Regulating lines

On Le Corbusier's Towards a New Architecture - Regulating Lines

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''Geometry is the language of man.'' (p. 72)

According to Le Corbusier's book, primitive resources exist however, primitive people do not exist. Mankind choose to cut down trees, flatten the mountains, open up roads, and assemble shelter. Mathematical calculations are seen everywhere. Units of measurement are a prerequisite for all other conditions in order to build well and allocate efforts to get solidity and utility in the task. There would otherwise simply be randomness, inconsistency, and arbitrary behavior; however, axes, circles, and right angles are geometrical facts that produce outcomes that our eye can measure and recognize. Builders use the tools which are the most constant and common: pace, foot, elbow, finger. This way, regulations and order are brought upon.

The first example of man establishing his own universe in the likeness of nature and subjecting it to the rules of nature - the same laws that govern our own nature and our universe - is architecture. One of the most crucial  moments and essential architectural tasks is the selection of regulating lines. Regulating lines enter the scene to correct, point out, and bring all the components together around a single, unified element: the 3, 4, 5 triangle. Regulating lines are a guides, used to achieve certain principles.

''The regulating line is a guarantee against wilfulness. It brings satisfaction to the understanding.'' (p. 67)

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Le Corbusier, 1923, Towards a New Architecture, New York, Dover Publications

21.11.2023