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(Online-Artikel.de) - Music and architecture: architectural and multimedia concepts of Le Corbusier and Iannis Xenakis

"Architecture - frozen music". J.W.

In 1958 historian of art and the modern architecture Michel Ragon confirmed: «For general public all modern painting is Picasso, all products of modern architecture – Le Corbusier»[1]. Corbusier has entered into art history as a great architect first , but the phenomenon named Le Corbusier is much more significant . Le Corbusier was philosopher, the theorist of art, the artist (the first art experiences he haswhen he was 31 years old), the outstanding designer, the fine expert in the plastic arts andmusic (By knowledge of music he is obliged to his composerbrotherAlbert Jeanneret). His own words will tell better about his aesthetic principles: « My searches as well as my feelings are reduced to one main thing in a life – to poetry »[2]. The permanent search of actual artistic ideas, the courageous experiments in uniting new forms and materials, introduction of the general scientificconcepts into the area of art, exchange and synthesis of different arts properties – great Korbju popularized everything in his own works. His work in the "laboratory" of new art -in the well-known magazine «L'Esprit Nouveau» was important stage for creating his original manner. This magazine was organized together with Amédée Ozenfant in 1920.Architects Auguste Perret, Adolf Loos, Peter Behrens and particularly Corbusier published their works on the pages of this magazine; the poets Jean Cocteau, Lui Aragon, Giyom Apolliner ; the artists byTeo Van Duisburg, Pablo Picasso; the directors of the Parisian theatres and the impresario (as, for example, M.Heberto and S.Dyagilev); the musicians by Albert Jeanneret and Darius Milhaud wrote about the new views on art.

Another great artist - Iannis Xenakis - has added a page to history as one of the important composer of the XX century. His ideas had an influence on development of today`s musical art.It's a well -known fact that the Xenakis first trained as an architect. His cooperation with Le Corbusier was an important stage of his artistic growth, and the composer spoke about it many times. (Since 1947 till 1959 Iannis Xenakis has worked In Corbusier's laboratory). Brilliant ideas of Le Corbusier had a great influence on the development of architecture and, as a whole, on understanding of a category of space. This concept had effect on architecture - spatial and musical views of young Iannis Xenakis.

Le Corbusier and Iannis Xenakis became authors of original artistic concepts– multimedia – which are closely related to their architectural experience.

Architectural concepts by Le Corbusier and Iannis Xenakis: similarities and distinctions

Corbusier has brought up the whole generation of architects. They are Kunio Maekawa, Nicolai Kolli, Frei Otto, Junzo Sakakura, Georges Candilis and finally – Iannis Xenakis, all of them became outstanding masters. When Xenakis worked as chief engineer at Le Corbusier studio, he wasn't known as the co-author and sometimes the author of the architectural masterpieces. All studio projects were attributed to Le Corbusier automatically because his name was a popular brand. Fortunately, admirers of Xenakis` architectural compositions had restored the historical truth and the authorship of Greek architect-composer is confirmed now. Newly developed trends which Xenakis has invented in his masterpieces, were embodied in works of the contemporary architects.

The differences between concepts of the teacher and the pupil are already obvious on the first stage of the analysis. When comparing measure systems, one can see "drawing scale" for designing of spatial constructions.

1. Systems of measures by Le Corbusier ("Modulor") and Iannis Xenakis

Modulor is a measuring scale, created by Le Corbusier in 1942-1948 as the tool of architectural forms proportioning.Corbusier said about origin of Modulor: « This system was appealed to introduce human dimensions into architecture and mechanics in order to correlate them with unlimited quantity of numbers. Those basic values are coordinated to the life person in the process of space exploration»[3]. The basis of Modulor's scale are mathematically expressed proportions of human body. These proportions are the initial step for building construction. The man with lifted hands determines the principle of spatial distribution: a foot – a solar plexus, a solar plexus – a head, a head – a finger-tip of the lifted up hand – these three intervals (triad) put together a series of a golden section, so-called the Fibonachi's series. It is necessary to create the simple square, its doubling and two golden sections. Corbusier contended that Modulor was universal and it could be used everywhere – from household objects to a city planning (except calculation of structures more than 400 metres high).

I.Xenakis understood architectural proportions differently. In articles about future cities he called for creation of huge skyscrapers reaching 3000 or even 5000 meters height. The composer-architect believed that the ventilation system, pressure and temperature of such constructions could be totally regulated due to the modern technologies. But calculation of these "huge" measures lay in future. Nevertheless when designing the private house of his friend - François Bernard Mache- Xenakis used the measuring system of "Modulor" by Le Corbusier.

