Indian influences: Interpretations in le corbusier's architecture for the tropoical environment

Abstract

Tropical architecture of Le Corbusier, one of the masters of modern architecture, has made immense influences worldwide. This paper tries to rediscover the master architect in terms of inputs he obtained from the context while designing for the Indian subcontinent. The nourishment obtained from the nature as well as the culture and society helped shape the work of the western architect to a considerable degree. His expressions were modern and his very own, but fitted well with the climate and the society of the place. Daylight and temperature during different times and seasons, monsoon rain, prevailing breeze, immediate and extended landscape, all were considered by the architect with due respect. The paintings, the music and the poetry of the subcontinent helped Le Corbusier to create visual and mental image of the place. A part of the architect's work was influenced from the studies made during his visits to the built environments - urban and rural. He had turned to the sources of local wisdom in devising environment-modifying features for his subcontinental designs. The paper draws upon resources from the doctoral thesis of the author on the environmental performance of buildings designed by Le Corbusier where an in-depth study was made on the environmental features of both Le Corbusier buildings and traditional buildings of the subcontinent. It highlights the influences of the traditional strategies in the buildings of the master architect in terms of solutions to climatic problems. References are also made to the factors influencing Le Corbusier's design such as social, cultural and political aspects. Thus the paper helps in getting a fuller understanding of how the works of the modern master from the West were integrated with the total context of climate and culture of the subcontinent.