits an unprecedented space and clarity in the plan. The Maison Dom-Ino (1915) was an early example of his Engineer’s Aesthetic: three identical planes are suspended above each other by steel columns, a method of construction that frees the walls of their load-bearing purpose, and allows his concept of the ‘free façade’ to be introduced. the Caproni Triple hydroplane) seem rather archaic. From a present day perspective his principles are better illuminated by his architecture, since these illustrations (e.g.
To reinforce this argument the illustrations of Vers une architecture celebrated the functional and architectural unity of Canadian grain stores, ships, aeroplanes and automobiles. As a consequence, architects were encouraged to emulate engineers and adopt these principles in order to attain harmony and logic in their designs. Instead, he drew parallels between architecture and the ‘Engineer’s Aesthetic’, arguing that engineers were to be praised for their use of functionalism and mathematical order. This implies that he saw the aesthetic, not as just another style, but as the very substance of architecture.
In order to progress, he believed, it was necessary for architects to abandon the notion of traditional styles and decorative effects: ‘Architecture has nothing to do with the various ‘styles’… sometimes pretty, though not always and never anything more.’ This reiterated the argument that functionalism was more important than appearance. Often misunderstood, his famous declaration, ‘The house is a machine for living in,’ meant that the guiding principle for architects should be to make the house as well suited to its purpose as was a machine. Much of Le Corbusier’s manifesto Vers une architecture (1923) is dedicated to promoting the architectural virtues of the machine.
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