2. Architectural principles

Le Corbusier's architectural concept was based on five principles, which defined modern architecture:

· Supports– columns: the house on separate supports. In the past the house has been hammered into the earth, in dark and frequently crude places. Ferro-concrete has given the architect a chance to apply separate supports. It became possible to lift up the house above earth, make a garden under the house and on the roof.

· roofs-gardens: Ferro-concrete allows to create the combined roof of a building. The development of high technologies, the tendency to ecology, beauty and to ultimate saving of space lead to creation of the roof-terrace. According to Corbusier, it will introduce desired harmony into strictly urbanized life of a modern person.

· Concrete andfree planning:Due to ferro-concrete it became possible to use free planning. Till now, the walls of building were its bearing elements. The house planning depended on walls completely. Floors will not separate any more one from another like compartments. As a result of this economy of inhabited space was reached, the rational use of each cubic centimeter, the necessary economy of material means.

· "A free facade". Supports are removed outsidethe facade, inside the house. The shutoffs shore up on the consoles. Since then the facades became light plates of isolated walls and windows, free from loading.

· Distribution of windows lengthways along a facade. The light projections: a window is one of the major elements of Corbusier's house. The newest means have liberated a window, ferro-concrete has made the real revolution in story of window. The windows can be distributed along facade, from one end to another, enriching habitation by natural light. When we talk about light, rather about a role of light projections at designing of architectural space by Corbusier, it is important to notice that they are an integral part, and frequently maintain the main elements of interior and an exterior of a building.

It is possible to emphasize several principles formulated by Xenakis (though he never exposed them) in opposition with five principlesdemonstrated by Le Corbusiers:

· "The S-curve" form. Iannis Xenakis considered the form of a parabolic hyperboloid the ideal basic for his own constructions: «…it all happened out of a kind of revelation I had while designing the Philips pavilion, which is formed by S-curve surfaces; Because of some experiments which were done in a laboratory near Eindhoven in Holland, I realized that the S-curve was excessively resistant and its form could not be destroyed»[4]. About Le Corbusier contemporaries said that his works are the "hymns consecrated to right angle". On the contrary Xenakis considered that the rectangular constructions are less strong, natural and too "finished", as distinct from S-curve structures which symbolize movement, infinity. By the time of the beginning of work on the project of pavilion Philips, I.Xenakis had already an original author's hypothesis of music realization in space and in the form; it was a new musical formula of creative synthesis. By this time "Metastasis" was written by Xenakis- one of the most known orchestral works of the composer, with its notorious glissando of stringed instruments. There is the drawing of the Xenakis, where is pictured a plan of the movements melodic lines in this piece: their approaching, division, consolidation, exhaustion. Evidently, that the score of "Metastasis" look likethe scheme of a metal skeleton of buildings which were projected by Xenakis:

· Isolation by nature (controllable interaction). Xenakis went further Corbusier and has suggested to refuse gardens at habitation designing, because this could help to protect the nature from irresponsible people invasion. The composer-architect believed that will be possible to supervise and stop intrusions of people into the nature and planetary space, thanks to creation of the cities-buildings provoking the more compactness of people movements. Thus, the comfort of townsmen will be reached by possibility to breathe fresh air and to admire the nature through transparent walls, without interfering with its life.

· The flexible materials. Light projections: Xenakis denies concrete completely, desiring as much as possible to use a space from the point of view its economical and convenient lay-out, illumination, functionality. These are pellicles in space with a width of one hundred or one hundred and fifty meters, perforated and transparent, which would insure ventilation and visibility, light, etc. Designed in 1977 Diatop also represents a skeleton covered with by a red elastic material. At creation of monastery La Tourette (1953-1960г.) Le Corbusier with help of Xenakis has embodied the idea formulated still 1922г.: "…light and a shade show the form"[5] having designed internal space of the main part of a monastery as a original «black box». Only the small open window on a ceiling projects a solar beams on a floor which in turn serves as the projective screen. Ksenakis has learnt this lesson well and has applied its at creation of Diatopa, only instead of a sunlight on a floor Xenakis were projected a light flashes and laser beams.

The crisis of the town-planning which has been especially sharply designated in the XX-th century, has led to origin of the new concepts offering various decision of the modern city problems. The great resonance was received by Le Corbusier's and J.Xenakis's ideas.

