Marseille- Le Corbusier
One of Le Corbusier's most famous buildings is located in Marseille. Cité radieuse was part of a project called Unité d'habitation that included buildings in several different European cities.
Cité radieuse was built directly after World War II, in an effort to create middle income housing that was well appointed and had a more spacious layout.
Like most other Brutalist buildings, Cité radieuse is made from concrete. What makes it so appealing is the colorful addition to the balconies.
When Cité radieuse was built, it was unfortunately too modern for dwellers of Marseille. It was far from the city center, and any public transportation. If you decide to visit Cité Radieuse, keep in mind it is about a 20 minute walk from the closest subway stop at Rond-Point du Prado. Ironically, today, Cité radieuse is one of the most expensive and desirable places to live in Marseille. I guess Le Corbusier was ahead of his time!
Cité radieuse was a collaboration with the painter Nadir Alfonso, so some of the elements you will see, come from him.
In order to view the interior of Cité radieuse, you need to buy a ticket for a guided tour online in advance. Your ticket will cost you less than 20 euros, and you can choose to take a tour in either English or French. The English tours are much more limited in quantity, so reserve early. I took the tour in French, and surprisingly, it was pretty easy to understand!
One of the most beautiful parts of Cité radieuse is the lobby. It has beautiful natural light, as well as geometric stained glass and high shine polished stone floors. The benches help create a sense of community.
You will meet your tour guide inside the lobby. The security guard towards the back can direct you to the place. It is important to recognize that people live in this building and to be respectful of their homes and space.
Your tour will consist of three parts. You will visit both floors of the model apartment, the public shopping space, as well as the roof.
When you get to the top of the elevator, you will notice that the colorful exterior is also reflected inside. The elevators are painted red on each floor, and the doors to the apartments are red, blue, or green.
Like many of the other Le Corbusier buildings, the ceiling is a raw looking concrete.
One of the most appealing aspects of Cité radieuse are the unobstructed views of the mountains and the ocean. It's not commonly known, but Marseille is actually a part of the Pyrenees.
Le Corbusier is all about built in storage and functionality. When you enter the apartment, you will find the kitchen towards the front. The cabinets all open on both sides, and there is an opening, to easily pass cocktails from the bar.
The stairs have an almost institutional quality to them, in a blue enameled metal. They have a tall railng on the right, and a short one on the left for children. These apartments were built specifically for families with small children, so this functionality makes a lot of sense.
Every other apartment enters on the opposite floor. So this apartment enters on the first floor, while the the apartment next to it would enter on the second floor. This makes it so you have more sense of privacy in the halls.
The second floor opens into a balcony, so you get the views of the ocean from the same floor to ceiling window you have on the first floor.
You may have noticed in some of my photos, but there are squares of striped paint all over the apartment. It looks kind of strange and is a little distracting at times, from the overall minimalist aesthetic. The reason they are there, is to provide a history of the previous colors each surface in the apartment were painted.
Upstairs, towards the back of the apartment, you will find the room that looks onto the living room. This is intended as the master bedroom and it gets a lot of nice natural light. There are built in shelves and a desk in the room, as well as additional build in cabinets and shelves in the hall. For Le Corbusier, everything is about maximization of minimal space.
Because this is such a child-centric apartment, the children's shower is built to look like one you would fine in a cruise ship.
The two upstairs rooms at the front of the apartment are intended for the children, and they also have a balcony with beautiful views.
Each of the children's rooms has it's own sink and set of cabinets. They share the shower and toilet.
Unreal views. The great part about the children's rooms is that they have a sliding wall between them. This means they can open it to play, or close it for a little quiet time.
One of my favorite parts of Cité radieuse, is the exceptional amount of public space. This building was set up, so you could do everything you needed, with out ever leaving. I guess that makes a lot of sense, considering it was built so far out of town. Here, you can find an elementary school, a library, a restaurant, shops, and even a hotel. Yes, you can stay at Cité radieuse for around 80 euro a night!!!
I would have bought one of these decorated cookies, if the shop wasn't closed.
They had information for some other buildings by Le Corbusier framed in the public space.
My favorite part of Cité radieuse was the roof. There is a gallery on the roof, and the decorations there change with the exhibition. Le Corbusier intended for the roof to be all grey concrete.
On the roof, you really understand the scale of the building. It is a huge space!
And a very windy space!
The views from the roof are perfection.
Exiting the roof, there are more red enamel doors and red enamel emergency kits.
The way the light and shadows interact with the rectangular elements of this building is really pretty.
And I finished my day and visit to Cité radieuse at the restaurant with a glass of rosé. Why the French serve ice with their rosé, I'm not sure!
I loved Cité radieuse. Next time I come to Marseille, I will 100% stay at the hotel at Cité radieuse.