Corbusier's Villa Savoye
"Geometry is the language of man... he has discovered rhythms, rhythms apparent to the eye and clear in their relations with one another... They resound in man by an organic inevitability, the same fine inevitability which causes the tracing out of the Golden Section by children, old men, savages, and the learned."
Le Corbusier, Le Modulor
The diagrams show Corbusier's obsession with regulating lines in every aspect of Villa Savoye from the use of the golden section to circle arcs to the diagonal grid.
Villa Savoye is Purist to the extreme–a stark white floating box pierced by symmetrical horizontal window openings. The house is devoid of decoration and visual interest is created by the play of vertical columns, the linear horizontal rectangle, and the cylinders that dominate the roof in direct contrast to the right angles of the structure.
Front Elevation and the Golden Section
The frot elevation of Villa Savoye can be described by two golden section rectangles side-by-side.
Relationship of the Villa Savoye to Circle Arcs
The pleasing proportions of the building are due to the harmonious relationships of all of the structural elements. A large circle arc from post to post, shown in red touches the top of the building. Two smaller circle arcs from edge to edge, shown in blue, touch the tops of the window openings.
Villa Savoye's Relationship to the Square
While the rectangular structure of the house can be readily described with golden section rectangles, the front elevation, including the extending roof structure, can be enclosed by two squares.These squares extend from the pillars to the top most point on the house, with the center of the squares landing at the break between window openings. Further the body of the house can be described by six tangent squares side-by-side.
Visual Balance
The Villa Savoye is balanced by the protruding top structure at the left with the solid entry structure below right, The window openings are symmetrical and and provide a strong horizontal plane with divisions that are rhythmical, diagonal, and engaging.
Villa Savoye & Diagonal Grid
A diagonal grid imposed on the front elevation with the squares reveals a series of relationships between the structure of the house and it's regulating lines.
