4 unités LC - Architecture Insights

of the building maintenance. It was through this interview that much of the
information regarding the residents of the building, renovations, and its
present condition was obtained.
29 The repainting of the building took place around 10 years ago. The paint
used was mixed by the very same Swiss company that had produced the
original paint for the building according to the very same specifications that
Le Corbusier had given them almost 40 years ago.
30 The ‘Unité’ in Marseille, however, has not always been so well looked
after. Previous conditions of the building are discussed in part I.4 Facilities
(pp. 114-27).
31 Marseille was originally a Greek settlement, founded as early as 7th century
BC. It was taken over by the Romans in 49 BC, and became the major port of
trade between the Orient and the West. (Fallon, S., Robinson, D., Fisher, T. +
Williams, N., France, Lonely Planet Publications, Australia, 3rd Ed., 1999,
pp. 666-67.)
32 Hundreds of architects and designers, as well as a myriad students of these
professions, continue to make ‘the pilgrimage’ (as Charles Jencks describes it
in Modern Movements in Architecture, Penguin Books Ltd., England, 1986, p.
14) to the ‘Unité’ in Marseille each year.
33 In Robert Hughes’ claimed that the ‘Unité‘ in Marseille “stands a
considerable way from the centre of Marseilles,” (Hughes, Robert, The Shock
of the New – Art and the Century of Change, Thames and Hudson Ltd.,
London, 1992, p. 188). The accompanying photographs (taken by Roger
Viollet, Paris) used by Hughes to illustrate his points do not, unfortunately,
indicate the year in which they were taken. It would seem, however, from
their quality and the lack of development surrounding the building at the time
that they would have been taken much earlier than the year of the book’s
publication.
34 Le Corbusier, The Marseilles Block, trans. Geoffrey Sainsbury, The Harvill
Press, London, 1953, p. 58.
35 Robert Hughes critised Le Corbusier for his inclusion of the commercial
mid-level in the Marseille ‘Unité’, seeing it as ignorance on the architects
131 132
behalf of the fact “the French like to shop in their street markets” (Hughes,
Robert, The Shock of the New – Art and the Century of Change, Thames and
Hudson Ltd., London, 1992, p. 190). For anyone with a general
understanding of the common French way of life, this comment would seem
fair enough. It is interesting to note here, however, that although Le
Corbusier may not have considered this fact, the local population has, and in
so doing the markets they enjoy have come to them.
36 Information, such as this, regarding historical details of the building, was
gained from a presentation organised by the building co-operative as a series
of panels providing an explanatory note to the building. These panels provide
information to the tourists visiting the ‘Unité’ and are on display in a section
of the entry foyer, at the opposite end to the lift foyer so as to be as
unobtrusive as possible to the building’s inhabitants.
37 The book, entitled Hip Hotels – France, was written and compiled by
Herbert Ypma and published just this year by Thames & Hudson Ltd.,
London, March 2001. The Hotel Le Corbusier is referred to here as one of
the most notable hotels in the book’s description.
38 Schools and youth recreation facilities were originally to be placed in
separate buildings at the base of the ‘Unité’, and were intended to service the
whole surrounding area (displayed in Le Corbusier’s second design proposal for
Marseille). This arrangement would have allowed for greater interaction and
communication between the children and parents of the building with those of
the surrounding area. Unfortunately, the school and childcare facilities were
eventually placed on the roof of the constructed ‘Unité’ to compact the
design into a singular building unit.
39 Despite his severe criticism of the building, Robert Hughes does, however,
credit the roof terrace of the ‘Unité’ in Marseille as being “one of the great
roofs of the world” comparing it to a Greek temple (Hughes, Robert, The
Shock of the New – Art and the Century of Change, Thames and Hudson Ltd.,
London, 1992, p. 188 + 90). Le Corbusier himself, in fact, first described the
roof terrace of the ‘Unité’ as having ‘Homeric’ qualities (Le Corbusier,
Modulor 2: La Parole est aux usagers, Editions de l’Architecture
d’Aujourd’hui, Paris, 1991, p. 304), although others have since agreed with
him (see Gans, Deborah, The Le Corbusier Guide, Princeton Architectural
Press, New York, Revised Ed., 2000, p. 115).