Product Description

Die acht Bände dieser außergewöhnlichen Edition, die zwischen 1929 und 1970 veröffentlicht wurde und seit dem immer wieder nachgedruckt wurde, dokumentiert die große Bandbreite des Werks von Le Corbusier. Sie dokumentieren das Werk des einflussreichsten Architekten des 20. Jahrhunderts. In direkter Zusammenarbeit mit Le Corbusier in über 40 Jahren entstanden, bildet das Set eine einzigartige und erschöpfende Bestandsaufnahme seiner Gebäude, Projekte, Skizzenhefte, Manifeste, Zeichnungen und Texte, welche die Welt der Architektur nachhaltig verändert haben.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #653772 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-02
• Format: Box set
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 8
• Binding: Hardcover
• 176240 pages

Customer Reviews

Well, you know, it is the gold standard
I agree with the earlier review, if you are looking at this, then you likely know what you are getting into. A few comments:
1. The first two volumes are NOT multi-lingual. The majority of the text in these 2 volumes is in French. All notations/labels for the images and photos are in French. Only the more extensive texts/essays are in German and English.
2. These appear to be straight reproductions of the original books, no reformatting has occurred. This may be a reason for the lower quality of the images/photos.
3. Great opportunity to see models/drawings of major unbuilt works - Governor's Palace in Chandigargh, Strasburg, Algiers, Venice, Geneva, etc. As well as paintings, le Modulor and other non-building works.

The packaging was incredible, and worth saving in my opinion.

I would recommend this for this price, and is much more convenience than hunting on eBay for the early editions of the individual volumes.

print quality issues but still fantastic
If you are looking at this book, you probably already know that this is the most informative collection of Corbusier's work short of the Corbusier Archive. That said, I won't review the content.

I purchased the 'new' (1996) printing from Birkhauser. This seems to be the cheapest edition to be found, and the quality of the paper, images, and text support this. Birkhauser tends to make excellent books (check out the complete works series of Aalto, Herzog & DeMeuron, and Botta for proof), but I'm left a little confused by the modern feel to the paper, which the rustic quality of the image/print. I guess there is something to be said for a mid 1970's slightly yellowing gently read copy. That is if you can find one for less than a $1200.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend spending the $400 on this fantastic body of knowledge. You won't regret it for a second.

On a side note, Birkhauser's packaging is fantastic: even UPS and my not-so-gentle delivery man weren't able to damage the contents.

The definitive statement on Modern Architecture
While there have been many monographs of Le Corbusier, this is the definitive edition. It is the set of volumes that inspired everyone from Alvar Aalto to Zaha Hadid, shaping the way we look at Modern Architecture. There is a typo in the number of pages. This set is massive but it doesn't weigh in at 176,000 pages. The 8 volumes, about 200 pages each, were originally released individually from 1929 to 1969 with Boesinger and Stonorov working directly with Le Corbusier. These are the original drawings and photographs, so if you are looking for glossy prints of Corbu's more famous works, I suggest purchasing monographs by Kenneth Frampton or William Curtis, which have contemporary photos of his better known buildings. Also, much of the text is not translated, presented in the original French. You have to have a great appreciation for Corbu's work to consider such a purchase, but given how rare first editions are, not to mention expensive, this is the best price by far for this invaluable collection.