05/16/2026
< 12 Fun Facts on Unité d’Habitation, Marseille, France >
1. ‘I must be free of all building regulations in force.’ The architect – Le Corbusier accepted the project with this condition for the Minister of Reconstruction after WWII.
2. It was known by the locals in the 1950’s as The Loony Bin – La Maison du Fada. The title was further endorsed by the then president of the medical academy, himself a psychiatrist.
3. The Charter of Housing after the war in France required the residents of the Unité be taught on the ‘know-how of dwelling’ – savoir habiter. We don’t practice this anymore with social housing, do we?
4. The architect compared the Marseille Block as ‘the wine-bin’ and the 337 apartment units as wine bottles. These bottles in Corb’s terms ‘may contain Champagne, Beaune or just vin ordinaire, but the one we are talking about contains invariably a family.’ Very French – architecture and wine tasting.
5. The Unité was designed to be the first block of housing experiment covering a plot of 3.5 hectares. Multiple towers, separated among one another 300m apart in a park setting is what the other name ‘La Villa Radieuse’ – Green Town was originated.
6. The raw concrete look – béton brut was achieved with the use of sand and rock from Etole massif, the mountain range north of the city. The architect wanted the surfaces to resemble the rugged terrains there. Sure, they do. One can also say that this might be a pioneering green architecture of modern era.
7. Most critics complain on the width and height (3.66x2.26m) of most residential units without mentioning a double height of 4.8m at the living rooms. To be fair, one can hardly find social housing of this generous dimension even now!
8. A resident used to run a cinema of 40 seats exclusively for other residents. There is no information on where this ‘cinema’ was located. At present, live performances and other arts activities are carried out from time to time on the roof terrace and art gallery (once the gymnasium).
9. According to the residents, the sculptural ventilation shafts on the roof terrace occasionally produce humming sounds that visually echo with ferries travelling from Corsica and Algeria to the Marseilles harbour.
10. The name of the restaurant at the Unité is Le Ventre de l’Architecte which pays homage to the film The Belly of the Architect by Peter Greenaway. The location of this restaurant, on the internal street, is close to the centre of the housing block just as the belly button to the centre of a person.
11. When residents are asked what they like most of the building, the communal roof terrace sunset apéritif comes first, then the sunrise. We should democratize all flat roofs now!
12. Private Delivery System: All apartments feature specially designed boxes on walls for residents to receive groceries from shops without opening their doors. Residents with communal spirit use them to share magazines and foods among themselves.
This write-up follows my recent pilgrimage to the Unité and found that it really is a living monument slash apartment building. The morning I went there was literally kicking with residents doing Pilates and riotous music on the roof terrace.
For more reading, there is an in-depth review of Le Corbusier in my blog, check this link: https://artswise.blogspot.com/2015/11/
