“The house is a machine for living in.

”
-LE CORBUSIER

ADITYA GOKROO | Theory & Method SEM-4 | 170BARCHI129

In the 1920s, Corbusier published his own influential book, Toward an

Architecture, in which he famously wrote “Une maison est une machine-à-
habiter” (“A house is a machine for living in”). It reflected his functionalist vision
for the future of domestic design. The phrase can be understood in context with
the generation and the activities evolving at that time. In my opinion it seems to
suggest that a house does have a mechanic aesthetic to it.

This phrase appeared in his writing “Toward A New Architecture” to illustrate his
argument that architecture should be designed in a way that refers to the
engineers’ working methods in problem solving and that it should be designed in
accordance to standards The possibility that house ought to be planned after a
similar rationale as the machine has prompted the foundation of
institutionalization in engineering, which Le Corbusier then additionally further
stretched out into the institutionalization at the city scale. This paper endeavors
to develop Le Corbusier's concept of machine by especially looking at how it
might portray the manner in which engineering satisfies its practical reason for
human prosperity.
For Le Corbusier, the machine is an illustration for design, through which the
possibility of usefulness was built up. The motivation behind making design as a
machine for living is accomplished by setting up a standard, with the essential
objective to make request in human life and living space. 'The key current rule for
Le Corbusier was capacity, and this is the place the machine representation is so
significant. The possibility of the house as a machine is that it satisfies a
particular capacity.' comparable to design, Le Corbusier underscored that so as
to satisfy its capacities, engineering ought to be reliably guided by certain
standard. The foundation of standard is viewed as significant on the grounds that
it would permit human to live better in an all the more precise way, in this way it
turns into a significant establishment from which great engineering could rise.
The premise of characterizing the standard was the usefulness. The possibility of
engineering as a machine showed the significance of science and rationale as a
premise of structuring design. Le Corbusier alluded to the manner in which
designers work in making planes, vehicles and different machines; every issue
was expressed unequivocally, and hence could be reacted fittingly and
accurately by the arrangements. This is the manner in which engineering ought
to be

made - through coherent thinking and foundation of principles. The models were
not built up discretionarily however through sensible and logical thinking.The idea
of standard in architecture was developed by Le Corbusier through his project
Maison Citrohan. The name Citrohan referred to Citroên, suggesting the idea that
the house should be designed and produced as automobiles.12 Maison Citrohan
was produced as a prototype of housing with standard building elements (Figure
1). The windows, doors and other elements should follow certain dimensions.
The idea of standardization was further realized in many other projects such as
the housing at Pessac, where the standardization of building elements became a
method to achieve cheap and quick production of houses. All the dimensions of
the doors, metal windows, roller blinds, staircases and fittings were all
standardized and incorporated into the modular design process.

The most often criticism against the idea of architecture as machine is that of the
tendency of the machine to dehumanize. This is particularly attributed to the
standards that tend to assume the same needs for every human. Standardization
of architecture would lead to the standardization of human life. In establishing the
standards, Le Corbusier took position in understanding human needs within the
context of modern life. This was done mainly by criticizing the spatial qualities

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that according to him were not appropriate to the modern living. He argued that
the old way of living was no longer appropriate: ‘the modern world we live in
which has changed the whole manner in which humans should relate to the built
environment.’ Thus architecture should also be designed in accordance to the
new way of living, which Le Corbusier defined as the way of living that was more
efficient and healthier.

With the new style, architects could open whole wall surfaces to light and air. The
establishment of the standard for comfort was also developed in relation to the
ergonomics of the furniture design. The idea of architecture as machine for living
was extended to the furniture– ‘Chairs are made to sit in.’ His works indicated his
attempts to state the problem of comfort and then to develop a logical solution to
respond to such needs of comfort.

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