In the year 1948, Le Corbusier developed a system of measurements which became known as "Modulor" (Le Modular). Modulor is a sequence of measurements which used to achieve harmony in his architectural compositions. Le Corbusier developed the Modulor in the long tradition of Vitruvius, Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man.
It was developed as a visual bridge between two incompatible scales, the Imperial system and the Metric system. The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement: kilo, giga, centi, milligram…. The Imperial system is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act: inch, foot, yard….
Le Corbusier selected the solar plexus, the top of the head, and the tips of the fingers of an extended arm as the principal anatomical locations. The distance from the ground to the solar plexus represents the extremes division of the golden section, approximately 1.61803, and the distance between the solar plexus and the top of the head is the mean.
From this base Le Corbusier produced an infinite series of mathematical proportions that could be applied to a wide range of architectural dimensions. Most applications of Le Modulor to graphic design, including Le Corbusier's own designs of Le Modulor, and Suite de la Modulor, have not been particularly impressive. Perhaps the most important contribution of the Modulor to two-dimensional design was the inspiration it gave to the typographic designers of Germany and Switzerland to create the modular systems that would transfer utilitarian makeup sheets to design-oriented modern grids.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modulor
- http://kirjasto.sci.fi/lecorbu.htm
- http://www.artofthegrid.com/gridit_modulor.html
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