Towards Understanding the Style of the Modern Architecture Founder: Genetic Criticism of Villa Savoye’s Design Process

Objective: This work aims to understand Le Corbusier’s (LC) working method and to identify his style. Theoretical Framework: This research falls within the empirical studies of design activity and consists to trace the path of LC, by defining the different stages of his process, their durations and sequence. Method: This study uses genetic method, developed by P.M. De Biasi. Of literary origin, this research method is based on analysis of drafts and material clues of the design process. It has three stages. The first, empirical in nature, consist to the collect and the classification of the the drafts of LC’s projects (la villa Savoye). The second stage consists in analyzing documents (docs) one by one. The last stage is finally that define the design process of this project. Results and Discussion: The results show that the main stages which make up LC's design process in the Villa Savoye are: an ideal design phase, a brief birth instance of the whole and its parts it is the most important one, the back-and-forth work between its different parts, the final output of the project, by putting the parts produced into presentation drawings intended for production. Research Implications: The results have practical implications for design practice and teaching, highlighting the most important phase of this process, namely the ideal phase. Originality/Value: This study, which uses a new innovative interdisciplinary approach, offers results based on the analysis of the entire design process, offering new research perspectives on design theory.