Superficie des biens: 100m² to 150m²

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.

A modern building of its time, the Debussy was built by Claude Zubiena in 1973. Located in the 6th arrondissement, between Vauban and the Palais de Justice, this 30-meter-high building gives a glimpse of the Bonne Mère.

Its architecture is characteristic with its angular facade and its mixture of wood and concrete. Its pure and harmonious lines reign supreme in the middle of the townhouses of the district. Its green roof and touches of orange colors punctuate the building, giving it an offbeat look.

The architect’s precise work can be found in the common areas, where magnificent wooden palisades with subtle cuts end his work and give it a unique charm.

Claude Zubiena

Born in 1935 in Marseille, Claude Zubiena is a French architect belonging to the modern movement. Following in the footsteps of his father, Jean Zubiena, he graduated from the Marseille Regional School of Architecture in 1960.

He worked in the city of Marseille throughout his career, thus continuing the emblematic architectures of the city by Le Corbusier or Fernand Pouillon.

Leaving behind a few buildings like the Debussy, it dresses the city with its functional and linear architecture with woody details, thus marking its difference.