ARTH283 Flashcards
Athens Charter:
Document of urbanism developed by CIAM (International Congress of Modern Architecture) in 1933. Published by Le Corbusier in 1943.
balustrade:
Railing supported by posts, urns, or miniature pillars.
bloc a redents:
Linear block of apartments with set backs developed by Le Corbusier for his Contemporary City (1922). Their stepping profile is reminiscent of French baroque palaces. The blocks possess collective services for recreation and domestic care.
clerestory
Upper level windows in a wall that rises above adjoining roofs.
entablature:
Horizontal members supported by columns. Major constituent parts are the architrave, cornice, and frieze.
Five Points of Modern Architecture:
Le Corbusier’s formulation of architectural principles derived from the potentials of the concrete frame. They are the pilotis beneath the house, the roof garden on top, the free plan inside the house, the free facades outside, and strip windows.
free facade (or plan):
In both cases, the wall is free of structural constaints and supports no weight other than its own.
golden section
(also called golden mean): A ratio between two portions of a line or between the two dimensions of a rectangle, in which the lesser of the two is to the greater as the greater is to the sum of both. A:B = B:A + B.It is approximately equal to .616
hipped roof:
A roof that slopes inwards on all four sides
immeuble villa (villa apartment):
A perimeter apartment block from Le Corbusier’s Contemporary City in which each dwelling is a maisonnette, a two story apartment with adjoining garden. The organization of each apartment derives from the Maison Citrohan. The block has an interior shared garden and collective housekeeping services and facilities.
Maison Citrohan:
One of Le Corbusier’s prototypical dwellings intended
for mass production. There are several versions of this house, some with pilotis. All of them are free-standing rectangular (double square) boxes with larger industrial sash windows at the front and primarily blank side walls. The plan is organized around a double-height salon with sleeping balcony.
Maison Dom-ino:
Le Corbusier’s formulation of the reinforced concrete frame, characterized by its smooth slabs without expressed beams and straight columns without capitals. The columns are set in from the edge of the slab. Bay and cantilever widths are determined by rules of quadrature and the golden section.
objet-type:
Anonymous object evolved through mass production to a perfected standard.
piloti(s)
Le Corbusier’s term for ground-level columns that support a building raised above them. The extension of piles (in French pilots) above the ground for the purpose of supporting a raised building so that the ground level is left open
Purism:
Artistic movement defined in 1916 in reaction to Cubism, with the intent of restoring the integrity of the object to still life painting. In mature form its spatial structure resembled that of synthetic cubism. Generalized as a cultural aesthetic, it called for the evolution and refinement of type objects to a perfected standard.
