Maison Lemoine
MonumentHidden Treasure
Rem Koolhaas's masterpiece in Floirac, the Maison Lemoine (1994-1998) pushes the boundaries of domestic architecture with its central platform lift and its layering of three distinct worlds.
History
In the heart of the Gironde commune of Floirac, on the edge of the Bordeaux conurbation, Maison Lemoine stands out as one of the most daring works of French residential architecture of the late 20th century. Commissioned by Jean-François Lemoine from the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas - founder of the famous firm OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) - it embodies a radical and profoundly human response to a particular constraint: to design a home for a man who had become partially disabled following an accident. Far from treating the disability as a mere technical constraint to be circumvented, Koolhaas makes it the generating principle of the entire composition. The hydraulic platform lift that crosses the three levels is not an accessibility solution added on the fringes of the project: it is literally its beating heart, the device around which the entire space is organised and transformed. As it rises and falls, the platform moves with it bookcases, work surfaces and furniture - the house is reconfigured to suit the movements of its occupants. The experience of visiting - or rather discovering, because the house remains a private residence - is one of architecture in perpetual dialogue with its occupant. Each level reveals a distinct atmosphere: the lower level, semi-buried, is bathed in the gloom and intimacy of the most everyday domestic spaces; the middle level opens generously onto the landscape of the Garonne via a full glass façade; the upper level, more enclosed, concentrates the night-time spaces in an assertive relationship with shelter and enclosure. Classified as a Historic Monument by decree on 28 November 2002 - barely four years after its completion - the Maison Lemoine is one of the few contemporary buildings to have obtained this protection so quickly, a sign of immediate institutional recognition of its exceptional heritage value. It now features in all the major works on the history of twentieth-century architecture, and remains an essential pilgrimage for students and professionals from all over the world.
Architecture
Maison Lemoine is distinguished by its composition of three superimposed levels that deliberately reject any formal or material homogeneity. Each level has its own constructive logic, its own materials and its own relationship to the exterior, as if Koolhaas had stacked three houses of radically different natures. The lower level, partially buried in the hillside, is made of dark, cavernous exposed concrete, housing the most intimate and functional rooms - kitchen, cellar, technical areas. The middle level, the heart of family life, is entirely glazed on the main facade, offering total transparency and a spectacular view of the Gironde landscape and the bend in the Garonne. The upper level, devoted to the bedrooms, on the other hand, is very opaque and closed, using metal boxes and controlled openings. The most spectacular feature is the large hydraulic lift-platform that crosses the entire height of the house. This platform doesn't just transport its user from one floor to the next: it also takes whole sections of the furniture and library with it, recreating a new spatial configuration with each move. This device means that disabled users are no longer constrained by space, but are active agents in its ongoing transformation. The asymmetry of the composition, the heterogeneity of the materials - concrete, structural glass, steel, wood - and the refusal of any clearly legible main façade make the Maison Lemoine as much an architectural manifesto as an inhabited residence. Here, Koolhaas pushes to extremes his research into the superimposition of programmes and the indeterminacy of the boundaries between interior and exterior.
Related Figures
Rem Koolhaas — architecte néerlandais, fondateur de l'OMA, concepteur de la maison (1994-1998)Jean-François Lemoine — commanditaire et habitant de la maison, dont le handicap moteur a inspiré le programme architecturalEllen van Loon — associée de l'OMA, impliquée dans le suivi du projetBruce Mau — graphiste et collaborateur de Koolhaas sur 'S, M, L, XL', ouvrage théorique contemporain à la construction de la maisonCornelius Tautschnig — ingénieur associé au projet pour les dispositifs hydrauliques et mécaniques
