4 unités LC - Architecture Insights

55. View from the balcony of
an apartment in the ‘Unité
d’habitation’ looking out to the
surrounding area today.
56. The ‘Unité d’habitation’ in its
original Marseille setting (the
image Hughes used to illustrate
his points).
Marseille is France’s major port, and as a result, the city and its
surrounding region are highly industrialised. The city has grown
rapidly around the area in which the ‘Unité’ was constructed, and
Boulevard Michelet, on which the building is located, is now one of
the city’s main arterial roads leading into the port and centre. The
site of the building may have once been considered distanced from
the city centre 33 , but today, the buzzing metropolis has spread,
engulfing Le Corbusier’s ‘Unité’ with in it. The ‘Unité’ in Marseille
is now in fact quite centrally located. And as an indication of the
building’s local status in history, it even has its very own
designated bus stop, sited directly in front, and entitled “Ville
Radieuse”.
Le Corbusier’s lack of consideration for scale in terms of its
surrounding environment, that he was accused of during its period
of construction, can no longer be considered an issue. The ‘Unité’
now blends into the area, the buildings around it being either taller
or similarly proportioned.
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57. Parkland at the base of the
‘Unité d’habitation’ in Marseille.