arrondissement : Marseille 8ème

Built by Fernand Boukobza in 1966, the « Brasilia » building, which has been awarded the « Patrimoine du XXème siècle » (20th century heritage) label, is an emblematic figure in the Marseilles landscape.

At 20 storeys high, the building comprises no less than 221 duplex flats, reminiscent of the characteristic organisation of a housing unit, as in Le Corbusier’s nearby Cité Radieuse. Its impressive framework opens its concave curve to the north, in order to obtain the largest façade development to the south. Its remarkable double-revolution emergency staircase is sculptural, a real lift to the sky.

Entirely made of concrete and including pilings, duplexes and sumptuous circular volumes, the Brasilia is a symbol of the modernity of the time.

Fernand Boukobza

Born in 1926 in Algeria and dying in 2012 in Marseille, Fernand Boukobza was an architect sensitive to American modernity. He was inspired by the experiments of Richard Neutra, Frank Lloyd Wright and Marcel Breuer, but also by Le Corbusier and his works in concrete.

In his architecture, he uses concave curves and transforms functional elements into real sculptural objects, such as the stairs of Brasilia. Among his achievements are the twin houses of the Parc Talabot and the housing unit Le Brasilia, both of which have been awarded the title of 20th century heritage. Alongside Pierre Jameux, Pierre Mathoulin and Pierre Meillassoux, he also participated in the construction of the famous La Castellane housing estate.

Built between 1947 and 1952 by Charles Édouard Jeanneret, also known as Le Corbusier, La Cité Radieuse, located in the 8th arrondissement of Marseille, is the result of a project for a « vertical village » called « Unité d’Habitation ».

This vertical garden city, built on stilts, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2016. Creative and avant-garde, its surprising architecture, like an ocean liner, offers a multitude of plays of light, perspectives and colours, presenting itself as an architectural work in its own right.

Behind this crazy project of 337 flats lies Le Corbusier’s strong desire to establish a new way of living, allowing people to live together and to liberate women.

Le Corbusier

Born on 6 October 1887 and died on 27 August 1965,
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, better known under the pseudonym Le Corbusier, was an architect of the modern movement. Alongside Robert Mallet-Stevens and Mies Van Der Rohe, he was a complete artist who also worked as an urban planner and designer. Founder of principles such as the Modulor or the Unité d’Habitation, his work includes 17 sites – 10 in France – classified as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, while many of his creations are classified as Historic Monuments.

Among his emblematic works are La Cité Radieuse in Marseille, La Villa Savoye in Poissy, the city of Chandigarh in India and the Notre-Dame-du-Haut chapel in Ronchamp. He has also designed landmark furniture pieces such as the LC2 armchair and the LC4 lounge chair.

Construite en 1959 par René Egger, la résidence « l’Éolienne » fut réalisée sur les ruines de la villa éponyme, construite en 1930 par l’architecte Gaston Castel et détruite par les bombardements de 1944.

Ses lignes courbes et sa façade inclinée tout en souplesse et élégance en font une oeuvre au parti pris fort, représentative de l’architecture balnéaire, laissant entrer la lumière du soleil de part en part.

Une création originale, telle une vague de béton, faisant écho à la Méditerranée à ses pieds, quelque part entre la Côte d’Azur et le modernisme tropical, inspiré de Niemeyer.

René Egger

René Egger (1915-2016) est un architecte moderniste français connu comme l’un des bâtisseurs de Marseille. Dans la période de la Reconstruction après-guerre, aux côtés de Fernand Pouillon, il fonde d’emblématiques édifices tels que l’hôpital Nord et la faculté de médecine de la Timone. Architecte discret sous l’aile de Gaston Defferre, son trait de crayon n’en a pas moins bouleversé la cité phocéenne. Il a dessiné Marseille telle qu’on la pensait à l’époque, sous un angle fonctionnel et monumental.

La villa Egger, seule résidence privée qu’il réalisa dans sa riche carrière, fut construite pour son propre compte. Fusion subtile d’un style traditionnel méditerranéen et d’un brutalisme assumé, elle s’inscrit dans la même veine que l’architecte Jacques Couëlle et préfigure les réalisations de Maurice Sauzet.

Héritier direct des modernistes, Egger fit du béton son matériau de prédilection et signa la plupart de ses ouvrages par des brises-soleil venant tamiser le chaleureux soleil du Sud. Aujourd’hui, nombreux de ses bâtiments habitent toujours la ville, laissant derrière lui une trace considérable de son œuvre.