LE CORBUSIER: Aircraft

LE CORBUSIER, Aircraft. «L'avion accuse...». / By LE CORBUSIER. – London, New York: The Studio 1935. – 25,2 x 19,0 cm. 16 S. Text, [80] S. Tafeln mit 124 Tiefdruck-Abb. Ganzleinenband. Fotografischer Schutzumschlag. − (The New Vision)

A republication of the original book by Le Corbusier. "'The airplane is the symbol of the new age,' declared Le Corbusier in the introduction to this book, first published in 1935. 'A new state of modern conscience. A new plastic vision. A new aesthetic.' In its paean to the 'joyous and productive impulse of the new machine-civilsation' this book, written by the master architect of Modernism, explores two themes. Firstly, it celebrates the sheer beauty of the airplanes themselves and the 'functional' spareness of their parts and elements - wingspars and propellors, engine frames and ailerons are contrasted with the godlike qualities of the aviators - 'once in the air, they exult in the daring of their departure.' Secondly there is the discovery of the aerial images, the bird's eye view as 'a new function added to our sense, a new standard of measurement, a new basis of sensation.' With unconscious irony, Corbusier predicts that the airplane 'indicts the city': 'cities must be extricated from their misery, come what may. Whole quarters of them must be destroyed and new cities built.' The commanding vigor of the text is matched by a dynamic range of illustrations, selected and laid out by Le Corbusier himself, a dramatic image of an aircraft carrier bears the title 'and Neptune rises from the sea, crowned with strange garlands, the weapons of Mars'. The result is a book that encapsulates the enthusiasm and excitement of the first aerial age, and the stimulus the airplane gave to the visual and intellectual ideas of the time." -- from interior flap. Printed in black-and-white. Includes list of illustrations.

See Book Review: "Aircraft" by Le Corbusier by Michael DiTullo

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propagandaphotos Aircraft – Le Corbusier

MODERN TIMES

Photography in the 20th Century

Author:Matti Boom, Hans Roosenboom

Publisher:nai010, Rijksmuseum

ISBN:978-94-6208-176-5

After the successful reopening of the Rijksmuseum in April of 2013, the museum’s Philips Wing will reopen in November with 'Modern Times', a major survey of twentieth-century photography compiled from the Rijksmuseum’s collection. This collection has grown spectacularly, particularly during the last decade, and now includes many masterpieces by world-famous photographers including André Kertész, Brassaï, Robert Capa, László Moholy-Nagy, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Weegee, William Klein, Cas Oorthuys, and Eva Besnyö.

With more than 350 photographs, the book 'Modern Times. Photography in the 20th Century' forms an impressive overview of the developments that took place during the twentieth century in photography, which grew by leaps and bounds into the ubiquitous and influential medium that we know today.