Le Corbusier and the Occult [Hardcover]

J. K. Birksted (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 6, 2009

Revealing the secret sources of Le Corbusier's architecture--concealed by the architect and undiscovered by scholars until now.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hidden sources and ambiguous inspirations abound in the work of famous, highly influential architect Le Corbusier, who reinvented himself in his thirties, mythologizing much of his history. This book takes a robust, unblinking look at the blanks in need of filling, covering "as much about the secret sources of Le Corbusier's architecture-that is, of what he threw away and did not want us to know-as it is about modernist relations to history." As a child, Le Courbusier (then Charles-Édouard Jeanneret) was immersed in Masonic thought (a big part of social life in his Swiss hometown), which elevates the right angle as a symbol of righteousness and life. Le Corbusier's inspiration by, and celebration of, the right angle is a major theme; he referred to his own Poem of the Right Angle representing "not only the foundation of my being but also... of my architecture and of my art." UK scholar Birksted unpacks a wide range of philosophical and aesthetic meanings resonating through Le Courbusier's work. Though it deepens the scholarship considerably, the exhaustive study's meandering narrative makes the material more than a little confusing. Still, the bold connections he makes should hold the interest of art and architecture fans. 177 illus.
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Review

"Birksted performs an important service for the understanding of Le Corbusier. Using sources hitherto ignored, he demonstrates the depth of Le Corbusier's indebtedness to Freemasonry - its configurations, its associations, and its dream of redemption through the arrangement of things and people in space. At a time when modern artists were seeking orientation in Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Blavatsky, Steiner as well as in myth, alchemy, psychology, technology, and atomic physics, Le Corbusier seems to have acknowledged in Freemasonry a comprehensive metaphor of architecture's role in the culture. Birksted's significant and original research confirms Roger Aujame's belief and helps to account for Kaufmann's intuition of a deep continuity between the architectural aspirations of the 18th and 20th centuries."--Peter Carl, Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge

J. K. Birksted teaches at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 424 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (March 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262026481
• ISBN-13: 978-0262026482
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,462,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars This is a draft, not a final product, February 3, 2011

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CatLady88 "CatLady88" (Santa Teresa, NM) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Le Corbusier and the Occult (Hardcover)

Simply put, this is the equivalent of someone's dissertation in draft form. The photos are interesting, but the text is nowhere as sexy as the title makes it sound. It is very dry and academic in nature. Not compelling even for the educated reader. There are numerous grammatical errors.

5.0 out of 5 stars You will hate this book if you want to believe in the innocence of genius, February 26, 2010

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ROROTOKO (rorotoko dot com) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Le Corbusier and the Occult (Hardcover)

"Le Corbusier and the Occult" is on the ROROTOKO list of cutting-edge intellectual nonfiction. Professor Birksted's book interview ran here as the cover feature on February 19, 2010.