Editing Le Corbusier (section)

==Dom-Ino House and Schwob House (1914–1918)==
[[File:Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier), 1914-15, Maison Dom-Ino.jpg|thumb|left|Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, 1914–15, [[Dom-ino House|''Maison Dom-Ino (Dom-Ino House)'']] ]]

During [[World War I]], Le Corbusier taught at his old school in La-Chaux-de-Fonds. He concentrated on theoretical architectural studies using modern techniques.<ref name="Choay">{{cite book|last=Choay|first=Françoise|title=Le Corbusier|url=https://archive.org/details/lecorbusier0000choa/page/10|year=1960|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lecorbusier0000choa/page/10 10–11]|publisher=George Braziller, Inc.|isbn=978-0-8076-0104-4|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In December 1914, along with the engineer Max Dubois, he began a serious study of the use of reinforced concrete as a building material. He had first discovered concrete working in the office of [[Auguste Perret]], the pioneer of reinforced concrete architecture in Paris, but now wanted to use it in new ways.

"Reinforced concrete provided me with incredible resources," he wrote later, "and variety, and a passionate plasticity in which by themselves my structures will be the rhythm of a palace, and a Pompieen tranquillity."<ref>Letter to Auguste Perret (1915), cited in ''Lettres a ces Maitres'', vol. 1, p. 33.</ref> This led him to his plan for the [[Dom-Ino House]] (1914–15). This model proposed an open floor plan consisting of three concrete slabs supported by six thin [[reinforced concrete column]]s, with a stairway providing access to each level on one side of the floor plan.<ref name="Tim Benton">Tim Benton, ''Les Villas de Le Corbusier 1920–1929'', Philippe Sers éd. Paris, 1987.</ref> The system was originally designed to provide large numbers of temporary residences after World War I, producing only slabs, columns and stairways, and residents could build exterior walls with the materials around the site. He described it in his patent application as "a juxtiposable system of construction according to an infinite number of combinations of plans.” This would permit, he wrote, "the construction of the dividing walls at any point on the façade or the interior."

[[File:CF05.jpg|thumb|The Anatole Schwob House in La-Chaux-de-Fonds (1916–1918)]]

Under this system, the structure of the house did not have to appear on the outside but could be hidden behind a glass wall, and the interior could be arranged in any way the architect liked.<ref>cited by Turner, Paul, "La Formation de Le Corbusier", Paris, Macula, 1987, p. 218.</ref> After it was patented, Le Corbusier designed several houses according to the system, which were all white concrete boxes. Although some of these were never built, they illustrated the basic architectural ideas which would dominate his works throughout the 1920s. He refined the idea in his 1927 book on the ''Five Points of a New Architecture''. This design, which called for the disassociation of the structure from the walls, and the freedom of plans and façades, became the foundation for most of his architecture over the next ten years.{{Sfn|Journel|2015|page=50–51}}

In August 1916, Le Corbusier received his largest commission ever, to construct a villa for the Swiss watchmaker Anatole Schwob, for whom he had already completed several small remodelling projects. He was given a large budget and the freedom to design not only the house but also to create the interior decoration and choose the furniture. Following the precepts of Auguste Perret, he built the structure out of reinforced concrete and filled the gaps with brick. The centre of the house is a large concrete box with two semicolumn structures on both sides, which reflects his ideas of pure geometrical forms. A large open hall with a chandelier occupied the centre of the building. "You can see," he wrote to Auguste Perret in July 1916, "that Auguste Perret left more in me than Peter Behrens."<ref>cited in ''Lettres a css maitres'', vol. 1, p. 181.</ref>

Le Corbusier's grand ambitions collided with the ideas and budget of his client and led to bitter conflicts. Schwob went to court and denied Le Corbusier access to the site, or the right to claim to be the architect. Le Corbusier responded, "Whether you like it or not, my presence is inscribed in every corner of your house." Le Corbusier took great pride in the house and reproduced pictures in several of his books.{{Sfn|Journel|2015|page=50}}