Le Corbusier and the mystique of the USSR

by Jean-Louis Cohen

Le Corbusier's arrival in the USSR in October 1928 to build the Moscow headquarters for Centrosoyuz created an international sensation in both the artistic and political communities: finally the crusader of "machine-age architecture" was going to encounter this seemingly modern nation whose economy and culture were in the making. Viewing the Soviet Union as a "factory for blueprints," where his role as an international expert would at last be recognized, Le Corbusier. Soon met with disappointment. Soviet authorities rejected his urban plan for Moscow, which laid the groundwork for the "Ville Radieuse" (1930) and included designs for the 1932 Palace of Soviet competition. In this detailed, colorful account of the vicissitudes of Le Corbusier's Soviet adventure, translated from the French, Jean-Louis Cohen brings to light a whole cycle of transformations in the architect's project and design strategies while providing new. Interpretations of Soviet avant-garde culture. It was the USSR, C