Le Corbusier : an atlas of modern landscapes /

This catalogue records the only comprehensive exhibition that the Museum of Modern Art has ever staged and published on Le Corbusier's works. It was created by two well-established architectural historians, Barry Bergdoll and Jean-Louis Cohen, marking a fruitful, continuing collaboration between MoMA and NYU's Institute of Fine Arts, where both men teach and curate. Key words in the subtitle are "atlas" and "landscape." First, Le Corbusier was the "Atlas" of modern design, from furniture to urbanism; second, he profoundly conceived his designs in terms of landscapes. Le Corbusier practiced in all continents except Australia and Antarctica. This book charts all of his built works by continent, including his paintings and writings, which he sold and published to support and promote himself. It cites the torrents of scholarship that have appeared on his work over decades. A real electrical current runs through the book's short essays by 30 international scholars. Much of this material is drawn from earlier published books and scholarly studies in architecture journals. Here it appears in a single publication, including cogent photographs by noted architectural photographer Richard Pare, with thoughtful interpretations of Le Corbusier's purist/cubist paintings and murals, which governed so much of his work. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above; general readers. P. S. Kaufman emeritus, Boston Architectural College