Milieu, spirit, flesh and fusion in Le Corbusier’s life and work

How can a study of Le Corbusier’s post-war work – the Poème de l’angle droit and Modulor 1 2 throw light on his earlier preoccupations. These works are retrospective confessional. They obsessed with question ‘By what right may I create?’ The former looks for answers in experience latter ‘divine’ world mathematics. From at least 1906, when he bought devoured Edouard Schoré’s Les grands initiés, Corbusier had strong sense predestination conviction that suffering was necessary part voyage to enlightenment. His dualism, belief separation spiritual material worlds, encouraged him view mathematics as ‘hidden world’ spirit. problem, research leading up 1, how reconcile divine proportion human experience. He invariably described passage from worlds terms physical processes smoking, simmering, brewing, giving birth. This idea, clearly one lectures 1929, frequent discussion ‘cosmic’ forces symbolism during 1930s, indicates these ideas were well entrenched before war.