Selected Bibliography Architecture - Form Space and Order | Page 333
MO D U L O R
226
140
Le Corbusier developed his proportioning system, the Modulor, to order “the
dimensions of that which contains and that which is contained.” He saw the
measuring tools of the Greeks, Egyptians, and other high civilizations as
being “infinitely rich and subtle because they formed part of the mathematics
of the human body, gracious, elegant, and firm, the source of that harmony
which moves us, beauty.” He therefore based his measuring tool, the Modulor,
on both mathematics (the aesthetic dimensions of the Golden Section and
the Fibonacci Series), and the proportions of the human body (functional
dimensions).
86
1
1
2
3
70
43
43
113
183
Le Corbusier began his study in 1942, and published The Modulor: A Harmonious
Measure to the Human Scale Universally Applicable to Architecture and Mechanics
in 1948. A second volume, Modulor II, was published in 1954.
226
70
70
183
140
43
226
86
113
113
113
113
The basic grid consist of three measures, 113, 70, and 43 centimeters,
proportioned according to the Golden Section.
43 + 70 = 113
113 + 70 = 183
113 + 70 + 43 = 226 (2 x 113)
113, 183, and 226 define the space occupied by the human figure. From 113
and 226, Le Corbusier developed the Red and Blue series, diminishing scales
of dimensions that were related to the stature of the human figure.
27
16
43
27
16
86
70
318 / A R C H I TE C TU R E : F O R M , S PA C E , & O R D E R
27
113
27
140
16 + 27
183
16 + 27 + 27 + 27 16 + 27
226
86