Based on the measurements of an individual man, Corbusier’s Modular is a scale of proportionality. In his Modular 2, Corbusier includes a quote from M. Gabriel Dessus: “I have just read ‘The Modular’... since the purpose of architecture is to house human beings, it is necessary that the dimensions of the elements of constructions, meant to be seen at the same time as the human being, should be in a relationship with it that is aesthetically correct’ – in other words, the series chosen must contain the principal dimensions of an ‘average’ man.” Corbusier took inspiration from studies by Leonardo da Vinci and Vitruvius in establishing his own “average” man. Combining this with the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci sequence, he relates the proportions of a building to the human functioning inside it.
The Modular man is represented on paper as a figure 2.2 m in height with one arm upraised, put inside two 1.1 by 1.1 m squares, superimposed on each other. A third square is set astride the first two, creating a place for the right angle which should help determine where to put the square. The Modular man adorns many of Corbusier’s buildings as a “signature” of sorts, and the large upraised hand becomes a recurring motif in sketches and designs like his Chandigarh open hand sculpture.
The Cabanon corresponds to Corbusier’s writings about the Modular in several ways. Firstly, he talks of the use and application of the Modulor to architecture in regards to cells, either single or in combination to form apartments or small houses. Corbusier was also fascinated with packaging and containers. The state of modern living was sad to him: “we live in an era of solidarity, not yet, alas, solidarity of feeling but of the bare bones of economic and technical method”. The idea he derived from such inspiration was two-tiered. In the first, focusing on packaging itself, Corbusier saw that optimizing the exterior, rather than the interior, would be of primary importance. This was his system of ‘isotropic’ stowage. For the second part, Corbusier focused on units of living as contained compartments. In Modular 2, Corbusier describes his Cabanon as the basic, ideal unit for such living: “Thanks to the Modular, the venture was completely sure”. Using prefabricated components assembled quickly on site and proportioned to a certain system, the Cabanon was the perfect example of one Modular unit, which later would be joined with others to make a collection in the Unité d’Habitation of Marseilles.
-Rachel Cohen Murison and Lauren Tom
Image Sources:
1. "Le Corbusier: Le Cabanon 1887-1865." http://www.borxu.com/corbu/html/modular.html (accessed Jan 16, 2010)
Information Sources:
"Iconeye." http://www.iconeye.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3684:le-corbusiers-cabanon (accessed Jan 16, 2010).
"Le Corbusier's Cabanon on the French Riviera." http://trifter.com/europe/france/le-corbusiers-cabanon-on-the-french-riviera/ (accessed Jan 16, 2010).
Le Corbusier. Le Modular and other buildings and projects, 1944-1945. New York: Garland, 1983.
Le Corbusier. My work. Translated by James Palmes. Introduction by Maurice Jardot. London: Architectural Press, 1960.
Le Corbusier. The Modulor: a harmonious measure to the human scale universally applicable to architecture and mechanics. Translated by Peter de Francia and Anna Bostock. London: Faber and Faber, 1961.
Le Corbusier. Modulor I and II. Translated by Peter de Francia and Anna Bostock. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1980.
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