4 unités LC - Architecture Insights

120. Looking up to the ‘Unité’
of Firminy-Vert from Le
Corbusier’s sports stadium at
the bottom of the hill – other
housing blocks have since
been built below it.
IV.3 Context
121. The ‘Unité’ of Firminy-Vert
– at the top of the hill and at the
end of the road.
The small town of Firminy is located near the larger industrial town
of Saint-Etienne, at the lower end of the Loire River, in the East of
France. Firminy-Vert is situated to the south of Firminy itself, and
is, architecturally, a particularly significant and unique town due to
the presence of three separate Le Corbusier buildings with in it.
Although the population of Firminy-Vert declined after the collapse
of the local coal and steel industries, it has since gradually grown
and re-established itself. The town now includes several apartment
buildings, townhouses and individual homes spread over the area
surrounding the Le Corbusier buildings.
The ‘Unité’ sits on the very summit of the hill of Les Bruneaux (the
hill around which Firminy-Vert is spread), and as with the ‘Unité’ in
Rezé-les-Nantes, it is in a highly visible and prominent location,
standing out above all the surrounds it.
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122. View of the ‘Unité’ from
the lawn area and soccer field
behind it.
The sports stadium, pool and cultural centre, also of Le Corbusier’s
original design, are still in use by the local community. They are
located on a site, along with the remnants of the unfinished Saint-
Pierre church, at the base of the hill of Les Bruneaux, looking up to
the ‘Unité’ above them.
Trees and shrubs surround the perimeter of the ‘Unité’ site,
however the site itself has been left open and rather barren, with no
real landscaping or large tree growth. Due to this lack of
surrounding high vegetation closer to the base of the building, the
‘Unité’ in Firminy appears to be much larger than its predecessors,
despite the fact that it is of the same, or even slightly smaller
proportions. 27