1887
  • born 6 October at 38 rue de la Serre, La Chaux-de-Fonds, de Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier), son of Georges Edouard Jeanneret, watch engraver and enameller, and of Marie Charlotte Amélie Jeanneret-Perret, music teacher.
1891
1900
  • Studies watch engraving at the Art School, under Charles L’Eplattenier.
1904
1905
  • Commissioned by Louis Fallet, a member of the Board of the Art School, to design a villa, which he builds in collaboration with the architect René Chapallaz.
1906
  • Watchcase designed and engraved by Jeanneret in Milan.
1907
  • In september, trip to Italy de two and a half month : Milan, Florence…
  • Visits the Charterhouse of Ema in Galluzzo, Siena, Bologna, Padua, Gargoano, Venice (october - beginning of November).
  • In November leaves for Vienna via Budapest.
  • Stay in Vienna four month : where he works on the plans for the Stolzer and Jacquemet villas in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
1908
1909
  • Autumn: returns to La Chaux-de-Fonds to supervise construction of the Stotzer and Jacquemet villas
1910
  • Foundation of the Ateliers d’Art Réunis (United Art Studios).
  • Participation in a national ski race (Grindelwald).
  • April : commissioned by the Art School of La Chaux-de-Fonds to research the decorative arts movement in Germany. " Writes his Étude sur le mouvement d’art décoratif en Allemagne (Study of the decorative art movement in Germany) in 1912.
  • Winter: works for Peter Behrens’s architectural practice in Berlin.
  • Meets Walter Gropius and Mies Van der Rohe.
1911
  • Meets Heinrich Tessenow, architect of Hellerau garden city in Dresden.
  • In May, leaves Dresden for his journey to the East : Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucarest, Tarnovo, Gabrovo, Kasanlik, Istanbul, le Mount Athos (21 days), Athens and southern Italy, in the company of his friend Auguste Klipstein, an art history student.
    During this trip, he made numerous drawings, sketches and notes in his sketchbooks, as well as several hundred photographs.
  • He worked his notes up into articles for the Feuille d’avis, a magazine in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
  • October: returns to La Chaux-de-Fonds, via the Charterhouse of Ema , in order to set up a new section of the Art School with L’Eplattenier.
1912
  • La Chaux-de-Fonds : Builds the villa Jeanneret-Perret in the rue de la Montagne (for his parents) and the Villa Favre-Jacot in the nearby town of Le Locle.
1913
  • Exhibition of 10 watercolors "Le langage des Pierres" (the language of stones), at the Salon d’Automne, Paris.
  • Certificate of competency for teaching art.
1914
  • Closing of the Nouvelle Section at the Ecole d’Art in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
  • Travels to Cologne for the Deutscher Werkbund exhibition and conference.
  • Begins studies on his Dom-ino concrete house project.
1915
  • Occasional trips to Paris to study in the Bibliothèque Nationale Print Room.
  • Works on his manuscript "La construction des villes".
1916
  • Builds villa Schwob and the Scala cinema (La Chaux-de-Fonds).
1917
  • Final departure from La Chaux-de-Fonds
  • Opens his first Parisian architecture studio at 20 rue de Belzunce (10th arrondissement), then at 29 rue d’Astorg (8th arrondissement).
  • Lives in Paris at 20 rue Jacob (6th arrondissement) until 1933.
  • Works as consultant to the SABA (Société d’application du béton armé) from April 1917 to January 1919.
1918
1919
1920
  • Meets Fernand Léger.
  • Adopts the pseudonym Le Corbusier for his architectural persona, derived from his maternal grandfather, Lecorbesier.
1921
1922
  • Architectural partnership with Pierre Jeanneret begins.
  • Lectures at Sorbonne.
  • Meets Yvonne Gallis, a model from Monaco, whom he will marry in 1930.
  • Exhibits the plan of a contemporary city for three million people at the Salon d’Automne.
  • Builds the Villa Besnus (in the Vaucresson suburb of Paris) and the Ozenfant Studio in Paris.
  • Works on a number of unexecuted architectural projects: maison Citrohan, Immeubles-villas...
1923
1924
  • Establishes his architectural office at 35 rue de Sèvres (6th arrondissement).
  • Gives lectures in Geneva, Lausanne and Prague.
  • Meets Krishnamurti.
  • Publishes L’Urbanisme (based on articles in L’Esprit Nouveau).
  • six workers’ houses and a dormitory and refectory at Lège (near Bordeaux) and villas Lipchitz-Miestchaninoff (Boulogne sur Seine).
