4 unités LC - Architecture Insights

II.1 History
Development of the design for the ‘Unité’ in Rezé began during the
construction of the one in Marseille, and due to the controversy
surrounding its Marseillaise prototype, the ‘Unité’ in Rezé
experienced criticism of its own. The construction of the first such
building was already an outrage to many, so the repetition of an
such an apparently evident mistake (as it was considered by some),
would seem most unfortunate –
“…not having been able to avoid the realisation of the ‘Cité
Radieuse’ [in Marseille], it is hoped at least that this dreadful
precedent will not be repeated, especially in Nantes, where such
an occurrence is already in question.” 3
The circumstances for the ‘ Unité’ of Rezé were quite different,
however, as here Le Corbusier was in fact approached by a cooperative
of local workers and commissioned for its construction.
The finances for the project were supplied in part by the regional
government housing association, and supplimented by the
building’s future occupants. 4 But the budget was still far less than
that of Marseille’s ‘Unité’, and as a result, several compromises
were required in size, materials and common facilities.
The width of the building in Rezé was reduced by 5m in comparison
to the one in Marseille, the reduction in width consequently
resulting in the reduction of apartment length. This limiting of
space eliminated the possibility of a double height living area,
leaving the apartments of the building in Rezé seeming less
spacious than those of the building in Marseille.
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77. The concrete facade at
the base of the ‘Unité’ in Rezé
pictured just after the building’s
opening. A view that is much
the same today.
Another compromise was made in the simplification of the
building’s structure and sound isolation techniques. In Rezé, the
reinforced concrete frame structure used in Marseille as a ‘bottlerack’
was neglected. Here, Le Corbusier used what he described as
a system of ‘shoe boxes’ 5 – each apartment still complying with his
principles of independence, but in this case separated only by
bands of lead running between each ‘box’ to prevent direct contact
and thus reduce sound transmission between adjacent apartments.
The sound isolation, although still far better than that of the