Eeny-meeny-miny-mo, Corbusier is first to go!

**jezjustice** · #1 05-25-2021, 05:17 AM

Well I'm very excited - over the past couple of days all the following have arrived from around the world! I keep sort of bouncing up and down. I'm like a kid in a candy store... The first to arrive was Villa Savoye, and since I've not done anything remotely like it before (clean modernist lines, no ornamentation, weird floorplan, monolithic shapes) I decided I should give it a go first.

I've started, and it's not too tough although there are certainly bits that seem like they shouldn't be fiddly... but they are. I think it's testament to how capable an architect Le Corbusier was that his designs seem so simple and yet prove to be quite intricate and clever in so many places. For anyone who doesn't know him, he's basically the godfather of Modernism. He has a lot to answer for on the grand scale designs of tower-block architecture from the 60s and 70s, but his one-off pieces like Villa Savoye and Notre Dame du Haute Chapelle are no doubt masterpieces of ingenuity and refinement and his ideas live on in some of the best buildings of today.

I'll post some more pics shortly.

**jezjustice** · #2 05-25-2021, 05:32 AM

Here's the revolutionary base with its narrow white un-ornamented pillars and curved frontage to allow vehicles to come around to the front and into the garage at the side of the ground floor.

**jezjustice** · #3 05-25-2021, 05:36 AM

The terrace is upstairs in the floating main floor. This is an early example of the open-plan living and wide glass sliding doors that many people today aspire to in their homes - it's taken almost a century to properly sort out thermally efficient glass, leak-resistant flat roof terraces etc. for these to now be more viable for most people to make a reality but this is pretty much the brainchild from which so many others followed... if you wanted to trace the vastness of Corbusier's influence it's a great example.

**jezjustice** · #4 05-26-2021, 02:46 AM

It's turning out to be a really good kit - I very much like the way it's designed and the pieces are fitted together. It indicates really clearly which tabs should be glued in which order so you never need seven hands at the point you've just had a massive splurge of glue that's now running down your forearm and your kid spills his drink over the table you're working at :D

**SCEtoAUX** · #5 05-26-2021, 04:48 AM

That is an interesting house design.
Looks like the model is going together quite well. Good job.

**Mike Stamper** · #6 05-26-2021, 05:27 AM

Looks like a neat job with the build.

Wait till you get to Chambourd - it couldn't be more different from Corbusier !!!!

cheers

**jezjustice** · #7 05-26-2021, 05:32 AM

The last bits have been pretty quick so it has all come together pretty quickly! I think I was desperate to get on to Notre Dame so completed this in record time hehe. Thanks for the comments guys - I'm fairly happy with the finish, albeit that there are always little niggles you have afterwards that never leave you.

As for Chambord, it'll have to wait - I have a feeling Notre Dame will be fiddly as hell!!

**Vermin_King** · #8 05-26-2021, 09:06 AM

What is the red one in the background?

**jezjustice** · #9 05-26-2021, 09:10 AM

Hi Vermin King,

That's Robie House by Frank Lloyd Wright:

Cut & Assemble Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House: A Full-Color Paper Model (Dover Children's Activity Books): Amazon.co.uk: Gillon, Edmund: 9780486253688: Books

A really nice model of an amazing building. Not the easiest to construct, but a nice looking one once it's done.

**Philip** · #10 05-26-2021, 02:38 PM

Really nice piece of work, Jemery. My attempt didn't go so well... If you're interested, Mike's Paper Garage offers a free download of Corbusier's Voiture Minimum in 1:100 scale:

LeCorbusier Voiture Minimum - mikespapergarages Webseite!

Might look cool parked outside.