Five European cities have the distinct honor of being home to a magnificent Brutalist style, utopian ideal, multiple-family housing complex designed by renown architect, Le Corbusier. These Unite’ d’Habitation are breathtaking in their form and functionality.
Each building has slight variations in style and design, but all remain in remarkable condition some 50-66 years after they respective completion. Some include retail shops or a post office, as well as a nursery school or kindergarten on the upper floors.
Recreation space is provided on the surrounding green spaced site and in some cases on the rooftop – Marseille’s rooftop even has a small wading pool.
- Marseille (1952) = 337 units
- Nantes-Reze’ (1955) = 294 units
- Berlin (1957) = 530 units
- Briey-en-Foret (1961) = 391 units
- Firminy-Vert (1967) = 414 units
Enjoy the utilitarian and visual beauty of these mid-century marvels of European architecture. All have been declared protected historic structures/monuments.

Nantes-Reze, France (1955) – Source: https://dome.mit.edu

Berlin-Westend, Germany (1957) – Source: http://www.architravel.com/architravel/building/unite-d-habitation/

Briey-en-Foret, France (1961) – Source: http://corbusierhaus-berlin.org/en/unite/
Interested in learning more about Le Corbusier? Here are visual links to three books about him and his work on Amazon.*(see note below)
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Sources:
- http://corbusierhaus-berlin.org/en/unite/
- http://www.fondationlecorbusier.fr/corbuweb/morpheus.aspx?sysId=11&sysLanguage=fr-fr&sysParentId=11&sysParentName=home&clearQuery=1
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unité_d%27habitation
- http://www.architravel.com/architravel/building/unite-d-habitation-cite-radieuse/
- http://www.architravel.com/architravel/building/unite-d-habitation/
- http://www.architravel.com/architravel/architects/le-corbusier/
- https://www.archdaily.com/85971/ad-classics-unite-d-habitation-le-corbusier
- http://www.fondationlecorbusier.fr/corbuweb/morpheus.aspx?sysId=13&IrisObjectId=5234&sysLanguage=en-en&itemPos=58&itemCount=78&sysParentId=64&sysParentName=home
- https://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/15/le-corbusier-unite-d-habitation-cite-radieuse-marseille-brutalist-architecture/
- http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Unite_d_Habitation.html
- https://www.biography.com/people/le-corbusier-9376609
- https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/unite-dhabitation-and-the-radiant-city
Visited the Marseille Unite for the first time a short while ago. Stunning building- iconic is the only word for it- still working well and looking pretty good too, although now occupied it seems by university lecturers and the like. Really makes you wonder how generally we so often got this housing option so wrong.
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