SMasecews Architecture Oriented Otherwise David LeatherbarrowcHaPreR 11 The Law of Meander [My ain this inal chapter 10 widen the historia Famework ofthe preceding chapers by developing connections beeen the picturesque tradition and easly modern archtecre—t0 show that a umber ofthe spatial structures that eharactvize ‘modern architecrure are outgrowths of pre-swenteth-century history. To demonstrate this I wil take up matters of ar histor, architectural theory, and philosophical andopology. have already stated my historical argument, that rwenteth-cenury spatial ypes such as the fee plan, che Raplon and the open lan developed out ofthe picturesque trio. As for mates of theory want to show that confgurasons ofthis kind emp sized movement dhrough space more than its pictorial aspects. “Tis isnot so much deparcre from the wadton asi sam elaboration of one of ts key aspects, Last T want co argue hat the architecture that adopted this manner of design but not its conventional motif) enlarged ts philosopbialantiro- ology ito a set of ideas and symbols that approximate noth 71 short of conmology, one that attempted to overcome the tradional ditnetion between artiice and nature. Blore any ofthese points can be made, however, ed to set out what 1 sean by both the pituregue tradition and the spi steuctre st develope. Picereaque space arose i dhe “informal” garden that emerged ia England in dhe eal elgheonth eerury and thenspread seross Europe through the later eighteenth and nine- teenth centuries. For the purposes ofthis stad, I will bor- so John Dixon Hunt’ summary of its main characteris. Prcrresque space offers the experiene of earful considered and composed regulars, fentring the richness and varity of ‘tural materials arranged in apparent randomness, appealing to eyes that not onl ove acros extensive seanery but apPee- Ihe its many and varied aypecs These aspect include stings ‘that appear ina dete foreground as wellas hose ina mide stance of calculated effets and those that He Beyond in the hazy distance They appeal al he whe othe imagination, ofen through exotic balding, which are designed ro be—tke thet. surroands~aesthetcally and emosionaly pleasing being partly reminiscene of landscape pairings and engravings." Pictorial ‘hough often was, the picturesque landscape wa also, or just 2 often, theatrical fora principal aesthetic category of gardens ‘in this wadtion was cari which ws achieved noe cough one prospect but through many-—an ensemble, views seen not at fone but one afer another nme ike ctor events on tage ia ‘dramatic performance, Petre making and theater might then ‘em to be exentilly the same, for both ofr their composi> ‘ons 0 vision. Yer when ones experince of these compositions fs consdered in is temporal dimension, the ono are discovered to be esentillyifrent. Pietorial works offer hee contents ll at once, in an instant, notwithstanding the fact tha pictorial ‘understanding takes tine, Sil through the dueaon of viewing, ‘the pictorial work stays as it and remain the same when seen aps in dhe future. Theatieal works, however, unfold in time 4 a completely diferent way- I pices annul, dramatic works ‘vebvate time, particlaly temporal chang, spanning the fll spectrum of human and narra history, from recollection to ciation in human experience and growth and deterioeation in he natura world Pul Ricoeur has shown nis magnificent ‘Tone and Naraive tha story weling nd temporal sucension neces ecprocae one another® No form of experience was more effective inactivating garden temporality than movement Hint pointed to this his account ofthe eye “roving” acre ‘extensive scenery attending tits many and varied aspects, each sstinguished from the others by vite fits specific and iden- table character, Because ic wil be central to my account of the itr architetural interpretation of the picturesque tadi- tin, wold keto fer tn aon cations in explanation ‘of movement in the pictarexgue garden. The soiree I cite are from the middle and early period of the garden's development. 1 176}, the poet and amatur gardener Wiliam Shenstone made she fllowing recommendation: [When 2 bling or other objet has been once viewed fom it proper pain the for should never vel tit by the same pathy which the eye as raveled over befor, Love the abt, and drat nigh oblgud™ He atempted follow this principle i the design ‘and consrucion of the gardens around his estate called the Leasowes. The “obliguty" of approach recommended. by ‘Shenstone was anticipated by Alexander Pope in an eater statement of principle: “Let not each beauty everywhere be spied, / Where half the ski decency to hide Here, delay {and roundabout movement are less important than paral; the gacen ara whole never sen all at once, oral of piece, for figures that