3."Radiant city" by Le Corbusie and "Vertical city" ("Cosmic city")by I.Xenakis.Le Corbusier thought, that city is a symbol of struggle between the person and nature, a symbol of his victory over it. It is the man-made organism, called to protect the person and to create the conditions for his work. It is a result of human creativity, but this is not chaotic creativity and connected with mission of a city and environment."The city is an instrument for work. Cities do not carry out their normal appointment any more. They become fruitless; they wear out a body and conflict with common sense. Continuously the growing anarchy of cities is offensive, their degeneration will wound our vanity, touches our self-respect. Cities are not worthy of their epoch, they are not worthy of us"[6]. Understanding uniqueness and originality of this or that city, of its individual "profile", Corbusier has put forward the theory of "Radiant city", constructed on a linear principle. But it is significant that Corbusier's poetic dream about rapprochement of the person with the nature has nothing common with sentimental idyll of a rural life. It is the rational decision of a town-planning problem, creation of the most effective environment for work and rest. Le Corbusier supposed that architecture shouldn`t obey the landscape, and landscape - the architecture.Acropolis hill doesn`t dictate to the architecture, but Parthenon. Corbusier adhered to a principle of natural moving of the population, a so-called principle of the decentralization inhabited localities. This principle does not depress the person and, on the contrary, "technologically" introduces his habitation in the nature.

In 1964 Xenakis has stated the theory of a city-future in his book "Music. Architecture". Vertical cities will prevail in the future. He was sure they would be narrow and high (3000-5000 meters). They will look like the huge constructions containing all infrastructure of a contemporary city. They must be covered by the metal, but interior of these cities will be formed by elastic membranes. All necessary survival facilities of such hermetical space: light, air, heat, etc. will be regulated as in the airplane. Ideal form for such a skyscraper, according to Xenakis, is "the S-curve surface" of parabolic hyperboloid, because only such fundamental structure can be built up to similar height. Xenakis believed, that Primogenitors" of vertical cities-buildings were the city-states of Ancient Greek from the point of view their administrative-political structure. In his opinion, they are impossible in modern capitalist conditions.

The composer-architect believed that birth of similar huge vertical constructionswas a natural evolution stage of the town-planning, connected with the tendency to centralized moving of the population: «…instead of spreading out over a surface, which creates problems of contact for human activities, we must organize cities in a vertical manner … such a system would allow us to install cities in truly uninhabitable climate, either very hot or cold climates and in overpopulated or deserted areas»[7]. At the first stage, Le Corbusier supported the theory of vertical cities, but it has disappointed him very quickly. In turn, the well-known Indian city of Chandigarh (where Le Corbusier realized his concept "Radiant city") Xenakis considered artificial, stillborn because it was created in the "laboratory" (in the architectural studio) and didn`t correspond with a real life of urban population enough. Xenakis thought, that the vertical city or "container" ashe named it is much more successful framework. the city reminds "the receptacle"which contents can be changed.

From "Electronic poem" by Le Corbusier to "Polytopes "byIannis Xenakis.

Architectural concepts of both authors were realized in other arts where music occupy the particular place. In 1956 as a result of the offer of the popular electrotechnical firm "Philips" Le Corbusier has created the concept of the "Electronic poem". It was a multimedia synthetic performance with participation of light, color, of the film projection, of sound distributed in the constructed space especially for it.. This pavilion became sensation and has caused many disputes on the world exhibition EXPO-58 in Bruxelles. For demonstration of "Poème électronique" Corbusier wanted to create the pavilion, which accommodated of 500 persons, and invited little-known architect and the composer from Greece - Iannis Xenakis; Edgar Varèse composed the musical accompaniment. In this Le Corbusier's project as well as in his architectural works, the light projection becomes the main subject of attention. He spoke about it: «I built not «Philips» pavilion, but an "Poème électronique". All things participate in an internal part [of the performance] – a sound, light, colour, and a rhythm. The space has been formed by an ex-terrier of pavilion»[8].

