Le Corbusier, considered one of the three greatest architects in the world, was born in Switzerland in 1887 and worked mainly in France. We have seen his Savoie House in the suburbs of Paris and buildings in the 14th arrondissement in the city of the University City, but this time we would like to write about the buildings in Paris and Marseilles. All of them are registered as World Cultural Heritage sites.
In the 16th arrondissement of Paris is the La Roche-Jeanneret residence and Corbusier’s apartment and studio. Villa La Roche-Jeanneret is a two-family, one building, residence designed for Raoul La Roche, a banker and art collector, and Albert Jeanneret, Corbusier’s brother, a musician, and Jeanneret’s family.
Built between 1923 and 1925, Villa La Roche-Jeanneret is the site where Le Corbusier experimented with his “five principles of architecture” (hollow ground floor pilotis, horizontal continuous windows, rooftop garden, free plan, free elevation) before publishing them in 1927.
Of the La Roche-Jeanneret Villa, only the La Roche side can be visited because the Jeanneret Villa serves as the office of the Fondation Le Corbusier. I saw many young Japanese who were apparently studying architecture, and they were very enthusiastic in their detailed observation of this place, which has a profound significance for modern architecture.
I also enjoyed the view from the window, along with the art collection by La Roche, furniture designed and painted by Corbusier, and the building that Corbusier called “an architectural walkway,” just like taking a walk.
The next stop was Corbusier’s apartment and studio, a duplex occupying the top eight and nine floors, with an area of about 240m2. It is equipped with the latest modern amenities of the time, including central heating, a washing machine, and a dryer. The open, bright, and simple rooms are accented by small decorative shelves and Corbusier’s unique use of color. With functional storage, a kitchen, and a spacious rooftop garden, it looks very livable.
Corbusier lived here for about 30 years from 1934, when the apartment was completed, until his death, so he must have loved it very much. The La Roche residence is also beautiful, but this one makes you feel Corbusier’s love for his home even more strongly and makes you say, “I want to live here! I want this! I was saying in my brain “I want to live here!
I wrote about my visit to Marseille last summer, but in fact, what I wanted to see most in Marseille was Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse, completed in 1952, which was Corbusier’s ideal housing complex at the time: a town throughout the entire building. A full-scale model of the Cité Radieuse is housed in the Cité Architectural Heritage Museum in Paris, but I was very happy to see the actual building in Marseille.
Parts of the Cité Radieuse can be visited at any time, but I wanted to see inside the apartments, so I signed up for a guided tour. The guide explained that the Cité Radieuse, which was finally completed after much delay, was not popular at all because there was nothing in the surrounding area. Nowadays, of course, it is very popular and sometimes goes out to real estate agencies, but it is often bought and sold through acquaintances or through the bulletin board in the apartment.
In addition to the price of the rooms, there are considerable administrative costs to maintain the entire building, which has become a World Heritage site, the table tennis room, projection room, library, swimming pool, etc., but I guess people who think it is a good place to live here are living here. Currently, about 1,000 people live in 337 units. In addition to the hotel run by the residents, several of the houses in Cité Radieuse are private accommodations, so if you would like to stay there, you can do so.
The Cité Radieuse houses a nursery, a common field, stores, galleries, and offices, but the food and beverage system, which used to contain many, now leaves only the hotel café and one patisserie. And the tarts from this patisserie were excellent!
I think the rooms themselves in Cité Radieuse are lovely, but when viewed as a whole “apartment complex,” unlike a private home, they are too uniform for me to want to live there. However, unlike museum exhibits, it was a valuable experience to see what Corbusier’s ideal city was like at the time, and how people actually live there today. I would like to visit more of Corbusier’s buildings in the future when I have the chance.
© Source travel watch
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