ie School of Architecture

Villa Savoye Explanation

Done at Poissy from 1929 to 1931, the freeness of the Dom-Ino system let Le Corbusier find and apply the 5 points in architecture that are gathered in this villa.

The supports (pilotis) are precisely calculated, spaced regularly and used to elevate the first floor off the damp ground. The interior walls are independent of the support system, can be arranged in a free plan, the curving ground floor wall is determined by the turning radius of the motor car that would convey the family here from Paris. The driveway extends under the house, between the pilotis, and continues past the main entrance to a three-car garage and the maid’s quarter. From the ground-level entrance hall the visitor has the choice of climbing the sculptural stair or ascending the ramp (which links all three levels) to the second floor. Here, the horizontal window is made possible by the support system; assuring illumination and an unobstructed view from the living room over the clearing in which the house sits to the forested hills enclosing the site. The large living room is separated by an enormous sliding glass door from the exterior patio and the ramp that continues to the upper level, the flat slab of the roof is used for domestic purposes as a terrace with sculptural windscreen walls. The façade, also independent of the structural supports, could be freely designed and the result was that all four elevations are essentially identical, consisting of a ribbon of windows and openings running the width of the facade at the second floor level.

Le Corbusier’s choice of interior finishes and fittings reflects his enthusiasm for industrial products and his admiration for the functional aspects of ocean liners. The entrance hall alone has unglazed ceramic tile flooring; simple pipe nails, painted black; a pedestal washbasin, freestanding in the hallway; and industrial light fixtures, directed upward to provide reflected light. Skylights, painted intense blue, provide softly colored light reflecting off the white wall surfaces on the second floor.

The artful incorporation of varied spatial experiences and light within a simple geometric container testifies to the mastery of form Le Corbusier had achieved by 1930.

Fernando Jimenez Salmeron, BA Architecture 2008

listas: s_XX , use_RESIDENTIAL_HOUSING_individual

etiquetas: 5 points of architecture , dom-ino , le corbusier , s. xx