THE INEVITABLE ORDER: Revisiting the Calibrated Biomimetics of Le Corbusier’s Modulor

Abstract

[EN] Biomimetics is a philosophy in Architecture that addresses issues not through mimicry but by understanding the rules governing natural forms. Biomimetics has gained popularity in the past few decades but it would be more apposite to state that this philosophy may have had its origins many years previously in the conceptualization of the Modulor, as Le Corbusier strived to unite Mathematics, Physiology & Design. Common knowledge shows that disturbed by application of generic Imperial and Standard systems of measurements, the Modulor was ideated to help perceive the built environment as a physical extension of the human body. Le Corbusier’s attempt to develop a harmonious scale towards the measurement of the absolute has been criticized for adopting industrial efficiency; though alienating human emotion was farthest from Corbusier’s thought. What then is the architectural paradox in comprehending The Modulor as the universal proportioning system- racial differences in anthropometry, mechanizing architectural built forms within and without or simply an apprehension of losing mannerisms in architecture? Trying to unravel the mysteries of nature through analytics of the numbering system, Corbusier was consumed by the all-pervasive need to find answers to eternal questions in scientific spirituality. This paper explores the inevitable order of Le Corbusier’s universe, revisiting the conceptualization of the Modulor, its relevance to architectural philosophies in general and Biomimetics in particular and the universal application of the same as a governing factor in Design methodologies.