Villa Savoye, (Yvelines, France); 1962-Present; Modern

North-West Facade

Located in France in the small city of Yvelines we can find the Villa Savoye. It stands on top of a hill where it can overlook the bordering river, Seine. The town had a school named after Le Corbusier which ironically almost led to the destruction of the Villa. From the street nothing can really be seen through the trees. The Villa was considered an “upper class”. It was even more emphasized by having the Villa in the middle of the site. This encourages people to walk around the building before actually entering.

The house could be described as a floating box that was pierced by a band of window. The Villa shows strong elements of horizontality and verticality. The horizontality is seen as the floating box is strinpped even more through the band of windows, really creating three bands. Even though the house is on pilots, we don't notice them. The vertical elements are the more cylinder element, above and below the box. It almost seems that the cylinder is puncturing the box. In the South-West Facade the band from the window turns into a void, unique from the other sides. Using the strong sunlight orientation, the sun gets directed into the garden-terrace in the first floor.

The idea of the pilotis were first seen in Le Corbusier's’ plans for the Citrohan House, but were not actually used till the Villa La Roche. After this Le Corb continued using this element, and it became his first or the five major points in architecture. In lifting up the building, Le Corb got to explore what happens beneath a building.

Ground Floor Ramp Entrance

On the interior it messes with the perspective that one sees from the exterior. The first floor is resembles more of a square then the rectangle you see outside. One of the elements that stand out inside the house is the ramp. It is one element that uniformly connects all the floors together. Le Corb said that in Arabic Architecture it is taught that by foot, meaning walking through, the architecture is seen easier. I think he has a good point, one thing is seeing a building through pictures and plans another is physically being in the space, being able to see the connections the architect was conveying. The ramp in the Villa doesn't work solemnly as a connection between the floors but also as a spine in which the whole vertical element of the House is organized. Another element that stands out is the Hanging Garden. In Le Corb’s Five Points, he also includes the importance of a roof garden. In doing so, the space that is taken from the ground is given back. For the Villa he says that its not as interesting seeing the vast grassy ground, from the actual ground level. Instead it would look more impressive and be less uncomfortable seeing the nature from the roof. Once the glass sliding doors are opened, the garden works as a filter of light to the rest of the house. The Villa Savoye was very successful in bringing all of Le Corb’s five points Together. The pilotis used to create a “floating box” which also made room for the free plan and a free facade. Since all the support goes to the pilotis his large span of horizontal windows creates an interesting illusion for the facade. Lastly the roof garden, gives back the space from the ground floor and creates a good place to look at the surrounding area.

Hanging Garden from Interior 

Works Cited

Sbriglio, Jacques. Le Corbusier: La Villa Savoye, the Villa Savoye. Birkhäuser Verlag, 1999.

Kroll, Andrew. “AD Classics: Villa Savoye / Le Corbusier.” ArchDaily, 27 Oct. 2010, www.archdaily.com/84524/ad-classics-villa-savoye-le-corbusier.

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