4 unités LC - Architecture Insights

42 The findings of the CIAM at this conference in Athens was later published
by Le Corbusier in La Charte d’Athènes, 1943. (The later edition being: Le
Corbusier, La Charte d’Athènes + Entretien avec les étudiants des écoles
d’Architecture, Editions de Minuit, France, 1957.)
43 At the time, Paris recognised the existance of 17 ‘îlots insalubres’
(unhealthy /insalubrious housing blocks), accommodating in total around 200
000 people. Demographic statistics in Paris at the time showed an elevated
mortality rate, and Le Corbusier saw the existance of the ‘hovels’ of the
‘îlots insalubres’ as the origins of this unfortunate fact. (Ragot, Gilles + Dion,
Mathilde, Le Corbusier en France: Projets et Réalisations, Collection
Architextes, Le Moniteur, Paris, 2nd Ed., 1997, p. 67.) Le Corbusier made all
possible efforts to bring about the construction of ‘Ilot Insalubre No. 6’,
liasing with many politicians and government officials, but the French
Government continued to refuse his work. His first constructed Government
project would only occurring fifteen years later with the ‘Unité’ of Marseille.
44 Le Corbusier, Note descriptive des immeubles de l’îlot insalubre No. 6,
December 18, 1937, Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris, Box H³ (10); also
Boesiger, W., Girsberger, H., Le Corbusier 1910-65, Thames and Hudson,
London, 1967, p. 322.
45 Bill, Max, (text by Le Corbusier), Le Corbusier & P. Jeanneret: Œuvre
Complète, 1934 – 1938, Volume 3, Trans. A.J.Dakin, Les Editions
d’Architectures (Edition Girsberger), Zurich, Switzerland, 9th Ed., 1975,
p. 31.
46 The ‘Dom-ino’ system was a structural system that provided the
framework for a house and was totally independent of the floor plan. The
system supported the floor slabs and stairs, and was constructed from
standardised elements in reinforced concrete. The ‘Dom-ino’ project was in a
sense Le Corbusier’s constructional prototype for the individual human
dwelling. See Boesiger, W., Girsberger, H., Le Corbusier 1910-65, Thames and
Hudson, London, 1967, p. 24; also Besset, Maurice, Qui était Le Corbusier?,
Editions d’Art Albert Skira, Geneva, Switzerland, 1968, pp. 69-71.
47 ‘L’Immeuble Locatif à la Molitor’ (1931-33), on rue Nungesser-et-Coli, of
the16th arrondissement in Paris, was developed by the Société Immobilière
of the Parc de Princes in Paris, over which the building would look. The
55 56
building was of a concrete frame with horizontal slabs along for an open and
flexible apartment plan, as developed in the ‘Dom-ino’ theory. The building
was designed according to the agreement that Le Corbusier himself would be a
shareholder and owner-occupant of the top duplex apartment and roof garden
in which he would live until his death in 1965. See Boesiger, W., text by Le
Corbusier, Le Corbusier et Pierre Jeanneret: Œuvre Complète de 1929 –
1934, Volume 2 of l’Œuvre Complète, Girsberger, Zurich, 7th Ed., 1964, pp.
144-53; Ragot, Gilles + Dion, Mathilde, Le Corbusier en France: Réalisations
et Projets, Elecla Moniteur, Paris, 1st Ed., 1987, pp. 90-91; Gans, Deborah,
The Le Corbusier Guide, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, Revised
Ed., 2000, pp. 60-63; and Sbriglio, Jacques (trans. Parsons, Sarah), Immeuble
24 N.C. et Appartement Le Corbusier /Apartment Block 24 N.C. and Le
Corbusier’s Home, FLC, Germany, 1996.
48 The ‘Maison Citrohan’ was adapted to the apartment design of
‘Immeubles-Villas’, simply employed on mass, like a series of cells, connected
by common services. The integration of the two ideas is noted in Boesiger,
W. + Stonorow, O. text by Le Corbusier, Le Corbusier et Pierre Jeanneret:
Œuvre Complète 1910 – 1929, Volume 1 of l’Œuvre Complète, Girsberger,
Zurich, 2nd Ed., 1974, p. 92.
49 Although the ‘Maisons Citrohan’ remained more of a theoretical concept
than a reality, ‘Citrohan 2’ was in fact constructed in 1927 as Le Corbusier
contribution to the WeissenhofSiedlung, a model estate of low-cost housing
built in the suburbs of Stuttgart. As only one house was built, however, the
theories of industrial production upon which it was based could not actually be
put into use. Ironically, the house had to be custom-built for the occasion and
was consequently far more expensive than any other house on the estate. See
Benton, Tim, Urbanism, Chapter 4 of exhibition catalogue, Le Corbusier
Architect of the Century, Arts Council of Great Britain, London, 1987, p.
207-08; also Boesiger, W. + Stonorov, O., text by Le Corbusier, Le Corbusier
et Pierre Jeanneret: Œuvre Complète 1910 – 1929, Volume 1, Girsberger,
Zurich, 2nd Ed., 1974, pp. 150-56.
50 It is thought that this design of a double height living space with
overlooking gallery bedroom was inspired by the Parisian artist’s studios of
the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Le Corbusier himself,
however, claims that his inspiration came from a small restaurant he used to
frequent in the centre of Paris, where the dining space was divided in two