are presen apparene occlude those that are sstto he seen, Pope ike Shenstone, argue fr succession, The arden was never more than patil disclosed from a single ‘antag pont it acenes were fo be discovered en route, hich {sto say, on foe, i the mi of collapsing and expanding die- tances, noticed through diagonal of oblique views—the kind of optics seventeentncentury st designers had referred to 5, the eed por angol AX swell known, spatial structure ofthis ‘kind wae se ou along an armature of serpentine paths, lofthe carly designers ofthe picturesque garden wer insistent on svodance of saght lines of movement and on promodon af ‘he meandering route Two centuries afer Pope, Le Corbusier had the same Kind of movement in mind whet he wrote about ~The Law of Meander” to which Iwill tur a the end of is int, though itl more ness to be sa about move sment-The passages Ihave cite from Shenstone and Pope st stat we anally separate to sorte of movement, of he je and of the body—a visual and an ambulatory sor, The ter can be defined most simply as transit from place to pace, or change of postion, pasing fom this grove, for example, 0 that clearing Obviously this aot ovement of bat the land scape. On tis tpi, 10, I want to ete Ht, particularly his Aiercoraion of “kinds of movement: the procession, sol, lor wandering of perceiving subject * Picturesque gardens were rarely thought of spaces fr processional movement however; processions happened more frequen in ritualized sting. Further, gardens were only used a ses for wandering when they relaced thee primary order into the unculiated potenti ofthe unimproved errun. the fishing of movement, proces ‘on, has definite destination and prescribed route, the atten, ‘wandering, has neither Swolling by contrast aims at a destina” tio. Yer i also weleomes unexpected incidents long the w9 My proposition i this: us a6 a soling sor of movement was, ‘exntral to dhe pitareaue garden its kein the development ‘ofthe new spat of early modern architect. | 1885, Camillo Site, the immensely infvcal ‘Vienne urban tort, drow the following comparton between strolling movement ia cites andthe perception of pctresgue spaces: “[A)plctureaque effet could be atined by follwing ‘the natural path of «strollers fet Such a graceful curvilinear ‘ajectory is observable inthe vilges andi an honor oiitate them" As in picturesque gardens, meandering movement in wages and cites encountered a series of setings, or fag ‘ents af thm, succeding one another long an unpescribed pussage. Desrbing movement through medieval towns, Site ‘wrote [T]he winding character of the ancien sets kept seal ing of perspective views in them while offering the eye @ new aspect at each succeeding turn. These meandering, which ae wiped out a great expense in our day were not the eeu of ‘pric... was necessary 4 adapt the layout of the set 10 st tetain” There are two hey points in his passage: one, that wining secs offer waccesive prospects and toy that there was # topopraphical pretext for meandering movement—n0 rater whether the route was urban rural. I want ro show that that is also the case for modern architerare; the uring ‘of modern bulding' internal routes respond tothe charac- teristics ofthe surrounding terzain, jst as they prompt explo story movement. Iam ot the Hist wo draw this eompaison ‘ence concepts of space in ely Viennese ran and ac tectura theory Some years ago, George Collins sugested ink between Site's concept of Reumunst and Adolf Loos idea of -onplan’ ln Sat tei shard dependence on the crease teadion relates thom to one another ‘Auber ofhistorians have sso observed that dhe con cept ofthe Ravmplan evident in Loor's houses has a basis the domestic architecture of England and America in the late ineteenth cenars* The bulsngs of Shaw, Webb, Bailie Seo, Voyses, and Lusens in England and thote of Richardson ia America exibited the qualities Los viewed as epeesentave of ‘the modern way of ng. Most important among these quali- ties were diferentatd room levels and heights, open circult- tion spaces, open stairwells wih age landings, replaces and ‘bay windows in living spaces, open galleries in halls terraces, and rooms within the whole ensemble fied together but not ‘wholly stereonnected, The coordination of pars sucha these involved the integration and interconnection of interior spaces sro ll manner of partitions snd sreens.Presuppored inthe ‘sign and articulation ofthese partons and screens was the subdivision and diferentiation of spaces. Raumplanspatility posts both dirensaon and stegration, What is more, while aunplan configuration depended oa the separation and coor. ‘ination of ternal seings i so assumed their nterocking withthe diferent aspects ofthe exerir ‘As sugaested in Chapter 10 and ited on pages 255-58, the most compact definition of the Ratonpan idea wat artic lated by Loos himsel. While he didnot meation the Maller house when explaining his kindof planing tis clear anexce!