Sayre RR11 IAR 221

Function = Modernity

Ultimate detail, avant garde design and freeing of space make up a great deal of innovative design in the post World War I world. The most intriguing pointed out by both Roth and Ching was Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye at Poissy, a suburb of Paris and is hailed to be one of the most influential of the time ( Ching 721 ). Everything about this Villa evokes the supreme in modern, stretching the limits and ideas of buildings.

Villa Savoye, Poissy, photo credit 

This photograph of the Villa Savoye captures the modernity of the building by contrasting its forward looking design with a grainy and ancient looking photo. This image reminds me of really old pictures people have taken of "alien spaceships", just because the building looks so modern and different than other designs of its time.

Floor Plan: Left- bottom floor garage/entrance. Right main floor mixed use spaces
Plan Credit

Truly floating above the ground by the use of "what Le Corbusier called pilotis (literally, 'piles,' or stilts)" the Villa Savoye also rests on top of a three car garage and reception area, which is influenced in its construction by the turning radius of an automobile (Roth 532).  This allows the car to enter and exit smoothly and easily and displays design for function, which could define the rest of the Villa in how it was constructed. Le Corbusier designed the main floor to be liquid in form in that it could change and appear according to the residents wishes. The following ideas are noted by Roth: " using a concrete frame, Le Corbusier could achieve a free plan, for no wall is structurally determined." Adding to this affect was the use of facade walls which, could be moved, opened or left to sit as desired by the resident. Letting the light in is a wrap around ribbon window which Roth defines as a "broad panorama painting."  The living spaces were divided by a kitchen, living, bedroom and dining room as well as the second floor outdoor living room. Open to the sky as well as allowing access to the roof top garden, many different spaces were available in the Villa Savoye.

Indoor/outdoor View. The terrace provided an indoor space, outdoors. Go Le Corbusier! And whose that in the left hand corner, but a Basculant LC2
Photo Credit

Before the use of heating and air conditioning  the use of glass played a large role in the temperature within buildings. Le Corbusier had drawn plans to make this building a symbiote with the sun in that it would allow for the heating in winter and a mechanical breezeway to keep it cool in the summer. These plans did not make it into the building, and design in that aspect is slightly flawed. This summer "hothouse" as Roth puts it was the first building to disallow the free movement of air through the building as it was "hermetically sealed". So, with air conditioning installed I bet this would be a very comfy home, not to mention functionally beautiful. In the Villa Savoye, I feel Le Corbusier used function as a very strong point in making this a very modern building incorporating innovation as well as the design language of the time.