Description
A duplex with sea view in the Cité Radieuse
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2016, Marseille’s Cité Radieuse is an icon of Le Corbusier’s work. Built between 1948 and 1952 during the post-war Reconstruction, it represents the culmination of his research on modern housing and architecture.
Located on an upper floor, this descending type C duplex has been extended to optimize the available space and allow its inhabitants to fully enjoy the view. It offers a surface area of 63 m² (LC) over two levels. It has undergone a meticulous restoration.
The upper level features an entrance that leads to the living space with an original kitchen designed by Charlotte Perriand, a dining area, and a living room open to the sea view thanks to the original glass facade.
The lower level, accessed by a Jean Prouvé staircase, features a large suite with an office, living room, and a bedroom delineated by an original wardrobe designed by Charlotte Perriand. This space opens onto a balcony with a sea view.
In its current configuration, the apartment can accommodate up to 4 people and generate rental income.
Nestled in Marseille’s prestigious 8th arrondissement, the apartment sits within a three-hectare park, between the hills and the sea. With two levels of amenities, including a shopping gallery with local businesses and a hotel, a nursery school, a rooftop solarium, a swimming pool, and an open-air theater, as well as round-the-clock security, the Cité Radieuse offers an exceptional quality of life.
The designs of the Cité Radieuse : avant-garde and a collective masterpiece
After the war, kitchens and storage solutions became central elements in interior design projects.
The standardized kitchen of the Unité d’Habitation was particularly inspired by the American kitchen and Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky’s “Frankfurter Küche” (1928), designed to optimize domestic work.
Its design is the result of collective work. Charlotte Perriand, an architect and designer, proposed an ambitious but expensive initial version. Simone Galpin, an artist and collaborator within the Atelier, revisited it by making major modifications: a lowered work surface, right angles, systematic use of oak and aluminum, reduced sliding doors, and an enriched polychromy (green, white, dark red, and earth brown). Her husband, André Wogenscky, the architect and site manager, adopted this cost-effective model and entrusted ATBAT, particularly Vladimir Bodiansky, with drawing up the final plans.
Covering an area of approximately 5 m², this square-plan kitchen integrates with the dining/living room thanks to its bar. It is equipped with the modern comforts of the time: an electric stove, a garbage chute, refrigerated cabinets, and ample storage. Presented at the Salon des Arts Ménagers in 1950, it embodies a balance between innovation and pragmatism.
The interior staircase, designed by Jean Prouvé, features a lightweight metal structure and solid oak steps reminiscent of a boat cabin ladder.
© Valérie Ruperti
Raw concrete and play of light
Exploiting the plastic and technical possibilities of concrete, Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse is a housing unit—a concrete structure on stilts containing duplex apartments and communal amenities. The regular facade, with its prefabricated concrete sunshades, is crowned by sculptural rooftop forms, including its iconic large chimney.
Inside and out, the architect introduced a palette of primary colors, coating the interiors of loggias and apartment doors.
Based on the Modulor system, a human figure scaled to the golden ratio, the apartment’s spaces are adapted to the human body, offering great comfort. Moreover, the apartment retains many period design elements by Le Corbusier.
© Valérie Ruperti
Le Corbusier
Born in 1887 in Switzerland, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbusier, was an architect and urban planner renowned for making architecture a comprehensive art form. He considered the building’s structure, interior design, furniture, and overall urban context in all his projects, making him one of the most iconic figures of the Modern Movement.
Throughout his career, Le Corbusier shared his vision and theories through international exhibitions, such as the 1925 “Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau” and the 1937 “Pavillon des Temps Nouveaux.”
A proponent of modernism who opposed decorative arts, Le Corbusier embodied his architectural philosophy in villas such as the 1928 Villa Savoye, where he established his “five points of modern architecture” (pilotis, roof terrace, ribbon windows, free facade, and open floor plan).
Although one of the most prolific architects of his time, many of his projects were never realized, such as the “Plan Voisin” or the “Contemporary City for Three Million Inhabitants.” His work, sometimes deemed too radical, has nonetheless gained international acclaim. His last major project was in Chandigarh, India, where he oversaw the urban planning of the new capital of Punjab, blending raw concrete with lush vegetation.
