Unité d'Habitation Berlin (Berlin, Germany) : Detail, relief (incised) sculpture relating to Le Corbusier's symbolism for the "Modulor" scale

Creator:

Le Corbusier, 1887-1965

Published/Created:

Berlin, Berlin (state), Germany
Charlottenburg (now Westend); Flatowallee 16
1956-1958

Physical Description:

53 m (height)

Date Depicted:

3/18/2008

Materials:

reinforced concrete; textured concrete; glass; wood

Notes:

In the original Unité d’Habitation in Marseille (1945-1952), Le Corbusier envisaged a "vertical garden city" based on the notion of self-supporting communities, like villages with their own services and schools. It is based on autonomous two-storey "houses", stacked together and linked by an internal street (hallway). Great care was taken to provide excellent sound insulation, and the materials used (rough, textured concrete on the outside, varnished plywood and mahogany inside) were enlivened by color. The buildings were built using "Modulor" scale, an anthropometric scale of proportions devised by Le Corbusier. The Unité was meant to provide a prototype for other urban housing projects, and indeed versions of it were built at Marseilles (1947-1952), Rezé-lès-Nantes (1952-1955), Charlottenburg in Berlin (1956-1958) and Briey-en-Forêt (1957-1959), but all were changed from Le Corbusier’s ideal for reasons of cost or political compromise. The Berlin building was part of the Interbau, a housing development, constructed as part of the 1957 International Building Exhibition (IBA '57). It lacks most of the amenities (save a shop and a post office on the ground floor), but is considered unique for its more generously sized apartments. It accommodates 530 units on 17 floors.

Variant Titles:

Berlin Corbusierhaus

Topics:

Architecture -- Germany -- 20th century -- (YVRC)

Period/Style:

Brutalist
Modernist
Twentieth century

Culture:

German

Accession Number:

1A1-LC-UHB-A22

Coordinates:

+52.510314+13.243810

Genre:

apartment houses (AAT)
architecture (AAT)

Format:

Image

Content Type:

Sculptures, Models, & Architecture

Rights:

Copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.

Access Restrictions:

Yale Community Only

Digital:

complexes; housing projects architecture; cityscape; City planning; Housing

Source Creator:

Novak, Virginie

Source Title:

Archivision Addition Module Seven

Source Created:

2878 Chamonix, Montreal QC
Archivision, Inc.
3/18/2008

Source Note:

Purchase, Visual Resources Collection, May, 2011; photographer Scott Gilchrist

Yale Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Digital Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Local Record Number:

4349

OID:

10461099

PID:

digcoll:1837656