4.Le Corbusier(Tokyo)

The National Museum of Western Art

The National Museum of Western Art was built in the mid-19th century and opened in 1959. Originally, the museum housed the personal collection of Japanese industrialist Matsukata Kojiro.

Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier (1887 -1965) was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. After studying at an art school in his hometown, Le Corbusier traveled to Vienna and Berlin where he encountered the new movements in architecture and decorative arts. He was further influenced by Cubism upon his journey to Paris. In 1918, he debuted as a painter espousing "purism," an aesthetic based on the creation of arts on logical premises. He went on to develop the purist movement through the magazine L'Esprit Nouveau. Le Corbusier briefly studied architecture under Auguste Perret and Peter Behrens, and then went on to pursue his one self-study. In 1927 he won the competition for the creation of the League of Nations building in Geneva, and this established his name as an architect. His representative works include the Villa Savoye in Poissy (1929-31), the Unite d'habitation in Marseilles (1947-52), and the chapel in Ronchamp (1950-54).