Le Corbusier's Architecture Analysis

The University of Florida’s Architecture Building, located at 1480 Inner Road, Gainesville, Florida, was built in the late 1970s (“Grove Hall: A Trip Down Memory Lane”) in what would be considered the brutalist style. This style is typically characterized by raw concrete, expanses of glass, and a massive, heavy feel. It emerged largely from the work of architect Le Corbusier, and often has a unique way of tying into and fitting alongside “century-long narrative[s]” and historic buildings or sites, even with its modern roots (Salmon, “Concrete Jungle”). The building itself is structured largely around a central courtyard space, which merges interior with exterior to create a closed off, separate space that is still open to the sky. Through …show more content…
One whole side of the courtyard is confined by a colonnade that supports the third floor. The same columns are also repeated on the opposite side of the courtyard, in front of the classrooms. The use of these columns is largely structural, providing support to the upper floors and allowing the courtyard to remain a large, open space, but the amount and placement also hints at ancient and classical forms. While the columns seen in Figure 2 take on an elongated, rectangular form that references no classical order, the purpose and placement remain largely the same as those seen in Minoan, Greek, Roman, and even Egyptian architecture. Similarities to Minoan forms are seen particularly in the way sheer size and weight is used to command awe and create a visually inspiring space. The columns here may be thin, but they are still massive, heavy walls of concrete. Though appearance may be very different, this use of size and weight to leave an impact on a space is characteristic of Minoan palaces and architectural forms (“Minoan Palaces” 8/31/16). In addition to the similarities with Minoan structures, the use of columns in this courtyard space is reminiscent of the Roman forum shop layout, or at least the romanticized version of it capitalized on in Las Vegas, as explored with Margaret Malamud’s article, “As the Romans Did? Theming Ancient Rome in Contemporary Las Vegas,” and the subsequent class discussion (Figure 3). The “Roman” forums used in Las Vegas were an idealized sort of neoclassicism, hoping to draw on the symbolic images of classical architecture to represent a place that was a focus of public life and interaction, as well as commerce and consumerism (“As the Romans Did?” 9/9/16). In the academic setting that the Architecture Building falls into, the use of these rows of columns is also more than just structural, they serve to create a beautiful space of public gathering and