An interview with Albert Frey

V5:  What was the process for you to become an architect?

AF:  When I was young, I was more interested in mechanical things, rather than architecture. My father talked me into becoming an architect because he would have liked to have become one himself. He was not able to because he was the first son of a printer, a lithographer, in Zurich, Switzerland. He was expected to go into that business instead of becoming an architect.

One reason I was not interested in becoming an Architect was because what was being built in Switzerland at the time was not that interesting, very traditional houses and chalets and things like that. But then I went to Brussels and discovered the work of Le Corbusier in books and magazines and decided to work for him.

V5:  So how did this come about? Did you actually see his buildings or just photographs in the books?

AF:  I went to Paris to work with him.

V5:  How did you meet him? Did you just walk up and knock on his door?

AF:  Yes, that is right. At the time he was so famous that students from all over the world would work there for free, just for the privilege of working with him. At first I did that too, but after a few months I ran out of money. Since he saw that I was productive, he paid me wages. He was impressed that I did not just come in to pick up what I could, but worked eight hours a day or at night when needed.

V5:  What were some of the projects you worked on in his studio?

AF:  I worked on the Villa Savoye working drawings when it was under construction. I also worked on the Centrosoyus Administration Building in Moscow, making a model of it.

V5:  What was it like to work in the Le Corbusier Studio? How was the work done?

AF:  Corbusier came in around noon, after spending the morning painting at home. His cousin and partner, Pierre Jeanneret, was there all the time and we would work out the practical things with him. Then Corbusier would go from table to table, look over the work and make corrections or sketches.

V5:  Would he talk to you about why he was doing what he was doing?

AF:  Oh yes.

V5:  Did you do models of the projects at the same time you were doing the drawings?

AF:  Yes.

V5:Did he talk about art with you?

AF:  No, not about art, since that was his private life. But I think it comes through in the color and proportion of his work.

V5:  I have seen his work in India.

AF:  Yes, I have been there too, in Chandigarh. His cousin, Pierre Jeanneret was there to oversee the work. It was an exciting time.

V5:  I do not think any photograph has or could capture what it felt like to be there.

AF:  Yes, it was amazing and very primitively built. There were women carrying sand and gravel on their heads. They did not have modern facilities, but they had a lot of woman power.

V5:  Yes, if you want a job done, ask a woman. It sounds like quite an experience.

AF:  It was a wonderful experience and also helped me to get work when I came to the United States.

V5:  Why did you leave Europe?

AF:  Well, at that time the building techniques in America were more advanced than in Europe. The prefabrication of things was much farther along and that was something that really interested me.

V5:  Did you have a sponsor lined up?

AF:  No.

V5:  (Laughs) You just got on a boat and came to America?..

AF:  Yes. (laughs) I came on an immigration visa. I knew some of the architects, like Kocher, and knocked on their doors. Kocher engaged me right away.

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