1925
  • Publishes Almanach d’architecture moderne (An Almanach of modern architecture) and L’Art décoratif d’aujourd’hui (Decorative Art of Today) and (with Amédée Ozenfant) La Peinture Moderne (Modern Painting) (all based on articles published or intended for L’Esprit Nouveau).
  • Builds Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau (Paris) and the Pessac housing estate near Bordeaux . Studies for Plan Voisin for a modernisation of Paris and the Villa Meyer.
  • Introduced to the Minister Anatole de Monzie by Gertrude Stein.
1926
  • Death of Georges Edouard Jeanneret, father of Le Corbusier, on 11th april.
  • Publishes Architecture d’époque machiniste (Architecture of the machine age).
  • Builds the Villa Cook (Boulogne-sur-Seine), the Guiette house (Antwerp), the Salvation Army hostel (Paris) and the Ternisien house (Boulogne-sur-Seine).
1927
1928
1929
  • Trip in South America.
  • Lecture tour in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Montevideo.
  • Meets Joséphine Baker during this trip on the boat between Bordeaux and Rio.
  • Exhibits an apartment interior in the Salon d’Automne Paris, in collaboration with Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand
  • Second CIAM conference at Frankfurt.
  • Works on the Villa Savoye (Poissy), the Mundaneum (a center of world knowledge) and urbanism in South America.
1930
1931
  • Travels across Spain with Pierre Jeanneret and then on to Morocco and Algeria.
  • Visits the M’zab (Ghardaïa).
  • Builds the apartment block at 24 rue Nungesser-et-Coli, Boulogne-sur-Seine, including a penthouse apartment and studio for himself.
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
  • Second trip to Brazil on the Graf Zeppelin.
  • Gives advice to Lúcio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer, Alfonso Reidy and others for the Ministry of National Education and Health building in Rio.
  • Lectures in Rio de Janeiro.
  • Designs a 100,000 seater stadium, Paris.
  • Paints wall mural in Vézelay in Jean Badovici’s house.
  • Marie Cuttoli first tapestry.
1937
  • Receives the title of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur by the French government.
  • Honorary Member of RIBA.
  • Fifth CIAM conference in Paris.
  • Lectures in Brussels and Lyons.
  • Publishes Quand les Cathédrales étaient blanches (When the Cathedrals were white).
  • Works on the plan of Paris and his Cartesian skyscraper.
  • Builds the Pavillon des Temps Nouveaux at the International Exhibition in Paris.
1938
1939
  • Meets Jean Giraudoux during the launch of the C.E.P.U. (Committee for preparatory urban studies).
  • Awarded a foreign national’s Diploma at the Royal Fine Arts Academy in Stockholm.
  • Publishes “Le lyrisme des temps nouveaux et l’urbanisme” (The lyricism of the new age and urbanism) in the magazine Le Point.
1940
1941
1942
  • Founds ASCORAL (Constructors’ meeting for architectural renewal).
  • Official trip to Algiers.
  • Reopens the office at 35 rue de Sèvres.
  • Publishes Constructions ‘Murondins’ (the 'Murondins' constructions) and La maison des hommes (The house of men) with François de Pierrefeu.
1943
1944
1945
1946
  • Travels to USA at Princeton.
  • Meets Albert Einstein.
  • Publishes Manière de penser l’urbanisme (A way of thinking about urbanism) and Propos d’urbanisme (An urban proposition).
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
  • Receives the title of Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur.
  • Third trip to India in March 1952.
  • Inauguration of the Unité d'habitation in Marseilles on 14th october.
  • Builds Jaoul Houses (Neuilly sur Seine) and Unité d'Habitation (Rezé les Nantes).
1953
1954
1955
1956
  • Refuses a teaching post at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
  • Publishes "Les plans de Paris".
  • Exhibition in Lyon.
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
  • Trip to Brazil for the project of the Embassy of France in Brasilia.
  • Retrospective exhibition at the Musée d'Art Moderne (Paris).
  • Inauguration of the Assembly Building in Chandigarh and Construction of Housing Units (Firminy).
1963
  • Gold Medal of the City of Florence..
  • Receives the title of Grand officier de la Légion d'Honneur.
  • Conferred Honorary Doctorate from the University of Geneva.
  • Inauguration of the Carpenter Center for Visual Arts.
  • Exhibition at the Palais Strozzi (Florence)
  • Designs the Maison de l'Homme for Heidi Weber, Zürich.
1964
1965
Birth of Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, born October 6, 1887 and declared October 7
© FLC/ADAGP
Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (left) with his brother Albert and his parents George Edward and Marie-Charlotte-Amélie Jeanneret, 1889
© FLC/ADAGP
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (left) with his brother Albert
© FLC/ADAGP