Charles Edouard Jannaray was born in the small mountain town of La Rochefort, near the French border in Switzerland. My father is a watchmaker and my mother is a piano teacher. This little boy who walked out of a Swiss town later changed his name to Le Corbusier (1887-1965),? He is one of the most famous architects of the 20th century, considered the leader of the modern architectural movement, the main advocate of modernist architecture, and an important founder of machine aesthetics. He is known as the "flag bearer of modern architecture" and the "father of functionalism". His works and ideas have had a profound impact on the urban landscape of the 20th century and the lifestyle of contemporary people. These works showcase his unique insights and innovative practices in contemporary architecture and urban planning. The works designed and built by Le Corbusier throughout his life are distributed in multiple countries and are highly sought after by tourists. Many of them have become historical architectural heritage sites and pilgrimage sites for architecture enthusiasts. I still remember the scene when Le Corbusier came to Massachusetts Institute of Technology to work, and the two days I spent with him can be said to be the most important two days of my study period This is the recollection and evaluation of Le Corbusier by Chinese architect I.M. Pei. Le Corbusier's architectural works and design ideas have inspired several generations of architects, and many contemporary architects will mention Corbusier's profound influence on themselves. 1. The declaration of the new building showcases the aesthetics of machines. We all live and work in buildings, so what is the basic function of residential buildings—— A house is a living machine. More than a hundred years ago, Le Corbusier gave such an answer. Automobiles, airplanes, ships, and other new modes of transportation are constantly changing people's production and lifestyle. However, at that time, the construction of traditional residential buildings could no longer meet the social demands of large-scale production and the continuous population gathering in cities. In fact, Le Corbusier integrated the spirit of machines with the new technologies, ideas, and lifestyles that emerged in the context of his time in the exploration of the theory that "housing is a living machine", forming a new logic for housing design. At the same time, he also respects human health and feelings, and regards nature and history as his teachers. On the one hand, he explores how to organically combine nature, health, sports, and machine spirit. On the other hand, he delves into the prototypes of historical architecture and explores the similarities between the mathematical principles, eternal values, accuracy, and machine spirit of classical architecture. On a flat lawn, several white columns support a simple white square box with horizontal long windows. The internal structure is simple and can be freely combined and changed, and the roof garden is neat and beautiful... This seemingly simple building is the Savoy Villa, which has influenced the entire history of modern architecture? It is one of the most practical buildings based on the theory that 'housing is a living machine'. The Savoy Villa is located in Poissy, a suburb of Paris. It was designed by Le Corbusier in 1928 and completed in 1930, using a reinforced concrete structure. This building is a very complete functionalist work, and its design fully embodies Le Corbusier's "Five Principles of New Architecture": elevated ground floor, rooftop garden, free plan, horizontal long windows, and free facade. These characteristics make Savoy Villa more flexible in structure, modern and open in appearance?. This building can almost be called a museum of modern architectural language, where many elements with revolutionary spirit are integrated, such as new lifestyles, industrialized furniture, new architectural principles, open living rooms, and closeness to nature. It is a successful exploration of industrialized housing at that time. The design of this building emphasizes the logical relationship between function and form, with the use of function as the design starting point, opposing excessive decoration, and designing external forms from the perspective of internal space?. The design of the Savoy Villa is simple and practical, with a simple outline and a freely adjustable interior space. It is like a finely crafted and hollowed out geometric object, with a complex layout of space according to residential needs. This design concept reflects Le Corbusier's machine aesthetics viewpoint, which advocates for simple geometric forms and believes that simple forms are the most beautiful. The design concept and architectural style of Savoy Villa have promoted the process of architectural industrialization and standardization, emphasizing the economy and universal adaptability of the building. This design concept not only meets residential needs in terms of functionality, but also pursues simplicity and aesthetics in form?. After World War II, the Savoy Villa was listed as a French cultural heritage site. The "Five Principles of New Architecture" can be said to have a profound impact on the development of modern architecture. Nowadays, high-rise and multi story residential buildings mostly adopt elevated design for the ground floor, which includes underground parking lots and storage layers; Rooftop gardens are not difficult to discover in high-rise buildings today; The flexible and versatile interior space of most commercial buildings is also a characteristic of modern interior space design; The horizontal long windows evolved into french window and glass curtain walls; The flexible and versatile exterior facade is a fundamental element for showcasing individuality in architecture. In 1923, his new book "Towards New Architecture" was published, which believed that modernism was a geometric spirit, a construction spirit, and a comprehensive spirit, and proposed the viewpoint that "housing is a living machine". He stated in the book: "Modern society has reached the conclusion that building a new home for humanity will be the decisive factor in determining the characteristics of a civilization. With the birth of a new form of housing, the machine age will enter the second stage, which is the stage of universal construction." This viewpoint has strongly promoted the development of modernist architecture. At that time, it was the end of World War I and Europe suffered tremendous material destruction. Large scale post-war reconstruction was a social necessity. After the baptism of war, many architects began to value the basic functions of houses. Against this backdrop, Le Corbusier captured the core issues of architectural design in that era and explored how to industrialize housing in a unique and systematic way. This concept is also related to Le Corbusier's childhood experiences - he was exposed to watchmaking craftsmanship from a young age in La Rochefort, Switzerland, and almost became a watchmaker?. His early experience in watchmaking gave him a deep understanding of machine manufacturing, which influenced his architectural design and artistic creation. He emphasizes precision and functionality in architecture, and his architectural works often demonstrate a high degree of geometric precision and attention to detail, which embodies a machine aesthetic concept. 