Le Corbusier : Polychromie Architecturale - Le Corbusier's Color Keyboards from 1931-59

The Swiss wallpaper company Salubra repeatedly asked famous artists to compose individual colour scales and collections for practical use in the the wallpaper industry.

The architect and designer Le Corbusier designed two collections of colour scales, for the company: the "Claviers de Couleurs" in 1931 with 43 shades, and the "Salubra Collection" in 1959 with 20 colours.

In both cases, various patterns were added (rhomboids, dots, and marble imitations).

This pack contains these "Salubra colours" in 3 volumes, with 13 sample cards showing 63 colour shades, four slide bands and 63 full-colour plates.

By 1924 Le Corbusier had succeeded in applying his experiences, gained on his travels and as a purist painter, to the polychromes of his buildings.

Thus, he could considerably change the spatial effect of the "white houses" of early modernism. Originally, Le Corbusier mainly used natural colours that were available everywhere as powdered pigments, that is, colours already long responsible for many of the physiological and psychological effects in paintings.

The first part of this work researches the meaning of the Salubra collection for the history of modern architecture. The text is complemented by source and picture material, including two original texts by Le Corbusier.

The second and third part of the work feature Le Corbusier's Salubra colours themselves.