This paperback volume presents the drawings contained in Le Corbusier's sketchbooks, previously published by Electa in an anastatic reprint.
Pencil sketches, pastel drawings and various notes document the things that struck, intrigued or interested the French architect on his travels in Spain in the late Twenties and early Thirties. Between 1928 and 1932, Le Corbusier visited Spain five times, either in an official capacity or accompanied by his brother Pierre Neanneret and Fernand Léger. His impressions were recorded in the form of notes and sketches in carnets during these visits. They were the observations of a cultivated tourist, especially concerning architecture, landscapes and female figures. An essay by Juan José Lahuerta introduces the sketches from two different carnets – Carnet C10 and Carnet Barcelone/Barrio, Chino/Majorque 1931, and reveals their significance in an exhaustive, in-depth critique. The two notebooks are presently held by the Fondation Le Corbusier in Paris.