Unité d’Habitation in Marseille - Experimental Artistic Device

The Unité d'Habitation in Marseilles summarizes the major themes of Le Corbusier research on housing and city, from the two levels apartment with double-height living and loggias, to the skeleton in reinforced concrete, the skeleton that contains the living cells, to the idea of the large volume raised on pilotis to achieve the landscaping vision prefigured in the Ville Radieuse and revived in "La maison des hommes", until the relationship between the spaces of houses and those of the public sphere. But the Unité d'Habitation is not just a "boîte à loyer", capable of holding up to 1799 inhabitants. Already during its construction, the Unité d'Habitation also becomes a place of experimentation of different artistic disciplines and their technologies, sculpture, painting, cinema, theatre. It becomes part of the works of avant-garde art admired by contemporary artists. Between 1949 and 1961, some artists see the Unité d'Habitation as an artistic subject and an example of new housing and social. Questioning the role played by this building-manifesto in the development of the concept of "Synthèse des arts" of which Le Corbusier wrote systematically since 1944, the essay will illustrate the various artistic experiments conducted by Le Corbusier, often in collaboration with other artists, at the Unité d'Habitation: from the research for a sculpture designed to the architecture, up to performance and artistic events that take place on the roof shortly after its inauguration, events that should be considered the first experiment of what, after other experiences, will become the "poème électronique".