What is the term for the architectural walkway experience in Le Corbusier's designs?

The architectural walkway experience in Le Corbusier's designs is called the promenade architecturale.

The French phrase literally means “architectural promenade” or “architectural walk.” It describes a carefully planned route through a building in which movement reveals spaces, views, changes in light, and shifting relationships between interior and exterior. The visitor does not perceive the architecture from one fixed viewpoint; the building unfolds as a sequence.

Le Corbusier used the idea particularly clearly at Villa Savoye, designed in the late 1920s. The approach, entrance, interior ramp, upper rooms, and roof terrace create a choreographed progression. The ramp is especially important because it links levels gradually rather than treating stairs as isolated breaks between floors.

The concept was not merely a circulation diagram. It connected architecture with bodily experience and visual discovery. Le Corbusier discussed the importance of walking through architecture in Une Maison, un Palais, published in 1928. Plan libre refers to flexible interior planning, while brise-soleil means a sun-shading device and toit-jardin means a roof garden.