The Clinical Agenda of Modernism: Le Corbusier, Race and Normativity

Drawn from López-Durán's book, Eugenics in the Garden: Transatlantic Architecture and the Crafting of Modernity, this talk uncovers the global trajectory of Le Corbusier's embrace of eugenics' ideology as a viable doctrine for the remaking of man, wherein the built environment would be put to work. Examining his alignment with eugenics-from his formulation of universal type-needs, to his Modulor and its normative human body-this talk reveals how architecture was made complicit in a genetically-inspired program that mirrored eugenics' attempts to "improve" the human race. This talk is free and open to the public. Reception to follow.