Word: corbu
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Corbu was cozy about his plans for the center, borrowed a line from Wright: "It must grow from the inside out. The concept must be biological, not static. A beautiful seashell is not a façade; it is a shell. This is the essence of architecture." This left Harvard wondering whether it was getting a structure as beautiful as a conch or as homely as a clam. But as it would be his only showpiece in the U.S., Corbu could be counted on to make it impressive...
...Rohe, 73, whose skin-and-bones style (Manhattan's Seagram building) has spread the vogue for glass-curtain walls across the U.S., and France's prickly, Swiss-born Le Corbusier, 72, whose dramatic structures (Ronchamp Chapel) qualify as large-scale sculptures in concrete. Last week "Corbu," who has long been rankled by the fact that U.S. clients have fought shy of his turbulent genius, landed his first U.S. commission-a $1,500,000 Visual Arts Center for Harvard University...
Surrounding himself with all the secrecy of a high diplomatic emissary, Corbu flew in from Paris in person to make a four-day inspection of the site (adjacent to the Fogg Art Museum), was given convincing proof that his absence had long been noted. Architecture students staged an impromptu reception, complete with 16-ft. effigies of Corbu's stylized Modulor figure, cheered him to the rafters. Exclaimed the delighted Corbu: "What spirit! Une atmosphere morale...
...week's end the deluge of cables and letters was having its effect. Malraux's ministry announced that the villa would almost certainly be spared. The Ministry of Education was urged to find another site. Le Corbusier himself? He appeared a trifle wearied by it all. Said Corbu: "Houses can die as well as men, but if there's a way of saving them, so much the better...
...judges have openly defied Corbu's decree that all vehicular traffic approach the building on a sunken drive. Instead, they drive up on the paths the architect laid out for pedestrians, and park their cars under the great arches that rise to the building's parasol roof. Le Corbusier indignantly photographed the grease spots left by the cars beneath his splendid arches, and snapped: "What sort of judges are these who do not obey the traffic laws?" Five of the eight judges decided that they did not like the abstract cubist tapestries Le Corbusier designed for their courtrooms...