A Modern Monasticism with Utopian Roots.

Le Corbusier. Charles- Edouard Jeanneret. Architectural pioneer, modernist, urban planner, theorist, artist and monk? While he was not in the least a devout man nor did he wear brown hooded robes, I believe it is safe to say that Corbusier can be described as one who strove towards ideals which were reincarnations of those conceived previously. Ideals that were nothing less than reinterpretations of monasticism.

"The man of initiative, of action, of thought, the LEADER, demands shelter for his meditations in a quiet and sure spot; a problem which is indispensable to the health of specialized people."

- Le Corbusier, Toward a New Architecture p. 24

Corbusier was one obsessed with bringing a harmony to an industrial civilization. This is a goal he never truly achieved, regardless of his undying efforts. It is interesting to note that he lived through countless occurrences of human turmoil experiencing two world wars. Moreover, in the year he built his Cabanon the first hydrogen bomb was detonated, and Stalin controlled Soviet Russia. In these conditions it is clear why such a goal would be of great concern. In order to understand his own unique views of truth he would often cut himself off from society, rejecting it in an attempt to understand it.

Le Cabanon (1)

To me, it seems as if there was an inherent spirituality to Corbusier's architecture. As an architect, and individual, who emulated the ideas of sun, sea, space, greenery, and love his work can not help but speak to people who understand it on a deeper level. While some may look at some of his works as blank walls, or cold concrete they are definitely filled with a symbolism that does not require embellishment. His is an architecture with a voice. An architecture of function and proportion.

Corbusier at his window (2)

Such an architecture found its birthplace in the 8th century within the plan of the Monastery of St. Gall. While Corbusier's Utopia lay in the idea of a harmonious industrial society, the Utopia of the Benedictine monks of ages past was a place which reflected the will of God and embraced the Rule. The Plan sought to create a harmony of its own. A harmony between the world of men and the world of the divine. Two worlds which could be bridged through the ideal monastery. Haito the Abbot of Reichenau, and the designer of the plan, accomplishes this in ways similarly employed by Corbusier. The impeccable attention to layout and the concern with the function of the spaces reveal it to be an entirely rational plan. A plan which depicts the Benedictine Rule and the strict lifestyle it not only idealizes but indefinitely promotes. Similarly Corbusier displays, through his Cabanon, a lifestyle of necessity a way of life he believed to be ideal. While both utopian goals differ, they are undergone in ways that are clearly similar. Each subject presents themselves as a singularity. An isolated unit of apparent perfection. Since Corbusier did live most of his life similar to that of a monk, his appreciation of the simple and its inherent poetry is obvious. Nothing seems more poetic in both cases, than having the architecture speak to the user in such a way that it became flawless. Both structures, while on blatantly different scales, sought out functionalism in the scheme and divided themselves into four unique sections to accomplish this. While Corbusier employed his Modular system of proportions in his design, the Plan was designed with close accompaniment of the golden proportion, and religious numeric symbolism. Each system was used in order to further drive the ideas of completeness and flawlessness through the very architecture and proportions of the buildings themselves.

The Plan of St. Gall (3)

Therefore, while Corbusier is labelled as being a giant of Modernism it seems as if his inspirations truly lie deep in humble monastic traditions. While Corbusier looks back to find his muse, the Carolingian designers seem to look forward. However, both Le Cabanon and the Plan for the Monastery of St. Gall are attempts at making our architecture reflect the way the world should be. A Utopia. A different place.

Kyle Brill

Image Sources

1. "Blueprint Magazine." http://www.blueprintmagazine.co.uk/index.php/architecture/design-your-own-cabanon/ (accessed Jan 9, 2010).

2. "Image: Corbusier at Le Cabanon." http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story_attachment.asp?storycode=3135979&seq=10&type=P&c=2 (accessed Jan 9, 2010).

3. "St. Gall Monastary Plan - Home." St. Gall Monastary Plan : St. Galler Klosterplan.http://www.stgallplan.org/en/index.html (accessed January 9, 2010).

Information Sources:

Jencks, Charles. Le Corbusier and the Tragic View of Architecture. New edition ed. New York: Allen Lane,

1975.

Braunfels, Wolfgang. Monasteries of Western Europe: The Architecture of the Orders. Princeton: Princeton

Up, 1972.

Corbusier, Le. Towards a New Architecture. Conneticut: Praeger, 1972.