The Modulor: A Harmonious Measure to the Human Scale, Universally Applicable to Architecture and Mechanics

by Le Corbusier

This title available from Harvard University Press

Genres: Architecture, Design, Nonfiction, Art

Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, better known as Le Corbusier; was an architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930. His career spanned five decades, with his buildings constructed throughout Europe, India, and America. He was a pioneer in studies of modern high design and was dedicated to providing better living conditions for the residents of crowded cities. He was awarded the Frank P. Brown Medal and AIA Gold Medal in 1961.
Le Corbusier adopted his pseudonym in the 1920s, allegedly deriving it in part from the name of an ancestor, Lecorbésier.

Reviews

[Tanish Jena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting.

[Leandro Llorente · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for Corbu and learning about his obsession with measurements.

[Andrés · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este es el tipo de frikada matematica que en verdad a nadie le importa pero que me voy a pasar tres meses sin sacarmela de la cabeza.

[zooey glass]

i wish it could be true 3

[Yamibee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quotations

*“The Modulor... a tool which may be put in the hands of creators of form, with the simple aim, as Professor Einstein has put it so well, of ‘making the bad difficult and the good easy’.”

“The Modulor is a scale. Musicians have a scale; they make music, which maybe trite or beautiful.” -5

“Mathematica, herself the daughter of the Universe.” -16

**“Music, like architecture, is time and space. Music and architecture are a matter of measure.”

“To take possession of a space is the first gesture of the living, men and beast, plants and clouds, the fundamental manifestation of equilibrium and permanence. The first proof of existence is to occupy space.” -30

“The flower, the plant, the tree, the mountain, all these are uptight, living in an environment. If the true greatness of their aspect draws attention to itself, it is because they seem contained in themselves, yet producing resonances all around. **We stop short, conscious of so much natural harmony; and we look, moved by so much unity commanding so much space; and then we measure what we see.

Architecture,sculpture and painting are, by definition, depending on space, tied down to the necessity to come to terms with space, each by its own means. The essential point I wish to make is that the key to aesthetic emotion is a function of space.

....**A kind of harmony is created, exact like a mathematical exercise, a true manifestation of the acoustics of a plastic matter. It is not out of place, in this context, to bring in music, one of the subtlest phenomena of all, bringer of joy (harmony) or of oppression (cacophony).” -31

“...Music is a secret mathematical exercise, and he who engages in it is unaware that he is manipulating numbers. (Leibnitz)” -74

*** “Good composition requires the use of a very few elements, but each of these should have a distinct personality, and a strong one at that. It takes only twenty-six letters to write tens of thousands of words in fifty languages. The universe, at our present state of knowledge, is composed of ninety-two elements. All arithmetic is written with ten figures, and music with seven notes. ...All this is the fruit of the marriage of the human and coamic orders. Order is the very key of life.” -75

“In this equation is concealed a key: proportion, the power which brings out the smile upon the face of things.” -114

*”... the sap of mathematics has flown through the veins of my work, both as an architect and painter; for music is always present within me.” -129

**”... That exact point is the soul of the whole building. The word ‘soul’ is also used in the making of musical instruments. The soul of a violin is a little wooden bar wedged between the face and the back of the instrument, in one particular place, a difficult place to find, the point of resonance: the soul.” -146

[Neil]

I was curious about this and saw it on amazon. But first searched the university catalogue and found a copy. It was in the archive.
The library seems to have so many unexpected finds.
It turned out to be an original printing from the 1950's. What a lovely book.
It was in French, so it took a bit of effort to translate and understand. What an interesting read. I'd absolutely use this a future reference, so I ordered a reprint.
I think it sits nicely with another book I have on the golden ratio.

[Justin Cormack]

This is not the edition I have - I have the first English edition of the Modulor, from 1954.

My mother thought she had a copy of this book but couldnt find it, so she was pleased when I got it.

Will update when I have read past the first chapter, but the writing is engaging so far.

[Hua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stop running after all the latest fancy software. The ideas behind all the good design is beyond the skills. Le Corbusier took the trouble to investigate the universal design rule - Proportional Grid (Golden Ratio).

[Alireza · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can find lots of ideas in this book more than modulor concepts...

[Torea Frey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool drawings; theory brings together mathematics and art. (Although I'll admit I know little about the math or its utility.)

[Jaime Montoya]

"El modulor hace lo bueno fácil y lo malo difícil."
Gran introducción al genio creador de Le Corbusier, es posible palpar la pasión que siente por la arquitectura y por su oficio de creador, que refleja en cada párrafo de el Modulor!