Gazes and Drawings along the Promenade Architecturale

The promenade architecturale, which Le Corbusier first mentioned in the caption of a photo of Villa Savoye, is a fundamental ingredient of his architecture. Although he never formulated it unequivocally by words, project after project he developed it as a device to merge his famous five points and other minor architectural principles in the dynamic experience of space. Some of his drawings reveal how those “visions” were used by him as a specific medium through which to elaborate and represent his projects, as in the case of urban concepts sketched from an airplane or a liner. Some of his design representations, which may appear improper, inappropriate or irregular on a projective level, also testify to the centrality of movement on a purely graphic level, as well. On the one hand, his architecture responds to the ways in which the moving subject relates to the architectural bodies, the interiors and the surrounding landscape; on the other hand, some of his drawings from the 1920s and 1930s reveal the effort to capture motion within the architectural representation, indirectly revealing his deep interest in old and new popular media. By means of the critical suggestions proposed by Reichlin and the drawings preserved at the Fondation Le Corbusier (FLC), Paris, this chapter investigates some of Le Corbusier’s ‘inappropriate’ drawings through critical redrawing and perspective analysis in the light of his three “human visions” and his interest in the perception in motion.