Many modern architects and designers prided themselves on following the existing style, some say that modernism was much more than just a style, it was a new, refreshed and renewed vision of the world accustomed to new points of view of space and time. One of the most iconic "modern" architects was Charles Edouard Jeanneret Gris, who took a great interest in the exploration of new materials, rejected the precedents of the past and pioneered simplicity. Charles Edouard Jeanneret Gris was born in Switzerland on 6 October 1887 and chose to be known as Le Corbusier. He initially worked in France, where he was most active, using his many talents as an architect, designer, writer, painter, urban planner and theorist. Corbusier began his academic life in 1900, as a goldsmith and engraver; studied in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland. Corbusier learned the history of art, drawing and the naturalist aesthetics of art nouveau from L'Eplattenier who Corbusier himself later called his only teacher. Corbusier then abandoned his current studies and continued his studies in art and decoration with the intention of becoming an artist/painter. It was L'Eplattenier who insisted that Corbusier study architecture, and therefore organized some local projects for Corbusier to work on. By 1907, the twenty-year-old Corbusier had designed his first house, Villa Pallet. After the completion of this project Corbusier undertook a series of journeys through Central Europe which included apprenticeships with architects, one of the most significant being Auguste Perret, a structural rationalist who was at the forefront of reinforced concrete construction. From October 1910 to March 1911, Corbusier worked with a renowned architect...... middle of paper ......ion to be used everywhere and even everyone was present. William JR Curtis in his book "Le Corbusier: Ideas and Forms" explains the importance and functionality of the Citrohan housing system: "Citrohan" was a pun on "Citroën" – a house like a car. Le Corbusier hoped to mass-produce the building pieces with Taylorized methods like those used in automobile factories.3 The housing shortage in post-war France was a critical issue, and the architect was directing his ideas to government agencies and industrialists . as well as with private customers... The Citrohan embodied the concept of a “machine à habiter” – a “machine for living in” – a functional tool raised to the level of art through judicious proportions, refined spaces and simplicity - keeping away decorations useless and purposeless habits. It was a utopian challenge to the status quo.”