The first appartment block with glazed façades. Component of the serial property inscribed on the world heritage list, 2016The architects have maintained their interest in the construction of this building because the terrain fulfilled the conditions of the "Ville Radieuse" and offered an opportunity to prove the correctness of the theses which Le Corbusier had developed in this respect.
One side of the building faces a sports park 600 ft. deep, built over ancient fortifications, while the other side faces the gardens in the foreground of Boulogne which are dominated on the horizon by the hills of St-Cloud and Suresnes.
At the 4th International Congress for Modern Architecture, in Athens, Le Corbusier stated that the elements of urbanism were, in order of their importance: the sky, the trees, steel and concrete. He maintained that the inhabitants of a city in which these elements were manifest in their correct sequence would discover what he means by "the essential joys".
This building attests to it. In order to make best use of the exceptional location, the facades have been conceived as glass curtains placed in front of the concrete floors. Thus each apartment possesses a wall entirely of glass, running from floor to ceiling. Sun-control devices have been provided.
Once the building was inaugurated the tenants spontaneously declared that a new life had started for them, thanks to the glass wall and certain common service facilities.
Extract from Le Corbusier,
Oeuvre complète, volume 2, 1929-1934