This new mode of living derived from a new spirit defining the industrial age, demanding a rebirth of architecture based on function and a new aesthetic based on pure form. Each essay dismisses the contemporary trends of eclecticism and art deco, replacing them with architecture that was meant to be more than a stylistic experiment rather, an architecture that would fundamentally change how humans interacted with buildings. The polemical book contains seven essays, all but one of which were published in the magazine L’Esprit Nouveau beginning in 1921. The architectural historian Reyner Banham wrote that its influence was “beyond that of any other architectural work published in this century to date”, and that unparalleled influence has continued, unabated, into the 21st century.

The book has had a lasting effect on the architectural profession, serving as the manifesto for a generation of architects, a subject of hatred for others, and unquestionably an important work of architectural theory. Vers une architecture, recently translated into English as Toward an Architecture but commonly known as Towards a New Architecture after the 1927 translation by Frederick Etchells, is a collection of essays written by Le Corbusier (Charles-Edouard Jeanneret), advocating for and exploring the concept of modern architecture.

An armchair is a machine for sitting in and so on. Baths, sun, hot-water, cold-water, warmth at will, conservation of food, hygiene, beauty in the sense of good proportion. The influence of these design points can be seen incorporated in the works of other architects Mies van der Rohe, Philp Johnson, and many current architectural designs still today.A house is a machine for living in. This functional vision for residential design was as he called it “a machine for living in”. The new modular design system allowed for an “infinite number of combinations of plans”.

These five points would dictate his architectural design style for the rest of his career and the careers of many other architects. Written in 1927, Le Corbusier’s Cinq Points de l’Architecture Moderne or The Five Points of a New Architecture may have been the basis of the architectural design concept behind one of his most famous works, Villa Savoy (1929-1931). Corbu’s faith in technology and heavy industry helped create what many would later call “the machine age”. His early writings and buildings glorified modernism and praised modernity as the key to recovery from World War I. Perhaps the most influential architect of the 20th century, Le Corbusier not only shaped modern architecture but helped to define modernity and the International Style.

Corbusier towards a new architecture