4 unités LC - Architecture Insights

101-102. Restored interiors of
apartments on the ‘First Street’,
now inhabited by artists and
designers.
The situation of these artists, the involvement of the Maillot
Hospital, and the private mixed ownership of the rest of the
building, has allowed for a variety of people with in the building’s
demographic similar to the case of Marseille. The fact that this
‘Unité’ has attracted such a broad range of people in spite of its
highly inconvenient location (see III.2 describing the context)
simply emphasises the fact that people are willing to adapt to the
habitat they chose if they feel strongly and passionately enough
about it.
The added eventful history of this particular ‘Unité’, along with
the long history of Le Corbusier’s design itself, appears to have
truly ignited the passion of many in the case of the ‘Unité’ of
Briey-en-Forêt.
171 172
103. Still in a rather isolated
setting – the ‘Unité d’habitation’
of Briey-en-Forêt pictured in
1993.
III.3 Context
104. Just after the building’s
construction, 1959.
The satellite-village of Briey-en-Forêt is in the very North Eastern
corner of France, in the region of Lorraine, right near the German
boarder. Over the past forty or so years since its construction, the
town of Briey-en-Forêt has gradually grown. From its highly
insubstantial beginnings of a few housing developments and a preschool,
it now includes the Maillot Hospital, a high school, sports
facilities, a cultural centre, the artificial lake Pingusson had
originally proposed, a few other small housing developments and
various individual houses.
There are still no proper commercial facilities in Briey-en-Forêt,
however, and the closest shopping area to the ‘Unité’ is located in
the older town of Briey, over 1.5 km away. A public transport
system does now services the area, with a bus stop outside the