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Monika C. Aldecoa

Diagnosis: Modernism


Technological innovation and advancements in the industrial revolution in the late 19th century to the early 20th century made across a new era, Modernism; however, it was not quite characterized; trailblazers, Louis Sullivan, Walter Gropius, and Le Corbusier had established the movement. The era of experimentation and elimination spread after World War II. It was to resolve social problems and failed architecture.


One of the pioneers of the Modern Movement, Le Corbusier, the brain of urban planning was chronicled to be Autistic by Psychiatrist Anthony Daniels, and the biographer Nicholas Fox Weber. It is said that his style stemmed from his disability. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurological condition that affects the behavioral pattern and communication of a person. According to Sussman and Chen (2017), to understand the design and style, eye tracking is one thing to visualize the architecture of Le Corbusier.





The image above shows the difference between people with typical brain function (left) and with ASD (right). People with ASD avoid the usual focus on the eyes.



For this set of images, it displays “heat maps” from the eye tracking data, where the reddest part is the most part where the spectators view the most. On the other hand, people with Autism ward off details.


The world of Le Corbusier, the way he sees the world is different. Whether it supports the two researchers’ diagnosis or not. His character is something to be acknowledged. One of his aphorisms is, “A house is a machine for living in. Baths, sun, hot-water, cold-water, warmth at will, conservation of food, hygiene, beauty in the sense of good proportion. An armchair is a machine for sitting in and so on,” depicts his visionary gift as a painter, writer, urban planner, and as an architect.


This Autism Awareness Month, let us express that every person with Autism is included. Whether Le Corbusier had ASD or not, his architectural style is special. And people with Autism are also special.



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