The paradox of modern life is that most of the time we view the world through plastic windows and are separated by drywall partitions. We only encounter truly quality materials posthumously in the form of a granite or marble tombstone.
Adolf Loos wrote in 1910: „
Only a very small part of architecture belongs to art: the tombstone and the monument. Everything else that serves a purpose must be excluded from the domain of art.“ The theme of funerals is not an everyday task. It is a profoundly personal assignment that can never be approached lightly, especially when you have to deal with a tombstone for someone close or for yourself.
Le Corbusier first had to confront the death of a loved one when he was forty, when his father passed away in February 1926, for whom he designed (unrealized) a tombstone a year later in the form of cyclopean paving through which carefully selected vegetation grew at specific spots, and on it stood a simple cylindrical stela. In addition to architectural shapes, Le Corbusier paid great attention to selecting his father's favorite plants. The grave was to be covered with perennial geraniums, yellow and white wolf's poppies, Alpine violets, primroses, and moss.
Although Le Corbusier was born in a land without the sea at the foot of the Jura Alps, from early travels he was drawn to Mediterranean culture, where in 1911 he gained his first direct experiences and regularly returned to gather experiences, inspiration, and energy. He was a regular guest of Irish architect Eileen Gray, who completed a holiday villa for Romanian critic Jean Badovici on the azure coast near Monte Carlo in 1929. The famous house E.1027 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin was adorned by Le Corbusier with several murals. When, after World War II, the opportunity arose to acquire a small plot next to E.1027, he did not hesitate for a moment, purchased it, and in 1952 built a birthday gift for his wife Yvonne on fifteen square meters. Each August, he regularly retreated to the secluded wooden house Le Cabanon to relax and swim at Cabbé beach. The Mediterranean Sea, sun, and fresh air were enjoyed by both spouses only until October 1957, when the former Monaco model Yvonne Gallis quietly passed away and was subsequently buried just a few hundred meters higher at the municipal cemetery of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. The cemetery location was chosen by both as early as 1955, from which the first sketches of the tombstone by Le Corbusier date. After her burial, he frequently visited the site and made drawings of the grave with the surrounding landscape.
With Yvonne, he had a strong bond even after her death. After the cremation, Le Corbusier found a vertebra in the ashes, which, to the astonishment of those present, he took and placed in his pants. Since then, he carried the vertebra in his pocket until his death and would take it out only on his work desk when he needed to sketch and sought inspiration. It was a very personal gesture: the need to have close to him the person with whom he spent his entire life. He was also likely fascinated by the organic form, which he gravitated towards in his later works (as opposed to his early purist creations).
From then on, Le Corbusier lived in Le Cabanon as a happy monk, where he could dedicate himself undisturbed to painting and regular morning swims in the nearby bay. Despite all the warnings from doctors, he also went to Cabbé beach on August 27, 1965, when at 11:00 his heart stopped beating at the age of 77. At that time, a group of people saw him trying with his last strength to reach some rocks. He vehemently refused any help and drove away the onlookers. Moments later, his lifeless body was washed ashore. The cause of death was a heart attack. Suicide was never proven. Just as in everything Le Corbusier did, one can see a certain chilling aspect in this final act, as he seemed to want to determine the plan until the last moment.
His state funeral was held on September 1 at the main courtyard of the Louvre Palace, attended by the French Minister of Culture and numerous figures from around the world, where Greek architects brought soil from the Athenian Acropolis, and Indian architects brought water from the sacred Ganges. For the public, his coffin was displayed under a mural at the end of the studio on Rue de Sèvres 35 in the sixth district of Paris. The cremation took place in private family circles on September 2 at the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris. The following day, Le Corbusier's ashes were flown to Cap-Martin, where on September 4, 1965, he was laid to rest beside his wife Yvonne Gallis, and now they both rest in a small cemetery just a few hundred meters from Le Cabanon.
Unlike the surrounding stone tombstones, Le Corbusier chose a material that had accompanied him throughout his life. His first houses in his hometown, as well as later sacred buildings and entire Indian cities, were made of concrete. Le Corbusier was able to give concrete countless faces. In the case of his own tombstone, he limited himself to basic elements: lines framing the grave, a slab, a cylinder for drought-resistant plants, and a prism for colorful enamel plaques with names. Just as he was inspired by the shell of a crustacean he found on the beach at Long Island when designing the pilgrimage chapel in Ronchamp, on his own grave, we find in the concrete imprints of shells that collect water and create artificial drinking spots for birds.
Le Corbusier was an architectural chameleon and a well-traveled cosmopolitan. The only firm bond in his life was the Mediterranean, which he affectionately referred to as
“the queen of shapes under the sun's rays.”The English translation is powered by AI tool. Switch to Czech to view the original text source.