Digital Guide

B 4     The Organization of Phenomena

Le Corbusier as Collector

Le Corbusier was also a passionate collector. He affectionately referred to his “collection particulière,” which consisted of a wide range of images and objects. It encompasses thousands of postcards, works of art by acquaintances, antique objects purchased while traveling, and examples of traditional ceramics and African sculpture.

Le Corbusier collected in order to gain knowledge and record what he had seen. The objects in his collection served as sources of inspiration and as an “atlas” of natural, technological, artistic, and architectural phenomena. Many of the objects in his collection appear in his sketches, designs, and texts.

In the 1930s, Le Corbusier increasingly collected natural objects, which he called “objets à réaction poétique.” In his view, these objects held a strong associative power. His interest in the structures found in nature and the principles of growth arose in part from his training at the applied arts school in La Chaux-de-Fonds. It also laid the foundation for the later development of an “organic” formal language in Le Corbusier’s architecture. 

1 Postcard collection

Le Corbusier collected postcards throughout his life. At the time of his death, he owned 2,300 postcards of historical sites, buildings, impressive structures, natural phenomena, and folkloric scenes. The postcards served as a source of inspiration for both his architecture and art. They offered him a wealth of visual impressions from different parts of the world. These images helped him develop new ideas and integrate elements from various cultures and landscapes into his designs. 

2 Extraits film LC

In the early 1930s, Le Corbusier acquired a 16mm film camera. However, instead of making films, he used it as a camera to take film stills. These sometimes abstract-looking shots, mostly taken during his holidays on the Côte d’Azur, reveal his view of nature and the interplay of forms.

3 Nature drawings by L’Eplattenier

The study of nature occupied Le Corbusier from a young age. His teacher at the art school in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the Art Nouveau artist Charles L’Eplattenier, emphasised the study of nature in his teaching. L’Eplattenier believed that artists should study the inner structures and invisible order of nature, make them visible, and translate them into art. Drawings from this period by the young Charles-Edouard Jeanneret have survived; they focus on the structure of natural objects such as flowers or pine cones.

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