5. The High Court

In the fifth episode, we’ll talk about the High Court, the first building to be constructed within the Capitol Complex. We discuss its likeness to an umbrella, its weightlessness and the experience of the uncanny. We also discuss the interiors and specifically the tapestries of the high court as well as Corbusier’s flexible approach to executing his vision.

TIMESTAMPS:

1:19 - Why was the High Court the first building to come up?

1:50 - The ‘umbrella’ analogy: visual, literary, mythological

5:35 - Making it look structural:  The visual trickery of the roof and arches of the high court

9:02 - Cooling the air by compressing and releasing the prevailing winds

10:27 - A building in which Corbusier engages all the elements

14:28 - Weightlessness of the high court building ; plan-elevation interplay

19:36 - ‘Doubling’ of the facade in the reflecting pools; horizontal symmetry

25:04 - The experience of the ‘uncanny’ & the Barcelona Pavilion

32:38 - Multiplicity of readings in works of art

33:39 - The pylons marking a ‘ramp in the sky’

35:24 - The hidden extension to the high court

38:52 - The tapestries and the symbols of law, balance and harmony

42:21 - Rough texture of ‘hand-poured’ concrete

44:37 -  Corbusier’s flexible approach to execution and foreseeing future changes

48:59 - The ramp as architectural promenade