Cabanon History

Le Corbusier reputedly drew Le Cabanon's plan in 45 minutes, and constructed it in a mere 6 months in 1952. All the material, which was prefabricated, had to be hauled on site, because it was only accessible by foot.

Although small in appearance, he frequently describes it as his castle. Can we then call this architectural experiment his ideal “living machine”?

Corbusier used the Modular as his primary design tool based on human proportions and the Golden Section. It took him 12 years to develop, from 1943 to 1955. Around that time (in the late 1940s) research into proportional systems from Renaissance architecture was widely published and reviewed. Thus Corbusier's interests strongly reflected the attitude of the time; the fascination with mathematics, and their potential as sources of universal truths.

Early on, Corbusier worked with Auguste Perret and Peter Behrens. He also visited Istanbul, the Balkans, and Athens where he appreciated the feminine vernacular arts of the former two cultures, and masculine classicism of the latter in ancient time. The collective experiences of Perret, Behrens and the Parthenon all helped him shift his architectural interest from Jugendstil to Classicism. This is very important achieving his early goal: to reconcile architectural tradition with modern technology.

Corbusier embraced modern technology but simultaneously went back to the spirit of classicism and geometry. He recognized the dirty conditions of the city and wanted to improve people's lifestyles. With the "new machine aesthetic" around him he could explore the effect of the machine on architecture production (and the consequences of mass production in building). The modular helped to avoid repetitive monotony because an infinite number of variations are possible with a unit system of construction that helps to provide multiple, and adequate housing.

By the late 1920s, Corbusier's building material, and type began to change. He joined the Neo-Syndicalists around then who believed Europe should be divided into three 'natural' zones (per race). In sharing their ideas (as many people in did)Le Corbusier thought in terms of a global modern architecture where technology would have to work with the natural geographic forces of different macro-regions.

Between 1930 and 1935, vernacular forms show up in several small houses he and his cousin (Jeanneret) design. He spent several vacations at Le Piquey near La Rochelle where he was extremely interested in the vernacular architecture. He admired fishermen building their huts (where intuition was used first then reason). Around this time Corbusier believed a return to "l'homme reelle" and the spirit of community in pre-industrialized society would alleviate the alienation of the then modern social life. This was very similar to the Volkisch movement of the time in Germany. Again, Corbusier shows sensitivity to problems of his time, with proposals for the better future.

Albert Einstein made of Corbusier’s modular: “a range of dimensions which makes the bad difficult and the good easy.” In essence, it is a moral code, the rule of law brought into art.

He essentially wanted this rule to be available to future generations. Although many of his works underwent high scrutiny and criticism, there’s no denying Corbusier’s ideas weren’t just architectural, but life solutions to a dream of a better, simpler world.

Perhaps we may still draw valuable lessons from this ethic today. Le Cabanon has been reproduced at a 1:1 scale by Cassina (a Milan furniture company) and was in exhibition at the RIBA last year in March. The project revealed both the interior experience of the Cabanon to visitors and offered the team a far more valuable perspective on materials, and critical choices Corbusier had to have made. At least as a starting point, Le Cabanon's relevance to ecologically sound lifestyles, where living simpler is a necessity should not be overlooked.

Today, the real Le Cabanon, along with the atelier, café, unités de camping (built between 1954 and 1957) and Villa E-1027 have become historic monuments.


-Andjela Tatarovic

Information Sources:

Blake, Peter. Le Corbusier Architecture and Form. Maryland: Penguin Books Inc, 1960.

Buxton, Pamela. “Le Corbusier’s Le Cabanon at the RIBA.” Building Design- The Architects’ Website, March 13 2009. http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=3135979 (accessed January 7, 2010).

Coloquhoun, Alan. Modern Architecture. New York: Oxford University Press.

Duff, Jonathan. “Building of the Month.” The Twentieth Century Society, December 2002.
http://www.c20society.org.uk/docs/building/cabanon.html (accessed January 10, 2010).

Parveen, Nikhat. “Golden Ratio in Art & Architecture.” UGA. 2004, http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/EMAT6680/Parveen/GR_in_art.htm (accessed January 13, 2010).

Viladas, Pilar. “Le Shack.” New York Times, April 1, 2001. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/01/magazine/le-shack.html?pagewanted=1 (accessed January 10, 2010).