From the Archive: Living in Le Corbusier’s Urban Utopia

As a part of our 25th-anniversary celebration, we’re republishing formative magazine stories from before our website launched. This story previously appeared in Dwell’s December 2004 issue.  

Marseille, the second largest city in France, is the grungy cousin of the more chichi Paris. But when Parisians go on vacation, they often escape to the bright skies and warm Mediterranean waters of this ancient port city—just three hours away by TGV. While the eye contemplates the architectural lineage—starting with Greek and Roman—the palate can enjoy a pastis followed by bouillabaisse, Marseille’s famed fish soup.

While most of the important buildings in Marseille are of the ornate and religious sort, you can also get an intimate tour of Le Corbusier’s vision of urban utopia, L’Unité d’Habitation. L’Unité was a small part of Corbu’s grand plan for "the radiant city," where the evils of crowded, industrial life would be alleviated and a better society would flourish. Here, Corbu’s "house-machine" is an apartment-complex machine, with many of the functions—child care, recreation, exercise—taken care of collectively. In L’Unité, Le Corbusier also pioneered the unfinished concrete exterior—which was later co-opted as a cheap finish. Completed in 1952, today it is simply called "Le Corbusier," and the apartments once rented to government officials on modest incomes are now privately owned. Le Corbusier has become a chic address for architects and other connoisseurs of modern design.

At first, the massive concrete structure appears rather grim. But features like outdoor lights in the shape of inverted music notes, the stubby feet on which the building rests, and the bright primary-colored paint coating much of the rough exterior are more welcoming. The whimsy percolates through a grid of stained-glass windows in the lobby, not to mention the space-age rooftop.

Inside, the apartments are hardly cookie-cutter: There are 23 different configurations for different sizes of families. Nathalie and Charles Tissier’s apartment, where they live with their three young children, is on the sixth "street." (Inspired by New York, Corbu assigned street numbers to the floors of his vertical village.) Charles was three years old when he first moved into L’Unité in 1953. He and Nathalie moved into their current apartment 15 years ago. Dwell talked with the Tissiers about what it’s like to live in such an infamous structure, nicknamed by locals La Maison du Fada, or the Nuthouse.

What do you like about living here?

Nathalie: The most surprising thing is the luminosity within the apartment. The natural lighting is very bright. On the other hand, the streets, or hallways, are purposefully dim. Le Corbusier designed these streets as transition spaces between the extreme activity of the exterior world—traffic, crowds, noise—and the calm place of contemplation that constitutes the family cell. These muffled spaces allow you to get used to the change of rhythm. 

Jean-Henri (age 9): Le Corbusier is very practical since it has a bakery and a little grocery store. The view from my room is great, and at night you can see the ocean liners all lit up leaving Marseille.

What feature of the interior design is the most ingenious?

Nathalie: The blackboard that separates the children’s rooms is clever and useful at the same time. It gives them one big playroom during the day, and then at night it becomes a partition. They can also draw on it with chalk. 

What did you have to do to restore the apartment?

Nathalie: The laboratory—the name Le Corbusier gave the kitchen—had been redone by the people who lived here before us in the style of a traditional Provençal kitchen, which didn’t go with the rest of the apartment at all. So we had the cabinets redone in mahogany, with brushed-steel doors.

To find out the original paint colors, we had to scratch through all the layers of paint on the walls. There is one white wall and one colored wall. The sun falls on the darker wall in all of the rooms.

We returned the bathroom to its original configuration and dimensions. When the bathroom was finished, we wanted to find an original bath stool by Le Corbusier. We found one on eBay, in the States, and repatriated it. 

What makes Le Corbusier different from modern apartment buildings?

Nathalie: Unlike modern apartments, paradoxically, there is less concrete in our apartment. The exterior of the building is all concrete but in our apartment, the floor is oak, as is the stairway and the window frames. The closets are all oak or fir. This gives the apartment a warm, cozy feel.

Is Le Corbusier’s original vision of L’Unité d’Habitation as a self-contained village still in effect today?

Nathalie: Yes, we have quite an extraordinary operation here. There’s a day care center on eighth street. There’s a little supermarket, a very good bakery, and a hotel/restaurant. We use all the facilities in our daily life. 

Vive le Marseille! 

Les Calanques

Explore the natural architecture that the Mediterranean has carved into the limestone cliffs: The chalk-white calanques (inlets), filled with turquoise water, can be accessed by boat, kayak, or foot. 

Government Headquarters / 52 Avenue de Saint-Just / Tel: 011-33-4-91-21-13-70

Dubbed the "blue boat" by locals, English architect Will Alsop’s early-’90s vision of the future makes working for the government look downright exciting. The main reception area and gardens are open to the public. 

L’Hôtel Le Corbusier / L’Unité d’Habitation, 280 Blvd. Michelet / Tel: 011-33-4-91-16-78-00 / www.hotellecorbusier.com

See for yourself what it’s like to live at Le Corbusier. The hotel’s slightly shabby cellules were the building’s original guest quarters (new management is in the process of renovating them). But no matter how small your room is, you can always enjoy a drink and the superb panoramic view from the hotel’s balcony. 

Le Pouce de César / Pierre Guerre traffic roundabout

Don’t miss the surreal spectacle of cars circling this enormous bronze thumb, sculpted by the artist known as César in 1988. 

Zé / 19 Quai Rive Neuve / Tel: 011-33-4-91-55-08-15

Le chic, c’est Zé. The walls change color as you dine on the nouvelle fusion cuisine. The minimalist structure, designed by local architect José Morales, fittingly pays homage to Corbu. 

Musée Cantini / 19 Rue Grignan / Tel: 011-33-4-91-54-77-75

Get a vision of the world from Fauvists, Cubists, and Surrealists, in turn. The excellent temporary installations occasionally feature Corbu. 

La Grotte / 1 Avenue Pebrons / Tel: 011-33-4-91-73-17-79

In an antique building along the water, La Grotte serves up the romance of the past.Join the local politicians and celebrities, who come for the excellent Provençal cuisine.