- lene example, The Mailer house situated ona hill orrooking Prague n whe was then a suburban lage. The principal entry is small, compared tothe measre ofthe expanse ofthe font facades and it opens nto en equally smalbsized emery that leads through a narrow passageway alongside a vestibule, toa ight emia tinea This sequence is dramatically interrupted the top ofthe stainey where the vitor emerges tthe sie of vast and bertifally areulted ving room, Before this 00m Entered, looking right, the dining room can beacen a the top of 1 fight of sep; on the le another semipial inna begins Sait shea fom the point of arrival on the main level are Windows that open ato the rer garden inthe foreground end the landscape around Prague i the distance. Ths, rom this oi thee primary settings ae snerconnected bei trough ‘iagonl o oblique views, each seting including more than it scully contains. At the dawn ofthe picturesque garden tad tio, Pope cle chi calling) in the country" eis also what Frank Lio Wright had in mind wen he advocated “breaking the box” “As the Mili meander i followod farther, ocr set tings emerge ito view. Upon entering the ving room, the di ing oom is ible again shrough an iregulreolonnade or pai.of thick piers Alo vise, above and behind the poin of ents, ‘sa long internal window This wind joins the ring oom 0 ‘inal and intimate siting space. Tis space sone part ofa very ‘complicit and bes nereated group of setings that lie above the entryway. Joined together there ae: the inmate siting space reading space tht adjoins a large external win~ ‘ove, and the library, hich is alo attached to a large window. “This ensemble can be reached from ether the dining room or ‘the ving rom. Thus spat ofthe movement Sequence, but at the sme ime thas autonomy Ia fact, other settings in he ‘house re sinarlyjoined vo form groups that ar only iniectiy related ro the whole ensemble, bu this particular group can be tahun as representative. Ta the definion ofthe Raumpan allded 0 above and cited in Chapter 10, Loos stressed the eiferentiation of stings according 0 room level and height All ofthe stings have just names ave diferent ceiling heights, Further, the meander have followed ascended through at least four levels although this amber could be increased some ofthe landings consi tute now eels Landings sich a thee seem ager hun they are fortwo reason: 1) because the stairways of whi dhe forma a part ae opened onto adjoining stings; and (2) because they fe enclosed by sereens and partitions that contain but far- ishingrsheles, seas, and so on. Thee sno doubt that the ‘etic and shape dilferentation of the rooms joined by these stairways and landing is complemented by asefined direntia~ tion of cladding mater, allowing Loos’ principle of making ach setiag “arm and leabl” Yer jus important as the ‘cladding isthe correspondence between these settings and the ‘extemal or perimeter stings around the house for the bul ing’ surrounds are variously bright and dark, quiet and loud, ‘with near and far prospect hat qualify the building’ interiors as much ais materials do As the perimeter varies, so do the ze a shape ofthe internal settings. The lage tring space connected tan expansive terrace that overiooks the garden; the tiht intimate spaces for reading and conversation are contained. within the enclose ofthe side wal: and the eazy positioned. fon the fron facade bt ran of the main street and reduced. in sie. The Raplon i a spatial coordination af ncermal st- tings with expec to one another and the dierent aspect ofthe ‘terior. Pu ilfreny, he interior meander concentrates the ‘arity and riches of te surrounding topography. What Sie found inthe town, Loos arranged inside the house, as if the Jaxer were an image ofthe forme—and the forme, ofcourse, ‘understood asa plcturesque ensemble ‘Let me now move oato my second case and begin by saying that what Camillo Site's dots were to Lao, Hermann ‘Muthesu's were to Mies van der Rote—that 2 Bey to the possibly of extending the pictresque tradition (of order- ing exterior spaces) into the design of architectral plans and Tn his stay of “The Nature of Mies Space” Barry engl stressed he importance ofthe garden, paral the sovclle architectonic paren, in Mies approach to spatial ‘composition "In explsining the antecedents fortis approach, erg civ bot Peter Behrens and Hermann Mushesis oa the inerconnectons between house and garden, Muthesus, fo ‘cramp, spoke of the “continuation of he spaces of the house” into the gorden. He wrote that “the same fundamental prin- ‘pes that preva in uhe house, dhe seme organic