2. The exploration of ideal architecture accurately matches the scale of the human body and the architectural space. Humans are the scale of all things. How should the buildings we live in be constructed to be more suitable for human use? During World War II, most architects were forced to "close the market", and Le Corbusier was no exception. He stayed in Paris, France and his daily work mainly consisted of writing and painting. During this period, he designed a reasonable modulus related to human body proportions, which can optimize the user experience in architectural design. Architecture is frozen music, and for Le Corbusier, both music and architecture are essentially a matter of measurement. Le Corbusier proposed his own architectural design method in his "Law of Modulus", which is based on the human scale and forms a series of proportional sequences close to the golden ratio as the measurement standard for architectural design. He selected four control points: the hanging arm, navel, top of the head, and extended arm, with distances of 0.86 meters, 1.13 meters, 1.83 meters, and 2.26 meters from the ground, respectively. He envisioned a "modular human" with a height of 1.83 meters, using the golden ratio to calculate the height of various parts of the human body. For example, the hip height when comfortably seated is 0.27 meters, multiplied by the golden ratio of 1.618, which is exactly equal to the hip height of 0.43 meters when sitting in a normal position?. These proportional relationships are applied in his architectural design to ensure a perfect match between the building space and human scale. Modulus theory? It is an important contribution of his application of mathematical proportions and principles of ergonomics in architectural design. The core idea is to optimize the matching between architectural design and human body size through mathematical proportions, in order to achieve optimal comfort and functionality. He applied modular theory to several famous architectural designs, such as the Marseille Apartments and urban planning in Chandigarh, India. The design of Marseille apartments fully considers the living needs of residents, optimizing spatial layout and functional configuration through modular theory, making the living experience more comfortable and efficient?. The Marseille Apartment is located in the suburbs of Marseille, France. It is a comprehensive building that began construction in 1949 and was completed in 1952. The building can accommodate 337 households with a total of 1600 people, mainly for residential purposes. There are shops and public facilities on the seventh and eighth floors, and a kindergarten and amusement park on the roof?. Not bound by norms. It is built for people based on their scale Le Corbusier commented on his designed Marseille apartment, which stands in a huge garden bathed in the Mediterranean sun. The ground floor of the building is elevated, and the ground is dedicated to pedestrians, allowing them to freely pass through. The building has a large number of overlapping balconies, with bright colors such as red, green, and yellow painted on the sides of the balconies, forming a sharp contrast with the rough concrete and presenting a unique visual effect. The overall design of the Marseille apartment strictly follows the modular theory. For example, the height, spacing, depth, etc. of a building are based on the numerical values in the modular sequence. Indoor furniture and facilities, such as tables, chairs, beds, cabinets, etc., are designed according to modular theory. The dimensions and proportions of all design elements are coordinated with the overall dimensions of the building, making the entire living environment both practical and aesthetically pleasing. Through the application of modular theory, standardized production of building components and furniture in Marseille apartments can be achieved, which helps to improve production efficiency and quality. The residential units of Marseille Apartments are compact and have extremely high utilization rates. Each apartment room can meet the basic living needs of users. The combination of residential units can adapt to mass production and reduce costs through prefabrication. This design method is similar to the design of boutique hotels today, which maximizes the number of living units and improves space utilization efficiency through optimized room design within a limited space. Le Corbusier and Einstein had a meeting in 1946, during which they had a cross-border conversation and admired each other. Regarding Le Corbusier's modular theory, Einstein stated that this proportional system is prone to producing beautiful forms and difficult to produce ugly forms. Le Corbusier's modular theory has had a profound impact on modern design, not only optimizing the spatial layout and functional configuration of modern architecture, but also promoting the industrialization process of architectural design. This new architectural design language makes buildings more in line with human usage habits and enhances the comfort of living and working?. 3. The embryonic form of modern cities? According to the United Nations' World Urbanization Prospects, it is estimated that by 2050, the total population of the Earth will reach 9 billion people, and the proportion of global urban population will reach 66%. How should our cities be designed to better accommodate such a large population, and how can we make life in the city better... For 21st century cities, the most important spiritual wealth of Le Corbusier is his creative exploration in terms of living patterns. He realized earlier than his contemporaries that it was necessary to cope with the influx of millions of people into the city every year at a super large scale