Le Corbusier and Architecture in Romania | Le Corbusier and Architecture in Romania
| Charles-Édouard Jeanneret arrived in Bucharest - coming from Giurgiu - on the evening of June 16, 1911. He was accompanied by his friend, August Klipstein, who can be considered the "cause" of his arrival in Bucharest. In the early spring of 1911, Charles-Édouard was working in Peter Behrens' office in Berlin's Neubabelsberg, where, contrary to legend, he did not meet either Walter Gropius or Mies van der Rohe, who had already finished their internships. He's unhappy with his situation: "The boss doesn't pay... Terrible autocrat, terrorist regime... It's a vast exploitation...". At the same time he admits: "...He's still a guy. I admire him"1. On another level, his progress in German was not up to expectations, and the level of the arts in Austria and Germany - where he had already spent months - seemed to him to be below that of the "Latin Genius" and its capital, Paris, where he had worked with the Perret brothers between mid-June 1908 and November 1909.We know that between 1907 and leaving the Behrens office (advised and helped by his teacher at the La Chaux-de-Fonds School of Art, Charles l'Eplattenier), Charles-Édouard visited northern Italy, Rome, Budapest, Vienna, London, Paris, Germany (far and wide). His good fortune and connections had already enabled him to build (with the architect René Chapallaz) the Fallet, Stotzer and Jaquemet villas, for which he had already received his fees. At the age of 23, the time had come for him to complete his training and start his career as an architect. The project for what would become known as "Le voyage d'Orient" was thus taking shape: sailing down the Danube, Bulgaria, Greece (with the Acropolis of Athens as his main objective), Istanbul and then climbing the Italian "boots" to return to Switzerland. Let him explain: "I've long been cherishing this dream... My friend Klipstein was doing his doctorate in Philosophy of Art with a thesis on Spanish primitives. Ten paintings by El Greco at the Royal Court of Romania. Why not Istanbul? Then, in January, I said yes and we started to prepare for the trip"2. In reality, the "preparation for the trip" had begun earlier, thanks to another friendship, with Ritter. William Ritter - the son of a wealthy engineer of Alsatian origin living in Neuchâtel - was, at the turn of the century, considered an important writer and art critic. It was he who - on a good account - made Charles-Édouard Jeanneret a "writer": some forty books and a hundred articles written during his lifetime. Invited to Bucharest in 1890 by the librarian of the Romanian Royal House (the Swiss Léo Bachelin), Ritter "was seized by a double passion for the Romanian people, in all its cultural and folkloric manifestations (decorative arts, vernacular architecture, costumes, traditions, stories and legends, etc.)..."3. He is friends with Nicolae Grigorescu, Alexandru Vlahuță and Ion Luca Caragiale and will not hesitate to recommend Charles-Édouard to them. Here is the background Let the young traveler tell us his impressions: "Bucharest is a very fashionable city, very interesting because of the splendid toilets you see. For two days now, the heat has been formidable..."4. Already an excellent communicator, Charles-Édouard undertook to send a series of travel letters to the local newspaper in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Bucharest deserves a special feature ("Vers l'Orient. Bucarest", "Feuille d'Avis de La Chaux-de-Fonds", October 19, 1911), entitled "Lettre à une dame qui me dit un jour son admiration pour Carmen Sylva, reine de Roumanie". After painting a flattering portrait of the poet-queen, he apologizes for having to demolish the idol of the lady to whom he is writing. The cause: a visit to Peles Castle (where El Greco's paintings were located), which he considers "very ugly", in a remarkable mess and with a fourth fake El Greco... But another point of view when he speaks of Bucharest: "Bucharest is full of Paris; more than that. The women, under the terrible light, are made up, beautiful and dressed in exquisite toiletries. They don't seem foreign to you, with bizarre outfits that would themselves create a barrier. In the carriages returning from their strolls, in this long parade down the Calea