relationship of ‘he individual parte o another, the same unifcation ofthe parts fnto a harmonic whole..must also prevail in the garden ™ Berens, fo his par, saw the garden as an opportunity for “forming spac.” Seeing erttn as space allowed the andscape to be asiated into architecture, for Rawmgoabung (ving {oem wo space “is obviously.” Behrens a "the highest princile of architerure "This stsimiation—generaly discussed as continuity”, however, only the fist wep inthe develop ‘ment of Misian space Bergiol observed thai is te work, [Miss “transposed the dialogue bere indooes and outdoors into the architecture ial? This transposon war dive, forthe perceptual posits so vai perspectives that re ‘haractristi of hi work rested fom us tis internalization ofthe landscape. ‘My elim, ni, i hiss Mies eary projects rejected the categorical dintineton between the order ofthe buiaing tnd the landscape; natead, he slowed the order of the later to prefigare that of the former The faneton of partons in his plans ofthe 19208 and 193088 orient and ea the toll ing kindof movement we have oberved in pctrenque gardens Screen walls alo open and cloue dhe dagooalpoospect, such 2 those Shenstone and Pope recommended. Weting about the garden behind Mis’s Ric! House, Berpdol interpreted in “almost perverse refusal of «direct path from the garden zm to the front door" a “embryonic ofa steaeay in neal all, [Mies's German houses: the visitor s generally obliged to turn several times at ight angles before the view full unveed"™™ “The sratepy of delaying disclosure also explains he tansforma- tion ofthe person into an “ambulant observer” Jost Ques verote expressively bout the lone occupant of Mies'sBareelona Panton, whose sole sev was unrequited gang st theatre sets of “nothing but space:"* The opening and closing of views lee to a roving spectator also what Robin Evans described in his account of Micr's “Paradoxical Symmetries?" These essay, together with Bergdolls arguments about garden sp Hai, present Mies asa landscape architect who intended hi Twuldings to offer moc erin than they were relly prepared to sve. Each view, fagmentary a was, opened abiguely onto ‘mother and then ll other. And if the opening was not towardnew sting twas toward a new aspect of a seting that had ‘been cen prviouly. The sequunce sn principle, without end, the building abvays exceeding ise In this 00, its Ike the Iandscspe at lest ia ts visual or optical aspects. Miesan bul ngs oar surplus of views each wih its on character, defined largely by aspects ofthe building isl together with tha pare ‘of the ambient landscape i bas annexed into is holdings, or allowed to eater into and quai its several settings. My thing case, Prank Lloyd Wright, presents another ‘example of an carly modern architext advocating meandering ‘pace in ways that build upon picturesque theory and practice. Invent om preserving the impression of is eriginality, Weaht ‘was never particule pen about his sources. Aay atbution ofinsluence in his as wil alvays be suggestive. Sil just ile famianty with the nineteentivcentcy landscape tradition ia ‘America makes it hard to deny the impact these theories had on Wright. An obvious casein point is Andee Jckson Downing. “That variety and richness of scenes Were characters- Se of picturesque landscapes is clear ftom Downing’ defiai- tion ofthe be ideal in hit Trai n he Tey and Prac of Landicape Gardening: ‘cepa theater of wich 0 ee ‘Seat fr pale —aniingin he ame sane ‘Obrioualy, such varity—thesches of al climates compacted Jao one designed landseapecould not be perceived or expe- rienced all at once, in a single view of ata given moment. Downing ke others before him, imagined and recommended ovement though such a landscape, And again, the path of ‘hat movement was a micander. Frank Lloyd Wrights estimation of the importance of the winding path is evident inthe fact that he began his Aubicgrapy witha shore tle about is significance. While it ‘cems clear that he characters ofthe tory—Uicl John ahi soung nephew-were meant tbe understood as ideal ype the ‘soung boy can also be seen as Wright himsell The tale begins ‘th summons rom Uncle Jo: ome naan i sow you how "Taking tis oe eee, Nie ih ole intent po gal gh rar ewe. Bu so {Be yc he lm fond weed pit he ms sharp sows ed in be argue. te tote ee oe he he a to he ‘ar rin fllof"woeds” [Une J] ws inthe soo were howe] sti ay sng oad esa The by came es fale Mise, slovng.The eon wa ce, Bak the che Ions nig ini ei ine. nd hte igh one ie ne ea We ain back ‘The contrast between topographical pes coul! not be more asc straight versus wavering Nor could the modes of percep tion be more dtnc,heedlesvereus heed, Nor agin, could ‘he hind of movement be moee sharply diferent, processionalversus trolling, While Uncle