COLLECTION NAME:
Archivision Base to Module 9
Record
Preferred Title:
Unité d'habitation de Firminy-Vert
Alternate Title:
Firminy-Vert Housing Units
Image View:
Context view, cityscape, east façade of the building
Creator:
André Wogenscky (French architect, 1916-2004); Le Corbusier (Swiss architect, 1887-1965)
Location:
site: Firminy, Rhône-Alpes, France
Location Note:
Firminy-Vert area, Rue des Noyers
GPS:
+45.3889+4.2878
Date:
1962-1965 (creation)
Cultural Context:
French
Style Period:
Modernist; Modern; Twentieth century
Work Type 1:
apartment house
Work Type 2:
housing project
Classification:
architecture
Material:
concrete; glass; steel
Technique:
construction (assembling)
Subjects:
architecture; City planning; Housing
Description:
The Unité d'Habitation (Housing Unit) is the name of a modernist residential housing design principle developed by Le Corbusier, with the collaboration of painter-architect Nadir Afonso. The concept formed the basis of several housing developments designed by him throughout Europe with this name. The Unité at Firminy-Vert was built to the strict cost yardstick of HLM regulations and was one of several of his buildings in this coal-mining town near Lyon. He was commissioned by Eugène Claudius-Petit, who became mayor of Firminy in 1953, to design a central ?agora? including a sports stadium, cultural centre and church, as well as the Unité, which he organized as an ensemble around the bowl of an abandoned quarry. The cost constraints created changes from Le Corbusier?s ideal, but the Unité at Firminy was considered very successful. The 20-storey concrete structure resembles a giant Mondrian painting, with concrete balconies accented with planes of bright colors. A primary school, now closed, occupied the top fl
Collection:
Archivision Addition Module Six
Identifier:
1A1-LC-FV-UH-A1
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.
Unité d'habitation de Firminy-Vert