Victorie, they sit lazily elongated and their Parisian toiletries of sober sumptuous fabrics, the big black, gray or blue hats shaken by an enormous feather - or also the little touches on the invading hair - the eye or mouth make-up on a pale complexion, the mobile forms of the beautiful bodies caressed by the fabrics - everything urges us to admire them.... and to recall, with the same melancholy, the alluring visions of chic Paris". In 1911, Jeanneret was not yet the sharp-tongued militant. But his eyes were wide open. He concludes his article: "What can I tell you about this tree-lined city, which stretches far away, but still gives the closed appearance of a neighborhood of petits-maîtres? The floors are no more than two storeys high and the streets quickly close in"5. On the way to Peles, he visits Nicolae Grigorescu's house in Câmpina, is received by Metropolitan Ghenadie at the Căldărușani Monastery, sketches and comments on the plan of the residence, and takes a few sketches and photographs. At the same time, he gives the impression that he associates what he has seen during the four days of his visit with the West. The Balkans and the East begin with Bulgaria, with countless drawings and impressions recorded in notebooks. Which is only true. There are a few very brief references to Romania in later correspondence from Istanbul or from Greece, but nothing complementary to the above. |
| Read the full text in issue 6 / 2015 of Arhitectura magazine |
| Notes: 1 Rémi Baudouï, Arnaud Dercelles (ed.), Le Corbusier. Correspondance, Tome I, Lettres à la famille 1900-1925, InFOLIO éditions, 2011, pp. 329, 330. 2 Ibidem, pag. 359. 3 Marie-Jeanne Dumont (ed.), Le Corbusier, W. Ritter, Correspondance croisée 1910-1955, Paris: Éditions du Linteau, 2014, p. 15. 4 Rémi Baudouï, Arnaud Dercelles (ed.), op. cit. op. cit. pag. 373. 5 Philippe Duboy (ed.), Le Corbusier. Croquis de voyages et études, Paris: La Quinzaine Littéraire/ Louis Vuitton, 2009, pp. 74, 76. |
| Charles-Édouard Jeanneret arrived in Bucharest - coming from Giurgiu - on the evening of June the 16th, 1911. He was accompanied by his friend, August Klipstein, who may be considered the "cause" for his arrival in Bucharest. In the early spring of 1911, Charles-Édouard was working in the office of Peter Behrens - in Berlin Neubabelsberg - where, contrary to the legend, he did not meet either Walter Gropius or Mies van der Rohe, as they had already completed their traineeship. He was unhappy with his status: "The employer does not pay... He's a terrible autocrat; this is a regime of terror... Sheer exploitation..." At the same time, he admitted: ".... However, there is this man whom I totally admire".1 On another scale, his knowledge of German was not advancing according to expectations, and he found the practice of arts in Austria and Germany, where he had spent several months already, to be inferior to that of "the Latin Genius" and its capital, Paris, where he had worked with the Perret brothers, between half-June, 1908 and November, 1909.It is known that between 1907 and his leaving the Behrens office (advised and aided by Charles l'Eplattenier, his professor at the Art School in La Chaux-de-Fonds), Charles-Édouard visited northern Italy, Rome, Budapest, Vienna, London, Paris and Germany (far and wide). His luck and relations had allowed him to already build (along with architect René Chapallaz) the Fallet, Stotzer and Jaquemet villas, for which he had also cashed his fees. At the age of 23, it was time to put an end to his traineeship and to fully embrace his career as an architect. Thus took shape the project of what was to be called "Le voyage d'Orient": going down the Danube on a steamship, through Bulgaria, Greece (with Acropolis of Athens as main objective), and Istanbul and then up the Italian "boot" to return to Switzerland. In his own words: "I had been cherishing this dream for a long time.... My friend Klipstein was taking his PhD degree in Art Philosophy with a thesis on Spanish primitives. Ten paintings by El Greco at the Royal Court of Romania. He had to go to Bucharest, why not Istanbul as well. Then, in January, I told him yes and we began to plan the trip".2 In reality, the preparations for the trip had begun earlier, thanks to another friendship, with Ritter. At the beginning of the century, William Ritter - the son of a prosperous engineer of Alsatian origin, who lived in Neuchâtel - was considered an important writer and art critic. He was the one who, while benefiting from good input, managed to turn Charles-Édouard Jeanneret into a "writer": around forty books and one hundred articles written during his lifetime. As a guest of the librarian of the Romanian Royal House (the Swiss Léo Bachelin) in Bucharest, in 1890, Ritter "became extremely fond of the Romanian people, in all its cultural and folklore manifestations (decorative arts, vernacular architecture, costumes, traditions, stories and legends etc.)