Le Corbusier, La Cité Radieuse and other Marseille, France Off The Beaten Path Tips

Designed by Le Corbusier after World War II and completed in 1952, the "Unité d'habitation" in Marseille, France was envisioned as a "machine for living in." When it was built, the people in Marseille called it "la maison du fada" (the house of the cracked one) !

One level of the building is now a hotel. Look at my hotel tip.

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Le Corbusier was a Swiss and French architect, leader of the International Style of architecture, born October 6, 1887, died August 27, 1965. His architectural theory of the ideal house was a "machine for living".

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The whole building is built on strong reinforced concrete legs that give it an aerial look though the general look is very massive, with extensive use of concrete, without any unnecessary adornments. Le Corbusier is one of the main instigators of modern, functional architecture.

Le Corbusier was the first who dared using raw concrete as a décor of its own. Of course, the formworks have to be especially good looking so that the figure of the boards will make an artwork, without anything added. This is now something widely admitted and practiced but in 1952, that was often considered as shocking !

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The lobby of the building can be visited. A poster reminds the basic principles of its structure. "In the living unit, apartments are grouped by pairs, fitting one into the other tête-bêche along corridors called inside streets… The typical apartment is built on 2 levels, as a house. The living room is full height (4.80 m) with a 3.66 m glass window that gives an unobstructed view on the landscape.

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The whole building is built on strong reinforced concrete legs that give it an aerial look though the general look is very massive, with extensive use of concrete, without any unnecessary adornments. Le Corbusier is one of the main instigators of modern, functional architecture.

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At each level, the "streets" are much wider than corridors and permanently lit. The walls are either covered with wood (first photo) or made of rough concrete or of "granito" (small pebbles embedded in the concrete but showing) (second photo).

Letterboxes are not all together at the ground level as usually but at each level, at the end of the "street"

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The Cité Radieuse was thought as a unit of living and it should have been possible to live entirely inside, not having to go outside. The third and fourth levels were shopping malls. There were all kinds of shops. Along the time, most have closed and are now apartments. They have closed at the same time than, in the city centers, small proximity shops have closed as people preferred more and more to make their shopping in supermarkets, on the outskirts of the cities.

In the Cité Radieuse remain only a "Boulangerie Patisserie" (Baker and Pastry shop) that embalms the air with baking bread scents and a hotel, restaurant and bar. Look at my hotel tip and at my restaurant tip.

The bar works as a small city bar, with regular visitors. The restaurant has not many customers (on our visit, we were the only ones) but every week-end, they organize special events. The owners and managers live in the building and are obviously great admirers of Le Corbusier. There are a lot of Le Corbusier data, books, etc on display in the bar.

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As the Cité Radieuse was thought as a unit of living, there was a school. I do not know what classes existed in the beginning but now, there seem to be only a nursery school, at the last level. Just over, on the terrace, there is a ply ground. I am not sure it is still in use. On the 22nd of December, it was really cold and the wind was strong ! Not the best place for a play ground !

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A terrace tops the whole building. Anybody can go and visit it, with its gorgeous landscape. I suppose there are not many visitors, otherwise, it would not remain as a free access !

Everything is made of raw concrete and the facilities (air exhaust, central heating, etc…) are used as element of the décor. There is a small swimming pool, empty but we were in December. There is also a meeting room (second photo).

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From the terrace of La Cité Radieuse, you have an unobstructed view on the whole city.

The first photo shows the southwards view towards the city center, the Vieux-Port and the open sea.

The second photo shows the view southwestwards with the islands in the background.

The third photo shows the southeastwards view.

The last photo shows the northeastwards view, inland.

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For Le Corbusier, in a building, everything had to be functional and there was no fancy décor added. On the other hand, instead of hiding, for example emergency exits, he thought them as a part of the scenery. He associates straight lines and curves with a great sense of harmony.

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