Modulor

A system of proportion developed by Le Corbusier in 1942. It was based on the theories of early civilizations and on the human form, and was related to the golden section.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Modulor

a system of proportions proposed in the 1940’s by the French architect Le Corbusier and his colleagues. The modulor is based on the dimensions and proportions of the human body (the initial quantities are the average height of a man, his height to the solar plexus, and his height with raised arms, which are assumed to be 183, 113, and 226 cm, respectively), the golden section, and Fibonacci sequences. The purpose of the modulor was to introduce a module based on human dimensions into modern architecture and artistic design. The modulor was used consistently in a number of Le Corbusier’s projects and has had considerable influence on world architecture, especially design.

REFERENCES

Le Corbusier, C. E. Arkhitektura 20 veka. [Moscow] 1970. (Translated from French.)
Le Corbusier, C. Le Modulor. Boulogne-Billancourt [1951].

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References in periodicals archive

(In West Frankish manuscripts a sequence is called prosa, though Notker used the term ymnus (plural ymni) in the general sense of a song of praise.) Relying on Bede's De arte metrica, Bower demonstrates convincingly that Notker used the verb modulor to refer to rhythmic (or accentual) verse, and not the more common theoretical use to refer to pitch and melody.

A SCHOLARLY EDITION OF THE LIBER YMNORUM

Architecture has always propped up Man with a capital M, whether we're talking about the Vitruvian Man in classical antiquity or Le Corbusier's Modulor Man in the twentieth century, and architecture has always excluded other ways of being human.

Changing the subject: Mabel O. Wilson on race and public space

Mas tarde, publicaria Le Corbusier (1948) Le Modulor. Paris: Eds.

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The first idea used an anthropometric scale of proportions in the construction called the "modulor" system, while the second developed the idea of "unlimited growth" anticipating future expansion.

The National Museum of Western Art: a Global Partnership Model

Emirates Precast, partly owned by Laing O'Rourke, manufactured the project's precast concrete frames, Crown House Technologies provided mechanical and electrical elements, and bathroom 'pods' were created by Modulor.

Face to face: Mark Andrews, Laing O\ Rourke

The first and one of the most influential of these was Le Corbusier who also proposed a short written groundwork to his system of proportions (based on the Golden Section) in the book Modulor (1951).

Multi-architecture in Saudi Arabia: representing the history of women

Axel Vervoordt and the Japanese architect Tatsuro Miki have designed five pavilions for the ground floor of the building, each constructed according to a system of 'sacred' dimensions, from the Fibonacci sequence to Le Corbusier's Modulor. The exhibition is an intriguing combination of specially commissioned work by artists such as Marina Abramovic and Anish Kapoor, and existing works by others, including Agnes Martin and Sol LeWitt--and also features Egyptian artefacts and a monumental sculpture by Canova.

Back to the future

Le Corbusier, a Swiss-born French architect of the Modern Movement, developed an anthropometric system of scale and proportion called The Modulor. The system is based on human measurements, the Fibonacci numbers, and the Golden Ratio and it was used in a number of Le Corbusier's buildings described as: "range of harmonious measurements to suit the human scale, universally applicable to architecture and to mechanical things." (Figure 6)

Gender analogies in architecture

The transformation of form into a socially-useful unit of meaning is perfectly articulated by the source of the story's second pastiche: The Modulor (1954), Le Corbusier's combination memoir, manifesto, and textbook.

Barthelme's "Paraguay," the postmodern, and neocolonialism