El Libro abierto: sistemas de representación arquitectónica en el libro Gesamtes Werk - Oeuvre complète. Le Corbusier - Pierre Jeanneret 1910-1929.

• Main Author: Velásquez H., Victor Hugo
• Other Authors: Martínez Mindeguía, Francisco
• Format: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya 2012
• Subjects: 72 - Arquitectura
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10803/97243

The aim of this thesis is to study the book LE CORBUSIER UND PIERRE JEANNERET, IHR GESAMTES WERK VON 1910-1929, originally published in German in 1929 and reissued in 1937 as LE CORBUSIER ET PIERRE JEANNERET, ŒUVRE COMPLÈTE 1910-1929. The book brings together in one place some of his first projects, the ones he had planned and built at that point, and would later become the first volume of his complete works, a collection of eight volumes which covers much of his work as an architect and town planner over a period of 55 years (1910 -1965). From the time of the publication of the first volume onwards, the collection then becomes the main reference, the storage receptacle, the documentary source and the graphic support for the dissemination of his projects. The thesis aims to analyse the book in two distinct parts, differentiated by the figure of the closed and the open book. In the first part we study the closed book, that is, the book as an object in itself. It is an investigation into the origins of the book, the circumstances that led to its development and the people involved in this process, both the original 1929 edition and the reissued version of 1937. Formal considerations related to the format and typesetting are discussed, and a search for the book¿s precedents is undertaken, firstly from the point of view of Le Corbusier himself, as the prolific author he was becoming, with considerable and growing experience in the production of books and journal articles written to disseminate his architectural work. After this, the editorial context of the period will be examined in greater detail, through the study of previous and contemporary publications which might serve as a reference point, in particular those which contain drawings and/or other graphic information on his projects. The thesis also examines the books on architecture or on the works of prominent contemporary architects of the 1920s, a period of particular importance in the emergence and consolidation of modern architecture in Europe, and one in which publications played an important role. In the second part, the book is opened, and viewed from a highly specific perspective, that of architectural representation. First of all, the drawing of perspective, which is considered to provide key structural documentation on the book¿s content, is analysed. With this in mind, a specific methodology is proposed as part of the analysis: with the starting point of the technical reconstruction of the drawings, hypotheses were formed regarding the processes by which they were built, the possible intentions of the artist and the measures required to communicate these intentions. The thesis goes on to examine other systems, such as axonometric graphics, photography and photomontage, before highlighting the differences in the systems of representation used for three types of project: a) theoretical studies, in which Le Corbusier¿s main postulates in the fields of architecture and town planning, developed primarily for the exhibitions of 1922 and 1925, are outlined; b) constructed projects where the use of photography complements the drawing; and c) large-scale projects developed from 1927 onwards, by which time the workshop had at its disposal more staff and more orders. In order to reach some conclusions, the coherence and effectiveness of such systems and geometrical procedures are interpreted in the light of certain theories of the psychology of perception, and also bearing in mind the architect's own ideas.