The Villa La Roche House Constructed between 1923 and 1925 in Paris, France by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret represents an exceptional architectural undertaking. Its originality lies in the unification it forges between two different spaces, each serving a different function: an art gallery on one hand and, on the other, the private apartments of the resident and collector, Raoul La Roche. The use of new construction materials allowed Le Corbusier to put into practice here what he would define in 1927 as the “Five Points towards a New Architecture”: the open facade, the open plan, the long horizontal window, the roof garden, and the pilotis.
In response to Raoul La Roche’s commission, Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret designed a project for a home/gallery that clearly disassociates the two functions. On one half on the plan, they situated the art gallery and library, designed to house a significant collection of modern art and sculpture. They arranged the residential space on the other half, reserved specifically for domestic activities. Raoul La Roche’s private apartments are directly adjacent to the Jeanneret House, whereas the gallery, is immediately visible from the entrance of the cul-de-sac.
Visually juxtaposed to the bulk of the gallery, the slender pilotis supporting the La Roche House free up space on the ground. This architectural tool invites the visitor to move freely under the building. With the space gained by the pilotis, the architects could create a garden: “By building on pilotis, we can recuperate in the garden nearly the totality of the terrain occupied by the construction”
By eliminating load-bearing walls, Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret could introduce multiple large openings into the facade.* The long, horizontal window replaces the vertical model that architects had by and large employed until this time. A band of windows bridges the La Roche and Jeanneret Houses, whereas two long windows pierce the superior elevation of the art gallery. Light can thereby enter further into the depths of the house, reaching even the corners of the room. Moreover, these openings serve to dissolve the boundary between the interior and exterior.
Redefining the traditional concept of the roof, he claimed that “the space on the roof is the most distant from the noise of the street, fully exposed to the light of the sun and to the air the most pure.” From this moment on, the suspended roof garden constituted a veritable space of relaxation, furnished with a shelter in case of bad weather, plants, and cement slabs.
Submerged in shadow under the foot bridge, the visitor first steps into the foyer, a stunning volume of space bathed light. As if suspended in the void, a small balcony immediately attracts his/her eye. The visitor searches the room, its three elevations laid perfectly bare, for a staircase leading to the upper levels. Le Corbusier, unwilling to obstruct the space with an ostentatious, monumental staircase, chose to conceal both staircases behind each wall of the foyer. As, from the entrance, the visitor glimpses into the various spaces of the house, he/she is invited to take an “architectural promenade”, a concept the architect highly valued. The visitor’s view of the entrance hall constantly changes as he/she circulates about the house, discovering new perspectives at each floor.
The concept of the “architectural promenade” first crystallized in the La Roche House, though this term did not appear until 1929 in the first volume of Oeuvre complète. There, Le Corbusier used the phrase to describe the La Roche House: “The second house will be something like an architectural promenade. We enter: the architectural spectacle presents itself to our gaze; we follow an itinerary, and various points of view unfold one after the other; we play with the flood of light illuminating the walls or casting shadows. The window bays open up views onto the exterior, and we rediscover the architectural whole.” The interior circulation became a preoccupation Le Corbusier would pursue throughout the rest of his career: “Everything, especially in architecture, is a question of circulation.” We can apply the notion of the “architectural promenade” to three essential elements of the La Roche House: first, the use of various architectural means to build an entrance that would spark the visitor’s curiosity and invite him to follow the determined path; secondly, the creation of multiple, successive points of view; and finally, the maintenance of the relation between the diverse components and the architectural whole.
The La Roche House, as well as the adjacent Jeanneret House, were classified as historical monuments in 1996. Since 1970, they have undergone several restoration campaigns.
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Villa LaRoche by LeCorbusier | Architecture Enthusiast |
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28 сен 2024
