Le Corbusier, the most influential architect of the twentieth century, died in 1965 only weeks after completing Mise au point, his last opus in the form of autobiographical reflections. Published posthumously, it is a curious and cryptic text, yet it sheds an important light on the great artist’s mind and temperament. This book is the first English translation of Mise au point, the first illustrated critical bilingual edition, and the first attempt to integrate this document into Le Corbusier’s life as a whole, especially its final embittered years.

In an insightful introduction and in annotations, Ivan Žaknić shows how the themes of the text echo the contradictions of Le Corbusier’s personality: determined to rebuke society and yet constantly courting its approval; devoted to serving the public and yet returning again and again to a solitary monastic ideal; distrusting professional institutions, the academy, and the government and yet stung by their willingness to pass him by. Žaknić links the themes of this text with Le Corbusier’s passion for certain literary works, especially Don Quixote, and emphasizes the architect’s many philosophical formulas for coming to terms with death—first that of his beloved wife and then his own. Including a revealing interview granted by Le Corbusier in the final months of his life, the volume is important for students of Le Corbusier’s art, architecture, and urban planning, as well as by those interested in modernism and twentieth-century culture.

Author

Le Corbusier, Ivan Žaknić (Editor)

PublisherYale University Press

Print publication date August 1997 (in print)

Print ISBN 9780300063530

EISBN 9780300226898

Illustrations 124

Print Status in print

Publisher (out of print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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