John sem to hod the high moral round, Weight also recognized the meri ofthe young nephew's spontaneous conduc, a least dhe race of his character inthe ‘meandering path. This is implied in his concluding line: “The toy looked a is ensure and then at Uncle Jobs pri, com prchending more than Uncle John meant he shoul. The boy ‘was troubled, Uncle John lft ou something that made all the slfrence" If ahere is any ambiguity about Wright’ estimation ofthe meandering pith in this short tx, his understanding of Consider, spun, the entry sequence into his Unity “Temple. Ihave sleady dcwsted the numberof turn and delays Involved in the approach. From the street, the bung is fine seen asa grey cubic ass standing solidly ont cornerste One ‘ust follow the sidewalk around one ofthe sides to the point ‘where the two maia volumes Uaity Temple and Unity Howse) meet. Upset of stais and behind low walle ads bank ‘of doors that ead int the entance fyerThisfoyeris sting space because ofits extsemely low celing—in fat eis the low ‘xt space inthe ene building. The contrast with the expanse ‘outside could ot be greater. Although low the space opens Intell, the main room in Unity House on one side and a sol wall cross the depth fu covidor on the other The name typically given to this posapeway is eoister” Because i allows fora sort of ambulatory movement aroun the lower evel kit ing the main sanctuary. "The Rey moment inthis sequence fx the indice connection between the cloister and the stnetuary ‘Through the opening beeen the sanctuary Boor and the cot: ter cling, one can ee from the daness ofthe hallway into the warm light of the space above. Tae main point i the delay, the partial disclosure or revealing and hiding, nthe manner of landscape experience described by Shenstone. Proceeding far ther, one must run and move yp the sais inthe back eoener Fen ad ih yal ab Pa i Bn‘in order to enter the main space ofthe sanctuary. Never before had movement into a chapel been stactred as such twisting out through viously qualied stings or scenes. The “ow= es” athered by the young boy climbing the hill are precisely snalogous to the gathering of snes tha results fom Wright's ‘orchestration of « meandering entry sequence. “The tite of my chapter comes ftom Le Corbusier It {sto im, and his understanding of the law of meander, that T now urn, But a with the other architect I have discussed, here, t00, want to tur briefly to ninteenth-eentury theo zed key aspects of the ration, but alo provided 2 Beginning pin for architectural developments. The writer Ihave in mid $s Auguste Choisy ‘Several hiorians, Ets, won Moss, Colquhoun, and Frampton, have posted tothe importance of Choisy’ wings for Le Corbusier's ideas about spatial movement. The ideas of Site come into this as well, ae Allen Brooks in particule has shown. But fst Choisy. Ics well known that Le Corbusier published plates trom Choisy's Hii de architect Hers tie achisctrs, Under an illsraton ofthe Acropolis a Athens, [Le Corbusier wrote: "Lets noe forget that the ground of the Acropolis is very uneven, with considerable diferences of level ‘hat were used to creat imposing bass forthe buildings. The ‘whole thing being ou of square makes for vistas tht are rich swell as subd: the asymmetrical masses ofthe buildings pro- duce an tense thm This observation repeat princi ‘we ave diacovered already, that plan and tein correspond, ‘hac the frst not a ono bu ult ou ofthe second despite of i suraceiregulaites and saymmetin, Le Corbusier ‘made a related pot later in the stne chapter in Vrs ne archi ucre, whete the apparent lack of order was explained a 3 rubleform of balance beween nest and far geomet, Theplan's dependence on the surounds was stted as follows (The balance among parts) i determined by the famous land scape which suetces from Piacus to Mount Pentelics. the ues (for example) fllow the valle An illustration of the Acropolis taken from Choi's text appears one more time in [Le Corbusier's book, his time illustrating his argument about sce isis point about ses is that here snot one aus but ‘mang. Second, they are perceived in sequence, not all t once. Lasty—an perhaps most importandy—each ine of ight hides contents others reves: “(T]he Actopois extends i effect ight to the horizon. The Popylaa inthe other destin, the clos sl tatu of Athens on thesis and Pentel nthe distance. ‘And because they are outside dis forcefl ans, the Parthenon to ht, the Erecheum to de lef you ae able ogee a the “quarter view of ther, nthe fll epect.