Maison 24 rue Le-Corbusier
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison 24 rue Le-Corbusier, located in Pessac (Gironde), is a modern edifice built in the 19th-20th centuries. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Modern (19th-20th century)
- Location
- Pessac, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.7985, -0.6483
- Mérimée Reference
- PA33000248
Jewel of the modern movement, this house on the rue Le Corbusier in Pessac embodies the social and aesthetic utopia of the Swiss master, with its clean-lined façades, its roof terraces and its revolutionary chromatic palette.
History
In the heart of the Frugès housing estate in Pessac, the house at 24 rue Le Corbusier is part of one of the boldest residential developments of the 20th century, designed by the architect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris - known as Le Corbusier - at the request of the industrialist Henri Frugès. Nestled in an area that was dubbed the "garden city of futurism", this house is a powerful illustration of the founding principles of the modern movement: a reinforced concrete structure, a free plan, entablature windows and accessible roof terraces. What really sets this house apart from contemporary buildings is its radical design. At a time when the bourgeois house was still dominated by the gable roof and historicist ornamentation, Le Corbusier proposed here an architecture that was reasoned, functional and poetic at the same time. The cubic volumes are articulated with an almost musical rigour, while the carefully studied polychromy - ochre, ultramarine blue, pale green - gives rhythm to the façades and delineates the spaces in the urban environment. Visiting this house is like walking through an inhabited manifesto. Every opening, every movable partition, every detail of joinery tells of a conviction: architecture can transform everyday life. Light plays an essential role here, captured and redistributed by generous windows that break down the boundaries between interior and garden. The surrounding environment enhances the experience: the Cité Frugès forms a coherent whole, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016 as part of Le Corbusier's architectural work. Strolling through these streets is to understand how a handful of concrete houses changed the course of world architectural history.
Architecture
The house at 24 rue Le Corbusier is based on the principles that Le Corbusier would theorise a few years later under the name of the "Five Points of New Architecture": stilts, roof terrace, free plan, long windows and free facade. The reinforced concrete load-bearing structure frees the partitions from any static constraints, allowing the interior spaces to be arranged solely according to functional needs and the circulation of light. Externally, the volume is a streamlined parallelepiped, with clear angles and smooth, rendered façades. The horizontal windows, characteristic of the Corbusian vocabulary, cut a continuous line of light through the walls. The roof terrace, accessible from inside, forms a fifth façade, an additional living space open to the sky and the surrounding foliage. The polychromy of the façades - carefully restored during the restoration work - plays an architectural role in its own right, signalling the different functional zones and enlivening the surfaces without resorting to ornamentation. The materials used are deliberately modern and economical: reinforced concrete for the structure, cement rendering for the walls and metal joinery for the door and window frames. This sober assembly, far from being austere, expresses a beauty typical of industrial architecture, sublimated by the rigour of its composition. The interior, arranged over two levels, offers fluid spatial sequences where views are arranged in a row, creating an architectural promenade within the dwelling itself.
Related Figures
Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris) — architecte concepteur de la cité FrugèsPierre Jeanneret — associé de Le Corbusier, co-auteur du projetHenri Frugès — industriel sucrier bordelais et maître d'ouvrage visionnaireHenri Lefebvre — philosophe ayant étudié les transformations de la cité par ses habitantsAndré Wogenscky — collaborateur de Le Corbusier ayant contribué au suivi du chantier
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison 24 rue Le-Corbusier located?
Maison 24 rue Le-Corbusier is located in Pessac, Gironde department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France.
When was Maison 24 rue Le-Corbusier built?
Maison 24 rue Le-Corbusier dates back to a period built in the modern era (19th-20th century).
Is Maison 24 rue Le-Corbusier open to visitors?
Maison 24 rue Le-Corbusier is currently closed to visitors.