Le Corbusier: Urban Visions Through Thresholds

Abstract

Abstract. In Le Corbusier's work the threshold is represented like a revealing and enigmatic space that define the relations of the limit or boundary, the separation and the union between the buildings and the urban spaces, and the space that defines, qualifies and characterises the minimum condition of urbanity of any work of architecture, irrespective of its use or scale. Through an analysis of the draws based on the study of the six notebooks of the The Voyage d' Orient (1911), and of the study of the urban settings visited, we verified that the threshold is, for Le Corbusier, a space or sequence of spaces organised under the idea of "plan" of variable thickness or extension, that includes both criteria and guidelines of order as well as solutions for managing the limits or boundaries in architecture, as well as its relation with space and the involvement with its surroundings, that is to say, we have also focused on highlighting how the architecture in itself, attends to an order that as well as being articulated and unitary, is extended by means of doors, frames, courtyards, terraces, sheds and exterior spaces, that incorporate both the nearby urban landscape as well as the distant cityscape.

Threshold and its performance in urban settlement

“…Threshold is particularly interesting because it defines separateness and at the same time also suggests connectedness [12]. Some of the threshold elements in urban space include doors, stairs, or transitions that function as a marker for differences in space or connecting inside with an outside [3]. Meanwhile, in his writings, Simmel [1] exemplifies that a bridge is a form of an element that can connect two separate riverbanks while building a house with walls and doors is a form of separation from the natural unity of nature.…”

“…Several physical threshold elements in urban settlements can be identified when the body enters or moves from one space to another. Every element has its own performance as a connector or separator [3]. The first one is the door which can be understood as a separator or connector between interior and exterior.…”

“…Meanwhile, Boettger [2] argues that thresholds are the basic structural elements that allow us to pass and close. In architecture, thresholds have an essential role in understanding space because the existence of a threshold determines the relationship between spaces [3]. Boettger [2] argues that thresholds interrupt boundaries for the transition from one space to another.…”

“…The existence of a threshold as a basic element can be physical and non-physical [2]. The function of the threshold is the spatial configuration of the activity of entering, outing and as a boundary [3]. On the other hand, Popov & Ellison [4] argue that boundaries can change according to the activities that occur.…”

The Anatomical and Physiological Analysis of Thresholds in Domestic Architecture Case Example: Chandigarh

“…The threshold space is a liminal stage, transformative in its nature, where the person moves from his previous space and has yet to enter the onlooking space (14). Le Corbusier, in his documentation, uses the word seuil (threshold) in connection with the relation between interior and exterior which is precisely the function of the threshold in the spatial sequence of entering, leaving, or delimiting (15).…”