69 Le Corbusier is Dead
Did you know that the Unite d’ Habitation by Le Corbusier was completed in 1952? Seventy-two years ago! Of course you did. Remember, the ingenious mezzanine units? The playful rooftop with a kindergarten? The kids were safe there. Partially because of a Canadian.
Did you know that Blanche Lemco van Ginkel (14 December 1923 – 20 October 2022), “in one of her earliest projects, worked on the rooftop of le Corbusier’s iconic Unité d’Habitation in Marseille. She would later write, “I designed the children’s play area and the high parapet around the running track/edge of the roof. The idea was that the roof was like the square of a small town, with its usual facilities, and that one saw the Alpes Maritimes in the distance as one would over the house roofs. This is why the parapet is relatively high.” (Wikipedia)
Privately, she told me that in the office of Le Corbusier she was the only woman, so they gave her a separate room not to disturb the drafting boys….
Let’s change the scale, shall we?
When my returning, client asked me to turn the garage area of the house into a secondary unit, I thought why wouldn’t we try to use the old idea of a mezzanine from Marseille?
The ground floor with Living, Dining, and the kitchen (as well as the storage are behind) and the second floor with an open bedroom, maybe even an open bathroom, a real en-suite, and a big enough walk-in closet. The water closet could be the only box on this floor, playing the role of a powder room (in front of the stairs from below to mezzanine). But hey, the existing garage (14×24) was still too small for the mezzanine typology. Le Corbusier used the same idea from Marseille building in a very similar building in West Berlin. The “Berlin idea” was more traditional – skip double storey opening and use its GFA (Gross Floor Area) for more living functions.
That was the right solution for my clients as well.
As for the esthetics – the new addition is a big departure from a sweet Scarborough home into an era of hybrid infusion and confusion. Contemporary, modern reinterpretation of Le Corbusier?
But what if HE will pick up the phone and give me hell about his “intellectual property”?
Don’t worry, Le Corbusier is dead!
Is he?
Maybe.
See for yourself. Go to my Insta and Facebook or X.
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