L'Algérie de Le Corbusier : les voyages de 1931

"Some day, the traffic of ideas between North Africa and Le Corbusier should form the subject of a separate study". Quote from "Le Corbusier - Elemente einer Synthese" by Stanislaus von Moos. Frauenfeld. Verlag Huber, 1968. Chapter 1 The motivations behind a young man's overwhelming desire to visit the Orient are presented. In Le Corbusier's case, it was the idea of the "Grand Tour" which at that time was a normal way of completing one's education, and this long journey brought him to a fundamental conclusion: In Architecture, everything has continually to be started afresh. And this belief opened a door which led Le Corbusier to become "The Architect of the Century" (title of an exhibition of his work in London 1987). Chapter 2 The demonstrable empathy between Le Corbusier and the Orient was already apparent in the early years at La Chaux-de-Fonds. This was later to be of great influence on the part taken by his education and development. The most important facts of his voyages of discovery of the Orient are as follows: 1911 : Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece 1931 : Morocco and above all Algeria 1951 : India, in particular the Punjab Chapter 3 and 4 Le Corbusier's first journeys to North Africa left the strongest impressions. In spring 1931, he visited Algiers, both the modern city and the old part of the town, the famous Casbah. He gave two lectures. In the following summer, he visited the oasis in the valley of M'Zab. For the already famous architect, the meeting with a 1000 year old civilisation became the highlight of the so called "Second Journey to the Orient" (Francesco Tentori). Both these chapters describe historical events. The problem with this is summed up by David Lowenthal's metaphor "The past is a foreign Country". Thus the author's task is doubly difficult, since the past, already a foreign country metaphorically speaking, is to be described in one that is so literally as well. However, the French Louis Miquel, Edmond Charlot and Jean de Maisonseul, who have lived in Algeria, were friends of Le Corbusier and thus able to provide useful insights, for which the author is grateful. Le Corbusier's view of Algeria from the inside with, – his "Eyes that see", – was greatly helped by his knowledge of Islamic culture. If one overlays the impressions of earlier travelers with those of Le Corbusier and also of his successors, a rough outline of contours emerges, which can provide a farely accurate picture of his true relationship with that country. This country, for which he elaborated many major projects – unfortunately never built, – yet gave him much. Chapter 5 The main subject in the last part of the thesis is Le Corbusier's admiration of traditional architecture. The construction plans of the Casbah surveyed by students from the school of Architecture in Algiers reveal the historic area of the city on the edge of ruin. The houses are quite unknown. Grateful thanks are due to Professor Delhoum for his cooperation. Concerning the M'Zab, his