Le Corbusier - Unite d'habitation

The current turn towards community based art work, which has flooded the contemporary art scene in the last couple of decades, has led me to reconsider the pioneering architecture of Le Corbusier. Such work has taken over the biennial scene with artists such as Rikrit Tiravanja becoming something of a global nomad, cooking Thai curry for art world audiences from Kassel to to Istanbul. Whilst these artists are continuing the project of the avant garde: to confront art's autonomy, they still operate very much within the confines of the institution. When considering the merging of art and life, I could think of no better example than that of Corbusier's Unite d'habitation, which quite literally realises the reconciliation of art and life in concrete. As is stands now, as a monument to the Brutalist movement, perhaps it would be useful to reconsider the lessons or ideologies that are contained within this building and reassess which microtopia is more effective, that of Tiravanja which generates a spectacle for a predominantly upper class art going public, or the idealistic project set out by Corbusier that combines function and art together in order to generate a diverse, effective and unified living environment. When viewing this genius design, one is pained to see the reality of post war design that was influenced by, but not identical to Corbusier's ideal. Lack of money and time have contributed to the construction of the alienating high rise buildings that grace Britain's skies today, which have become hotbeds for crime and antisocial behaviour, something which ironically is now being confronted by the turn towards community art projects within contemporary art.