Le Corbusier, Part One 1887-1929

Produced to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Swiss architect, town-planner, painter, sculptor and poet Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, known as Le Corbusier, this documentary is the first in the world to have been post-produced entirely in digital video. Moreover, the computer and 3-D techniques employed make it possible to visualize, in a realistic way, projects that the architect was unable to complete in his lifetime: his famous City of Three Million Inhabitants(1922) for instance, and the Voisin plan in Paris (1925). Twelve minutes of the work are devoted to the simulation of in situ scale models of the architect's most ambitious projects. This three-part documentary, based primarily on interviews granted to local radio stations by Le Corbusier in the 1950s, lets the artist speak for himself about his controversial 40-year career. Several previously unreleased archival documents, filmed architecture courses and 16mm pictures taken by the artist increase the viewer's understanding of the life and work of one of the greatest architects of our century. The first part focuses on the development of Le Corbusier's philosophy and work from the earliest days up to the Villa Savoye.

© 1998-2008 The Roland Collection & Pira Intl.