Cathedral crypt perfect place for Le Corbusier designs

Oct 2 2008 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post

Cathedral crypt perfect place for Le Corbusier designs

AN EXHIBITION dedicated to the “single most influential architect of the 20th century” opens today just yards away from Liverpool buildings based on his work.

Housed inside the Metropolitan Cathedral crypt, it is the UK’s first major showcase of Le Corbusier’s designs for more than two decades.

Models of his plan to demolish a large area of Paris’s historical buildings and replace them with a series of tower blocks are on display, as well as plans and photographs of the entire city he conceived in India.

Curator Mateo Kries said the crypt was the ideal setting for such an important exhibition.

He said: “It’s a beautiful building and reflects the idea of space that Le Corbusier was interested in.”

Several buildings in Liverpool, including Denys Lasdun’s sports centre on Oxford Street, were inspired by the Swiss-born architect’s designs.

Le Corbusier: The Art of Architecture, runs until January 18.

MATEO KRIES speaks to Laura Davis about Le Corbusier in Box Office in tomorrow’s Daily Post.