Unite d'habitation

Unite d’Habitation

Unite d’Habitation is a residential housing complex located in Marseille, France designed by Le Corbusier and is a great example of Brutalist Architecture. The building was completed in 1952 and contained 337 housing units amongst 18 floors holding over 1600 residents. The building was designed to accommodate those who lost their homes during World War two. The material choice of this building was very important to the design, it was built with reinforced beton-brut concrete (rough cast concrete), the material was relatively cheap in post-war Europe and reflected the character of life following World War two, rough, worn, as well as unforgiving. Before Unite d’Habitation Le Corbusier had not designed on a large building scale. So, he sought out to see if he could implement his five points of architecture into the design. He used pilots to lift the building and allow a public flow on the ground floor level incorporating his idea of the “free plan”. Le Corbusier had to arrange as many living units that he could into this residential building. He limited the buildings horizontal circulation by linking the units around long corridors that only appeared every other floor. Each unit contains a private exterior space for residents. These spaces are very identifiable on the facade. Each units exterior space is decorated in bright primary colors which I believe is to contrast from the economical yet dull, bland, concrete. The brut-concrete is used to symbolize the feeling of the time period, I believe Le Corbusier used these dominant colors in order to symbolize that there is hope for the countries and their citizens that suffered through the hard times of world war by contrasting the grey concrete material with the primary colors. This kind of facade also relates to one of Le Corbusier’s five points of architecture, freedom of facade. Le Corbusier believed that the interior of the building should create the facade of the building, and in this case with such an orthogonal building, the colors of the units exterior spaces expresses the freedom aspect in facade design. What I find most interesting in Le Corbusier’s design is that he links every unit in a way that he can create a double height space in each units living room. The buildings program required as many units as possible to accommodate those who suffered during the war. Instead of cramming in flat stuffy units, Le Corbusier made the building a little “roomier” by including a double height space and exterior space for all the residents. He then created a residential communal roof space so that residents would be able to converge and mix together on the roof. There are great architectural aspects that make this building such a great precedent in the development of housing. However, what I find strange about this building is what Le Corbusier calls “the shopping street”. Le Corbusier decided to place the commercial space in the building as two floors to incorporate both the residents and the public. It may seem obvious but the ideal place to put commercial space would be at street front so that whatever the program may be (gym, grocery store, clothing store, etc.) has at the opportunity to open up into a large outdoor space so that the residents would be able to incorporate themselves in that way. Placing commercial space in amongst housing units is an interesting idea, but when designing to accommodate over 1,500 residents it seems unnecessary. I could imagine create residential vs public traffic in the building and could frustrate the inhabitants of the building. Overall, the building is greatly designed and uses architectural techniques that if incorporated into housing design could create a very interesting and well-developed design. 

“AD Classics: Unite d' Habitation / Le Corbusier.” ArchDaily, 5 Nov. 2010, www.archdaily.com/85971/ad-classics-unite-d-habitation-le-corbusier.