ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s conception spirit of unity and chaos, as well as their conception of clarity and truth. It also aims to shed light on how Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe’s modernist ethos is related to their philosophical readings. It investigates as well how the notion of clarity in Mies van der Rohe’s thought is associated with the conquest of generalisation of means. Moreover, this chapter explores the ideas behind Le Corbusier’s endeavour to compare human vision with the vision of cinematographic camera, and his preference of sketching over photography. Le Corbusier associated the capacity of cinema to document reality in a way that does not interfere with other faculties of humans apart from vision with its potential to discover life in its truth. The chapter also investigates the role of the notion of “Zeitwille” in Mies van der Rohe’s work, and the place of the concepts of “Esprit nouveau” and “ineffable space” in Le Corbusier’s work.
