By Le Corbusier

Precisions on the Present State of Architecture and City Planning, or Precisions, as the book is commonly known, originated from a series of ten lectures presented by Le Corbusier in Buenos Aires in 1929. Concise summations of the Swiss-born French architect’s pioneering philosophy, the lectures contain some of Le Corbusier’s most compelling aphorisms and cover topics ranging from technique, design and human scale, and the 1927 League of Nations competition to the teaching of architecture and an analysis of the transformation of his own work over time. During the lectures, Le Corbusier punctuated his points with a series of improvised crayon-on-paper drawings; this is the first edition to reproduce all 40 drawings in colour. The book also includes Le Corbusier’s introduction, appended in the 1960s, which describes the tremendous impact the city of Buenos Aires had on the architect—its beauty and vast potential, as well as the considerable challenges presented by this city “trembling on the verge of great works.” A new essay by Tim Benton places the lectures in context with the larger body of Le Corbusier’s work.