Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts
Le Corbusier · Cambridge, United States · 1963
Le Corbusier’s only completed building in North America inserts a curving pedestrian ramp through a compact concrete arts center on Harvard’s campus. Studios, galleries and circulation are layered around the ramp, which turns movement through the building into an architectural promenade visible from the street. Brise-soleil, rough concrete and curved forms make the project recognizably Corbusian while responding to a constrained collegiate context. Completed in 1963, it is a late synthesis of themes developed throughout the architect’s career.