Villa Savoye

Last Tuesday, I had the amazing opportunity to visit Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye. Corbusier, originally from France, was one of the founders of the Bauhaus, and worked right along side Mies at the school. The two of them were way ahead of their time, but they still thought very differently from each other. While Mies focused on how a building sat on the ground, Corbusier focused on lifting the building off the ground. He created five points for the 'new architecture': pilotes (to lift the building up), roof gardens, open plan, free floating facade, and horizontal windows. The Villa Savoye was built in 1929 as a weekend villa for the Savoye family. However, they only occupied the building for two years, after that it was falling apart to the point where it was uninhabitable. However, this building did make great strides for its time- the majority of what Corbusier used was not manufactured at the time, he had to event everything from the door handels to the way the door opened. It was because of this house in the 30s that architecture can be what it is today.

The ground floor consists of the maid's corters and a garage- nothing else. It is as open as possible from the exterior to give the appearance of floating. Corbusier place a sink in the middle of the entryway as a place to cleanse yourself before entering the home.

The second floor is fairly open for its time. There are three bedrooms, each of which have a closet that Corbusier emphasized. I love that he took the closet out of the wall and made it into an object within the room- it gives a greater dimension to the space and created new spaces. The floor also contained a large bathroom, enormous kitchen, and a large living area bright and full of glass. There is a large glass door, half of the wall, that Corbusier put on a track and one crancked it open. There were no tracks at the time that could easily glide the 400 pound glass door, so this was his solution.

Upon entering the terrace, there is a large open space for sitting, eating and relaxing. However, this is not the end. For the first time, Corbusier makes the conscious decision to make a roof useful and adds one of the very first roof top gardens to the villa.

Although this building is an architectural gem, I have to say, I was less impressed than I was expecting to be. And I think the main reason for this was because it was the breaking ground for modern architecture we see today. Everything in this house was a first, yet today, its the norm. When I entered the building, it seemed like a degraded version of today's architecture- and in a way it was a little depressing. But putting myself back in 1929, this building must have been a beacon. It was one of the first modern structures that truly encompassed Corbusier's ideas, and for that, I have great appreciation for it. It was an interesting building to learn from, and exciting to see where it took us.