He began his studies as an engraver and as a goldsmith but later studied architecture. In 1907 he went to work in the office of Auguste Perret, the French architect who pioneered the use of reinforced concrete. Later he studied architecture in Vienna with Josef Hoffmann, and in 1910 he took a position with Peter Behrens, where his colleagues were Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius.
During World War I, he returned to Switzerland to teach at his old school in La Chaux de Fonds. After the war, he returned to Paris and took French citizenship in 1930.
His most important architectural achievements were the Palace for the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, the Villa Savoye in Poissy, France and the Swiss Dormitory at the Cité Universitaire in Paris.
In addition to his fame for his place at the head of modern architecture, he was a designer, urban planner, writer and painter. His streamlined furniture, which he designed and produced in collaboration with his studio employee Charlotte Perriand, are considered modern classics.
From moma.org, architecture.about.com, biography.com
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| LC-1 Basculant chair moma.org |
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| LC-2 chair moma.org |
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| LC-7 Revolving armchair moma.org |
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| Chaise longue moma.org |
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| Palace for League of Nations architecture-student.com |
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| Villa Savoye panoramio.com |
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| Swiss Building reinierdejong.wordpress.org |
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| United Nations Secretariat cityprofile.com |
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| Le Corbusier visiting with Albert Einstein archdaily.com |
