Le Corbusier y la ciudad heredada. El caso de Argel

Abstract

Le Corbusier is often associated with tabula rasa style of urban planning, based mainly on his 1925 Paris project: the Voisin Plan. However, his prolific career is more diverse than this, and any analysis of it should not be limited to this proposal. A transversal view of his work reveals that he took different positions with respect to the heritage city over time, as witnessed both in his urban planning projects and in his theoretical texts, and that there was an important change of attitude towards historic cities between 1924 and 1945. A close look at his project for Algiers, developed during more than a decade (1931-1942) reveals his care for the city’s kasban ans its monumental buildings, proving that he was very selective, and clearly interesed in preserving the city’s heritage.