Transcript Unite d’Habitation General Info           Architect: Le Corbusier Location: Marseilles, France Building Type: Multifamily housing Construction System: Concrete Style: Modern Date: 1945-52 18 stories 337 apartments For 1,600 people Still in.

Unite d’Habitation
General Info
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Architect: Le Corbusier
Location: Marseilles, France
Building Type: Multifamily housing
Construction System: Concrete
Style: Modern
Date: 1945-52
18 stories
337 apartments
For 1,600 people
Still in service
Why was it built?
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It was built to alleviate a severe
postwar housing shortage.
Inspired by socialist ideals.
Le Corbusier chose the ocean
liner, which housed, fed, and
entertained thousands of
passengers in a very restricted
space to help him create Unite
d’Habitation.
His goal was a total environment,
enhanced with all the amenities
of civilization, so one would never
need to leave.
Exterior
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The Unite block is set in a landscaped park and raised
on pilotis.
The apartments are designed to have frontage on
both east and west side.
Balconies have deep overhangs for sun protection and
surfaces are painted different colors to enliven the
bleak mass of concrete.
The concrete is rough, marked with knots and grain of
its wood forms.
The strong pilotis create circulation space beneath.
The roof, offers space for recreation and relaxation in
its gymnasium, 300m track, outdoor stage, and
children’s play area.
Single and double story balconies.
Exterior
Exterior
Exterior
Interior
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15 floors are residential.
Floor 7 and 8 are communal levels where you find
commercial services to provide daily needs such as
shopping, laundry, catering, medical offices, and hotel
rooms for guests.
The units are offset in this pattern, forming a series of
vertical interlocking “L” shapes.
The apartments are very narrow, particularly when
they are divided into hall like bedrooms.
Corridors are where you find less quality, they are
dark, and the only light sources are the lights above
every front door.
The corridors run through the center of the building
every third floor.
Interior
“A machine for living in.”
-Le Corbusier
The End
Jose Valdez
Arch 71 Architecture History 2 (Renaissance-21st century)
College of the Sequoias
Division of Industry and Technology
Instructor: Rolando L. Gonzalez M. Arch. Architect, A.I.A.
Spring 2005