4 unités LC - Architecture Insights

22. A cut-out of the ‘Modulor
Man’ along the commercial level
in the ‘Unité d’habitation’.of
Marseille
Einstein, creating an association that aided significantly in
establishing his reputation as a man of a certain scientific and
mathematical intellect.
But although the ‘Modulor’ received much attention as an
intellectual theory, 11 it did not have the practical success that Le
Corbusier had hoped for. Architects and engineers outside of his
studio were reluctant to use it, and it never took off as the ‘univeral
tool’ he thought it would become. Instead, the ‘Modulor’ may be
considered more as a symbol of Le Corbusier’s philosophical ideals
– an emblem of his attempts to translate the beauty of nature into
architecture through seemingly rational and mathematical means.
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23. Imprints of the ‘Modulor
Man’ on the concrete facade of
the ‘Unité d’habitation’ in
Marseille.
However, the ‘Modular Man’ not only represented Le Corbuiser’s
rational mathematical side, as it in fact became equally
representative of his emotional artistic side. For the ‘Modulor Man’
was a signature of himself as the architect, imprinted or painted on
the surface of his works for more superficial and decorative
purposes. The ‘Modular Man’ features in each of the ‘Unités’ (as
the works that ‘exemplify this scale’ the most), from small painted
glass works, to full scale murals, timber cut-outs and concrete
impressions.