Espen Gleditsch and his blindspots of modernism.
We especially love and despise the story of how Eileen Grey, a self-taught architect drew and built a house on the French Riviera after Le Corbusiers principles, for herself and her then lover Jean Badovici. A few years on, the relationship foundered and Grey’s former lover, still living in the house invited Le Corbusier to stay in the villa. After singing it (and her) praises, and without consulting her, the Swiss architect painted a total of seven expressive murals on the house’s stark naked walls. Gray was naturally, furious about this violation, considering it an act of vandalism, and with that, never set foot in the villa again. Architecture critics, referring to Le Corbusier’s proclivity for painting in the nude (Photographs from this visit show a naked Le Corbusier – apart from his characteristic round glasses – painting one of the murals), described it ‘an act of naked phallocracy’, and was of the opinion that the great architect, ‘seemingly affronted that a woman could create such a fine work of modernism, asserted his dominion, like a urinating dog, over the territory.’
[1]A Place by the Sea
To read the whole story:
WORDS: The Chromarty
PHOTOS: Espen Gleditsch