‘Cité Radieuse’ of Le Corbusier

A ‘must-see’ of Marseille

A new housing unit system

This building is the work of the Swiss architect Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier. It is the first of five ‘Unité d’Habitation’ and was built between 1947 and 1952.

This vertical garden city is a set of individual apartments mounted on stilts and built as a collective structure. It was designed as a proof of concept for a new housing system. The ‘Cité radieuse’ accommodates 337 apartments of 23 different types, all of which provided comfortable and modern accommodation for the time.

A unique concept

In addition to these individual spaces, there are numerous “home extensions” designed to stimulate a new kind of collective living within the Cité radieuse. A lively place, the Cité radieuse offers visitors a wide range of shops and services.

–Two interior shopping streets, 3rd and 4th streets, feature a Ruptures&Imbernon bookshop, a bar-restaurant : Le Ventre de l’Architecte, a 3* hotel : Le Corbusier, a Design Concept Store: Le 318 , a contemporary art gallery Kolektiv Cité radieuse, a tea room “l’Archi Gourmand”, an art gallery Détail and Maison Mirbel (Art Design Intérieur).

–On the roof terrace: a nursery school and a gymnasium, which in June 2013 became MaMo (Centre d’Art Contemporain), with regular exhibitions directed by designer Ora-Ïto, and a running track around the roof.
The building is set in a 2.8-hectare park surrounding the housing unit, which is open all year round.

UNESCO World Heritage sites in Provence

Provence is one of the richest regions in France in terms of culture and history. 36,000 years separate the Chauvet Cave and the Cité Radieuse of Le Corbusier, but only 150 km!

UNESCO World Heritage sites such as the ‘Cité radieuse’, the Roman theatre and the ‘Arc de Triomphe’ in Orange, the Historic Centre of Avignon (with the ‘Palais des Papes’, the ‘Pont Saint Bezenet’, the ramparts, Notre Dame Basilica and the Doms garden, the ‘Petit Palais’ Museum), the ‘Pont du Gard’, the Roman and Romanesque Monuments in Arles and the Abbatial Church of Saint Gilles all decided to promote their cultural heritage together to French and foreign customers.

Watch the movie from the UNESCO sites in Provence