4 unités LC - Architecture Insights

1 Ragot, Gilles + Dion, Mathilde Le Corbusier en France: Réalisations et
Projets, Elecla Moniteur, Paris, 1st Ed., 1987, p. 174.
2 Ibid.
3 Jenger, Jean, Le Corbusier: L’Architecture pour Emouvior, Gallimard,
Evreux, September 1993, p. 110.
4 An evident variation in the design of the building, following its completion
without Le Corbusier, is the use of only white, red and blue paint for the
polychromatic loggias. The loggias of the three other Unité d’habitation
buildings in France use yellow and green as well. This reduction in colour
variation comparatively reduces the vibrancy of the facades.
5 Gans, Deborah, The Le Corbusier Guide, Princeton Architectural Press,
New York, Revised Ed., 2000, p. 111.
6 Ibid.
135. Glipses of light – the
entry foyer of the ‘Unité’ in
Firminy-Vert.
7 In Boesiger, W., (Ed.), text by Le Corbusier, Le Corbusier: Les Dernières
Œuvres, Artemis, Zurich, 3rd Ed., 1977, p. 11, Claudius-Petit writes that
207 208
Firminy-Vert would “lay the foundations for a renaissance of the human
being, the family, society;” and “ …create the site, the everyday urban
landscape; to create spaces and volumes, shapes and colours; to make the
history of the town by means of utilitarian constructions that are judiciously
ordered, managed, composed, seeing that nothing has remained of the
town’s past.” (note dated July 21, 1969.)
8 Although Le Corbusier designed the buildings, the actual urban scheme for
Firminy-Vert was conceived by André Sive, with the help of Marcel Roux,
Charles Delfante and Jean Kling, under the guidance of Le Corbusier. (see
BORY, Christophe, Le Site Le Corbusier, Firminy, Syndicat d’Initiative de
Firminy et Environs, France, June 1995, p. 2.)
9 This information regarding the original plans for Firminy-Vert were
obtained in an interview with a resident of the building, Christophe Bory,
who is an art and design teacher at the local technical school. He has
researched and written about the Le Corbusier site of Firminy-Vert, and is a
member of the Syndicat d’Initiative de Firminy & Environs (The Tourism
Association of Firminy and the Surrounding Area).
10 Gans, Deborah, The Le Corbusier Guide, Princeton Architectural Press,
New York, Revised Ed., 2000, p. 107.
11 The proposed pool complex of the urban scheme was actually constructed
as well, although this was designed after Le Corbusier’s death by André
Wogensky. (Gans, Deborah, The Le Corbusier Guide, Princeton Architectural
Press, New York, Revised Ed., 2000, p. 107.)
12 Construction of the Church of Saint-Pierre began in 1961, until 1970 when
it was stopped. Claudius-Petit, possibly Le Corbusier’s most passionate
supporter and admirer, campaigned tirelessly to raise funds for its completion,
right up to his own death in 1989. The funds were never raised, however, and
the church still exists today in its unfinished state – an empty concrete shell
of the base (the hyperbolic cone shaped tower that was to be constructed
upon this having never been begun). The weathered concrete beginnings of
the church are now classed as an historical monument. (See Ragot, Gilles +
Dion, Mathilde, Le Corbusier en France: Réalisations et Projets, Elecla
Moniteur, Paris, 1st Ed., 1987, p. 175; and Jenger, Jean, Le Corbusier:
L’Architecture pour Emouvior, Gallimard, Evreux, September 1993,
p. 108-09.)