...".3 He was a friend of Nicolae Grigorescu, Alexandru Vlahuță and Ion Luca Caragiale and would readily recommend Charles-Édouard to them. Here is the context Let us discover the impressions of the young voyager himself: "Bucharest is a very fashionable, very interesting city, thanks to the wonderful outfits one can see. The heat has been formidable in the past two days..." 4 An excellent communicator already, Charles-Édouard had undertaken to dispatch a number of voyage letters to the local gazette in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Bucharest was entitled to a separate article ("Vers l'Orient. Bucarest", "Feuille d'Avis de La Chaux-de-Fonds", dated October the 19th, 1911), entitled "Lettre à une dame qui me dit un jour son admiration pour Carmen Sylva, reine de Roumanie" (Letter to a lady who once confessed to me her admiration for Carmen Sylva, queen of Romania). After a flattering portrait of the queen-poetess, he apologized for having to demolish the idol of the lady to whom the letter was addressed. The reason: he had visited the Peleș Castle (hosting paintings by El Greco), which he found "very ugly", in remarkable disorder and possessing a fourth fake El Greco... His standpoint was altogether different when it came to Bucharest: "Bucharest is as filled with Paris as can be, and more. Under the terrible light, the beautiful women put on make-up and dress in refined gowns. They do not appear foreign to one, or wearing strange costumes which might in themselves constitute a barrier. They lie idly, returning from their stroll, in carriages which form a long line on Calea Victoriei, and their costumes from Paris, made of elegant sumptuous wool, their large black, gray or blue hats stirred by an enormous feather - also their small toques on their thick rebellious locks -, the make-up on their eyelids or mouth, on a pale complexion, the mobile forms of their beautiful bodies caressed by woollen fabrics - everything urges us to admire them, and to recall, with the same nostalgia, the charming visions of a chic Paris..." In 1911, Jeanneret still wasn't the militant brandishing a sharp verb. His eyes were, nevertheless, wide open. This is how he ended his article: "What can I tell you about this city full of trees, which spreads far and away, while offering the viewer on a permanent basis the closed appearance of a district of "petits-maîtres"? The buildings do not boast more than two floors, and the streets end quite abruptly". 5 On his way towards Peleș, he visited Nicolae Grigorescu's house in Câmpina, was received by Metropolitan Bishop Ghenadie of Căldărușani Monastery, sketched and commented the plan of the residence, drew a couple of sketches and took several photographs. At the same time, he gave the impression that he was associating what he saw in his four days of visit with the West. The Balkans and the Orient began with Bulgaria, with the innumerable drawings and impressions noted down in his notebooks. And this was very true. In the correspondence subsequently sent from Istanbul or Greece, there are several very very brief references to Romania, but nothing in addition to the above. |
| Read the full text in the print magazine |
| Notes: 1 Rémi Baudouï, Arnaud Dercelles (ed.), Le Corbusier. Correspondance, Tome I, Lettres à la famille 1900-1925, InFOLIO éditions, 2011, pp. 329, 330. 2 Ibidem, p. 359. 3 Marie-Jeanne Dumont (ed.), Le Corbusier, W. Ritter, Correspondance croisée 1910-1955, Paris: Éditions du Linteau, 2014, p. 15. 4 Rémi Baudouï, Arnaud Dercelles (ed.), op.cit, p. 373. 5 Philippe Duboy (ed.), Le Corbusier. Croquis de voyages et études, Paris: La Quinzaine Littéraire/ Louis Vuitton, 2009, pp. 74, 76. |
