1952-1956: A worldwide success
At the dawn of his sixty-fifth birthday, Le Corbusier is at a new turning point in his professional career. Although the agency at 35 rue de Sèvres was still very busy, with new commissions for Rezé-les-Nantes, the Ronchamp chapel and the Unité d’habitation in Berlin, Le Corbusier had set up new working arrangements to give himself the time he needed to devote fully to the Indian commission for Chandigarh. In Paris, André Wogenscky was appointed head of the agency. In Chandigarh, Pierre Jeanneret was entrusted with the task of directing the immense construction site of the new city.
During this period, marked by numerous stays in the Punjab, the Cap-Martin refuge became the ideal place to rest and distance oneself from worldly affairs, as Le Corbusier loved to recharge his batteries in all simplicity with his friend Rebutato.
If this period is well understood in terms of architectural projects, dashed hopes, exhibitions, works and pictorial creations, the fact remains that the story of his far-flung epics cannot hide his concerns about the deteriorating health of his wife Yvonne.
1952
- Construction of Maisons Jaoul
- Beginning of the study of the Unité d’habitation de Rezé
- Inauguration of the Cité Radieuse in Marseille
- Eugène Claudius-Petit, Minister of Reconstruction and Urban Planning, presents Le Corbusier with the insignia of Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur on the roof terrace in Marseille.
- Tapestry exhibition at Galerie Denise René
1953
- Start of projects for the Couvent de La Tourette in Eveux-sur-l’Arbresle, the Maison du Brésil at the Cité internationale universitaire in Paris
- Le Corbusier starts producing enamels with Jean Martin, in Luynes
- Œuvre Plastique exhibition at the Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris
- From July 19 to 25, ASCORAL organizes CIAM IX in Aix-en-Provence, on the theme of the Study of the Human Habitat.
1954
- Construction of the Millowner’s association building in Ahmedabad and Villa Curutchet in La Plata
- L’Œuvre Plastique exhibition at the Kunstmuseum in Bern, Switzerland
- Publication of Une petite Maison
1955
- June 10, inauguration of the Chapelle Notre-Dame du Haut in Ronchamp
- Inauguration of the High Court
- Beginning of the study of the Unité d’habitation de Briey-en-Forêt
- Publication of Modulor 2, Poème de l’angle droit and Architecture du bonheur
- Delivery of Villa Sarabhai
- Bhakra-Dam
- In November, Le Corbusier travels to Japan to study the Museum of Western Art
1956
- Achievements of the Ahmedabad Museum and Villa Shodhan
- Beginning of the study of the Unité d’habitation de Berlin
- Publication of Les plans de Paris Le Corbusier 1956-1922, de Ronchamp by Cahiers Forces Vives
- Exhibition De la Peintures at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon
- CIAM 10, Dubrovnik, on the theme of Human Habitat