The Existentialist Turn in Le Corbusier’s Architectural Thought and its Social Significance

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-611-6_132How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Existentialism; Architectural Design; Social Upheaval; Design Transformation

Abstract

Social upheaval not only affects the economy, military and social structure, but also gives rise to new cultural and ideological theories. These theories not only influenced the direction of design, but also had a profound impact on design creation and development, and even changed people’s lifestyles at that time. In architectural design, Le Corbusier is a highly representative designer. Le Corbusier’s architectural ideas were not static. In the early days, there was a pursuit of functionality and rationality, an emphasis on modern industrial technology, and a preference for smooth and tidy walls. He put forward the concept of “housing machine”, advocating the large-scale construction of residences in an industrialized way, believing that “the primary task of construction is to reduce costs, minimize components, and make houses mass-produced like machines to meet the needs of more people.” He adheres to the principle that “the original form of architectural design is the form of beauty”, praising simple geometric shapes. The modern architectural ideas promoted by Le Corbusier were once very popular and highly in line with the demands of the industrial age. However, with the rise of existentialism, Le Corbusier’s creations were comprehensively influenced. Strong and exaggerated lines and colors began to appear in his works, even with a nearly hysterical and bizarre style. These changes were particularly reflected in his painting forms. This article aims to analyze the influence and transformation of existentialism on Le Corbusier’s architectural design, and explore the impact of different ideologies on design through his works.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Boyang Zhang
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/07
TI  - The Existentialist Turn in Le Corbusier’s Architectural Thought and its Social Significance
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 12th International Conference on Digital Humanities and Frontiers in Social Sciences (DHFSS 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 1239
EP  - 1248
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-611-6_132
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-611-6_132
ID  - Zhang2026
ER  -