Continuing our wonderful stay in Paris, France, the CityLab Program included a two-part excursion to see works done by the famous architect Le Corbusier. Within this two-part excursion the group travelled throughout France to see Le Corbusier's studio apartment and La Roche, which will be featured later.
Charles Jeanneret, also known as Le Corbusier was born on October 6th, 1887 and died in August 1965. He was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, and writer, but was more commonly know to be an important figure in the world of Modern Architecture. His works included: L' Esprit Nouveau Pavilion (1925), Villa Savoye (1923-1931), The Villa La Roche-Jeanneret (1923), Corbusier Haus (1927), and many others including his Studio Apartment.
Le Corbusier's studio apartment is located on the last two floors of the Molitor apartment block, at 24, rue Nungesser et Coli. Between 1931 and 1934, Le Corbusier built this apartment building with 15 units, including his apartment/studio for himself in Paris. The apartment building has an East-west orientation and interesting view of its surroundings. His building ties into his belief of "the conditions of the radiant city." He designed the building at a time when there were no other buildings opposite his that could hinder his designs, he rose the facades of the building with entirely filled windows. It was the first residential apartment made of glass in architectural history. Le Corbusier inhabited the apartment from 1934 until his death in 1965, which eventually became a visiting museum for the public. Images and photographs of the original layout of his studio and apartment are spread throughout the apartment to give viewers an insider's look.
The orientation of his building allowed for maximum light and exposure to the sun, emphasizing a lack or need for indirect lighting. A key thing to note that isn't made as obvious unless seeing for oneself, is that Le Corbusier struggled to gain new owners to sell or rent his apartments. So, he placed several advertisements in an attempt to draw more people to live and occupy the empty space.
Within the design and structure of his apartment building Le Corbusier used his "Five Points towards a New Architecture." The Pilotis, the horizontal windows, the roof-garden, the open plan, and the open facade. All of which were evident in his others works, which I explained in the Villa Savoye post. One can see when walking throughout the studio apartment that the choice of furniture and coloring throughout can be reflected in his approach to Modern Architecture. In his studio, he was very aware and adamant about while maintaining use of traditional styles to also incorporate new, modern materials (i.e, glass curtain), to study new architecture.
Given the opportunity to see and explore the Studio apartment of Le Corbusier was an immersive experience into rethinking the design of living and Modern Architecture, a highly recommended place to visit.