When Cathedrals Were White - Journey to the Land of the Shy

Le Corbusier's famous work When the Cathedrals Were White is now available at Arketon in a revised new edition!

When the Cathedrals Were White, which contains Le Corbusier's travel impressions and was translated into Turkish by Alp Tümertekin, has taken its place on the shelves as the 41st book of Arketon Publications in a revised new edition. Le Corbusier's books titled Urbanism and Modulor I-II are also among the books brought to Turkish by Arketon Publications.

When the Cathedrals Were White consists of Le Corbusier's impressions of the USA. The famous architect first met New York in 1934, at the end of a sea voyage on an empty freighter, upon an invitation from the city's mayor. Then, he made two more trips, one on the comfortable ship Normandie. During his longest stay, he remained in the USA for about two months. When the Cathedrals Were White: A Journey to the Land of the Timid (Quand les cathédrales étaient blanches, Voyage au pays des timides) was written after this long journey and first published in 1937.

Atilla Yücel says in the preface he wrote for the Turkish edition of the book: "Without its subtitle, 'When the Cathedrals Were White' is an expression that raises doubts about the content of the book as a title. Those familiar with Le Corbusier's writings may intuit that it has a metaphorical meaning even without reading it, but it is difficult to grasp the meaning of this metaphor in relation to the author's views on his own country, reflected through this country, after a trip to the USA. This will only become clear after one begins to navigate through the pages, impressions, individual narratives, and interpretations.

To interpret When the Cathedrals Were White as a kind of 'open work' within its own textual flow, through cross-readings, to expand this cross-reading with perspectives on the author's other texts and literary oeuvre, and gradually to make this expansion encompass texts related to the realities of both the USA and New York, as well as the Middle Ages and cathedrals, and to include the rich cinematic repertoire, could be an enjoyable intellectual adventure for architects and non-architects alike."