™ Allure lates Le Corbusier included ae from Choisy's chapter on the picturesque a Greek at. In his account of the function ofthe Propslae, Chis, 00, introduced the constr ion ofan oblique or three-quarters view 28 ifthe hilltop ensem- be lied on the same opscalstratepes as landscape paren Love the ob and das gh ogy. Apart from the geometry of the ste, Le Corbusier emphasized the coincidence ofthe it's near and far horizons, ‘hati the alignment ofthe top ede ofthe hills sylbates with the shorsin tthe foot ofthe mountains inthe distance. Now, sing back to Camillo Site, Allen Brooks has shown that Le Corbusier ls stud Site's ext very carey In fe, eae rafts of his ist book on ety planing amount to litle more ‘than commentary on Site's arguments. Yt, because the text. developed over a number of years, Le Corsi appreciation ‘of picteresque planing became somewhat ambiguous o iter tly confictual. The difrence between his early approval of the meanderrendored as the donkey path—and his late it~ciom com be measured by hi recognition of the importmee of the antomabile. In Pico he wrote eben ey el with ate eer 2 ehtoron fe The smote has coe er or ecens lily slang hi key uth sed tothe iskofs non orfo Mn i deed towiden and sect Bother re prpite Mote (bth does nt wk The concen hs, stat sree would be the answer to tafe and com seston problems ip the metropolis. This can be seen cleat in Le Corbusier's many urban plans, for Paris of coune, but forces throughout the worlds well Yes, a with Weight the donkey path was never rejected. It reappeared, for example 8 the promenade archi. T alo appeared as the pedextian route though towns In Te Cty of Timer Le Corbusier re ommended suaight street for wali and meandevig lanes fo psdestrans: “The curved steet has very justification or ive if rchiectral effet is noe aimed and ifthe surrounding coun tsi, ora east the ees and grass, are perresque and not overbore by any srikng creation of man. Can we impose an trchitecturalehtacter onthe winding stecYes! T sum up the ‘whole mater, the curving street is essential picuresque™ “That principle of topographical onde ould be used to Assign architectural plan is apparent from Le Corbusier’ fst tse ofthe term promenade architect Desrbing his Maisons [Ls Roche sn Jeanneret with this term, he si fis 0 ener and the spectacle unfolds in sucemson before our ees. He‘hen offered key statement of principe: “[¥Jou follow sn n= rary and the perspectives develop with grea arc”? In this single passage, we have the esenial structure of picturesque spac: dhe path, together witht destination, he mull views ‘Succeeding one anther, each conibuting tothe dtcloeure of ‘unity within topographical vaiaon concordant discordance. "The views Le Corbusier published inhi Oevre Compl etch ‘the principe of obliquity aswell foreach isan example of the ‘taper ang Despite the development of meandering rete i his ‘buildings, Le Corbusier remtined ambialent about the frm, ‘sid Wits he fstapore stright and sexpenine ins and tcknowledged the merits of each. The significant change in Le Corbusier’ later period concern thes fom atchitectral to cosmological nde. He anticipated his enlarged sense of the rambling rote in his is account of the law of meander in De Radian Cig.™ As wih the donkey pa, the sory in that text. begins wih an accident: a rock appeas inthe path of running eater This sts nto mation aninteplay of consequences, force td counterforce. Instead of flowing normaly down to the sea ‘astraighr in, the rivers held up in its couse by the obstruc~ ‘on in ts path, The resus a meander. Given is mora gloss on suaightlines—diret means cle forthright, rtonal~the meander represents fl from the grace af he stright fine In ‘he Poem 0 the Right Analy the same history is fered, but naw {8am account of word formation: ‘nal recon reboot whee the ent ses ot eens ge a he a of iid, tng eet oce gun. Tela ofmeander pres ‘howe a man eter em evel a here bt eee pei om ei! ad Prec std pi eon enon Obviously architecture, while not an actor on stage i this drama, is waiting inthe wings The key player i water, m= boiz here a the frst principle of movement and change, 8 i often was inthe gardens, where i nourished development nd accelerated deterioration. For Le Corbusier, water both precise and amorphous, level on the horizon and straight i flow when unobetruced; but willing to take the shape of any conttine it entere—formless on its own The coum drm he describes is most vividly apparent fem above. Scenes such 25. this fst came into his writing aller he accustomed himself 0 ‘he aerial poin of view. From that vantage, the face ofthe earth presented the most basi rugs straight versus curved, light ‘sersus dark and lawful versus lavess. The law of meander Was sobasc that ruled all manner of terrestrial phenomena ni ronmental forces, gardens, ces, and buildings. Originating ia ‘tual metamorphosis the meander was ths taken ro be fte- fu for the movement of the aturl world consign to Raman ffs both thei orientation an thei ndFath yg ‘este tc sop he