Counterpoints and fugues : Le Corbusier's use of colour for the Factory Claude and Duval in St. Dié

Abstract

The factory Claude and Duval in St. Die represents one of Le Corbusier's few remaining buildings where the original colours and paints survived restoration efforts. The colour schemes of the ceilings in the main working area, which for the most part until today haven't been touched, bear exceptional witness to his postwar architectural polychromy. In Le Corbusier's own work the factory represents a turning point regarding the application of his colour concept polychromie architecturale. Here, he applied a new colour palette for the first time, which from now on in variations determined the colour schemes of his postwar buildings. Bright, vibrant hues, often used as combinations of primary colours are juxtaposed as colour accents with the robust character of concrete and other natural materials. The planning and construction of the factory Claude and Duval in St. Die coincided with the development of the Modulor, which puts the change in his architectural polychromy in a new context. What role did colour play in the interplay of the architectural elements, which for the first time were precisely controlled through the Modulor? Drawing on primarily unpublished documents, this paper investigates the colour design for the factory in St. Die and ties it back into the broader context of Le Corbusier's Polychromie Architecturale.