The early relationship of Le Corbusier to the 'golden number'

Proportions in the Architecture Curriculum

“…However despite the boldface formula proclaiming the use of the golden number at Garches, this drawing is what one might call a "plant", for, as I discovered in the course of my research, not only was it drawn at least eighteen months after the building was completed, but the original sketches showed that Le Corbusier used his "place of the right angle" to design the villa. Further Le Corbusier's own writing show that he had previously been extremely critical of the use of the golden number in design [Fischler 1979;Herz-Fischler 1984]. These two examples show that even when we have pictorial and written evidence, we must act with extreme caution in deciding upon the theoretical basis of an architectural structure.…”