The plot of "Poème électronique" (which he named "stomach") represented the original ritual - the audience during 600 seconds walked along the pavilion and saw the film; at first this film was accompanied by E.Varèse's music during 480 seconds and then 120 - by I.Xenakis's music. Hundreds of light cameras and lamps merged with a sound and color, submitting rhythm to a performance and imitating a current of days – a dawn, a sunset, stars and lightnings. The pavilion interior had got a complicated structure, thanks to combination of the real space of parabolic hyperboloid and virtual space of a film projection. The moving images of four film projectors have been dispersed in real space by means of mirrors for creation of the virtual space. The 400 loudspeakers created the acoustical spatial effect and distributed along walls of pavilion. The music accompaniment broadcasted through them. The loudspeakers formed sound masses in the "mountains" of noise and provided their acceleration or deceleration, submitting to the general rhythm. Le Corbusier imagined that main «message» of the "Poème électronique" influenced the person automaticallythrough hearing and sight the moment he entered the pavilion, narrating about the most tragical and the most significant events from the moment of civilization origin. Architectural, light, projecting and sound spaces in this case have been closely interconnected, synthesized, subordinated to the basic scenario of show. Corbusier wrote about it so: "The synthetical event has happened. A new tool has opened a door to imagination … Electronics taken from the unlimited resources of physics, gives to the person the absolutely boundless possibilities, amazing sources of influence by means of light. Color, a rhythm, a sound and an image have united; they can be reproduced in any place…"[9] In the course of creation "Philips" pavilion and "Poème électronique", in a head of Xenakis an image of the work for future has ripened. He named it a Polytope: the architecturally-spatial, colored-light, musical-noise, verbally-literary performance.

The global artistic conception by Iannis Xenakis was embodied in his five Polytopes best of all, it reflected understanding the composer of music as "a work in space" (he has been obliged by this idea to Le Corbusier). Aspiring to the maximum influence on people of his total performances, Xenakis addressed to the multimedia because it united all accessible means of expression. The spatial embodiment of compositions is fundamental principle for Xenakis and it is realized in his works through idea of the spatial-zonal pluralityproving at all dramaturgic levels.Thanks to it the structure of a multimedia genre was created by application of several spaces: of light-projecting, architectural and musical spaces. The global formal logic of Polytopes allows to isolate quite different from each other "layers" of performance and to develop separately a rhythm of light, color, music and their displacements irrespective of time. In this case, Xenakis interpreted the multimedia as a difference of arts, but not a sum of arts. At such state of affairs, according to the composer, the listener perceives a work of art actively, synthesizing performance elements self-dependently. Or, as the composer spoke: «The link (between the visual and aural dimension of the Polytopes) is not between them but beyond or behind them. Because beyond there is nothing but the human brain - my brain. We are capable of speaking two languages at the same time. Own is addressed to the eyes, the other to the ears»[10].

The spatial concept of Xenakis was realized in five Polytopes each time in a new way. From the point of view of musical space the Polytope Montreal represents "score" written for traditional instruments, Cluny and Mycenaes was written for electro-acoustic instruments (even if they are absolutely different), in Diatope the traditional and electronic sounds are crossed, and Polytope Persepolis is the example of concrete music. The music, according to the composer, occupies exclusive position among other arts because it has 4-dimensional structure (a pitch of sound, timbre, dynamics and duration) and different musical-acoustic qualities. These qualities can be transformed by means of the computer at this time, giving to composer the chance to create infinite quantity of original spatial models. Within the space of the musical text (score) Xenakis created virtual musical space using the axes of lexicographic time and filled its by musical events. Working with real musical-acoustic space, experimenting with stochastic distribution of listeners and sound sources concerning them, Xenakis approached to idea of Sonotron – of kinetic musical space organized in such a manner that in it the sound masses are capable not only to move freely, but to be accelerated and synthesized.

As distinct from "Poème électronique" where light submits to a plot of the film projection, in the light-projecting space of Polytopes the composer took an interest in real physical properties of light and a sound. Inspired by natural and space phenomena, the visual images of Polytopes are abstract and are based on axiomatic essences of Euclidean geometry, i.e. points and lines. These elements are materialized by means of light flashes and laser beams. Actually, light carries out independent function «music for eyes», on the basis of the stochastic composition principles. Abstract figures of laser beams are means of stabilization of musical and of light probabilistic processes. The projection "screens" in performances by Xenakis are luminous clouds from steel strings, or a floor from stone and glass, or hills and the night sky.

Xenakis worked at modeling of architectural space Polytopes: 1. with already existing space: a concert hall in Montreal, the Roman thermae in Cluny, partially ruins of Persepolisa and Mycenae; 2. with open type of space: night show at mountain bottom in Persepolis and on ruins in Mycenaes; and 3. with specially created architectural structure – pavilion Philips and Diatope.

Cooperation with Le Corbusier had great impact on Xenakis. Being under unconditional influence of great ideas Corbusier, but at the same time polemizing with them, Xenakis created not less significant concept of synthesis of the arts, realized in his outstanding works – Polytopes.

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