The contemporary city was an idea that was developed by Le Corbusier who lived between 1887 and 1965. Born Charles Jeanneret, Le Corbusier was one of the respected pioneers in the field of modern architecture. In 1922, Le Corbusier “presented the public with his Contemporary City” that was enough to accommodate three million people. “This was not a city of the future but the city of today,” said Le Corbusier p. 337. Even though Contemporary city caught the attention of many, it did not earn Le Corbusier much. His real impact in the architectural field did not come from the cities he designed but from the ones others using his principles planned that(Corbusier, 1987).
The work of Le Corbusier can only be compared with that of Frank Lloyd Wright who lived in the years between 1867 and 1959. He designed Broadacre City that was similar to Le Corbusier’s Contemporary City. With the invention of automobiles and the telephone, Wright claimed that they these machines belonged to the old cities “no longer modern” p.345. This made him look forward to the day “when dense, crowded conglomerations like New York and Chicago would wither and decay” p. 345. Wright wished for a city of the independent homestead where even though people live together, they have enough space to ensure the stability of families. His Broadacre city could only be compared to Le Corbusier’s towns and Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City (Wright, 1935). Just as the Contemporary City, Broadacre City was new community plan.
Frank Wright believed that Broadacre City if constructed would “end unemployment and all the evils forever p. 347. In his work, he further narrated that “there are too many details involved in the model of Broadacre City to permit complete explanation”p.349. The model of Broadacre City shows the construction of the highway, the crossovers, and different houses as well as public buildings.
References
Corbusier, L. (1987). The city of to-morrow and its planning. Courier Corporation.
Wright, F. L. (1935). Broadacre City: A new community plan. Architectural Record, 77(4), 243-254.
