I like modern architecture, thus, it is impossible not to like the buildings of Le Corbusier, who was on the forefront of 20th Century modern architecture from 20s to 60s.

From the inscribed sites, I saw only Maison Guiette at Antwerp (PHOTO) and Unite d`habitation at Marseilles. In the former case, I spent maybe ten minutes walking around and taking photos of the house, while the latter building I saw through the bus window when I passed by on the avenue to the city center, which took however comparable portion of time or even more in the morning traffic jam in Marseilles. Even such short visits were however enough to understand the qualities of the buildings.

Maison Guiette is small white house that is characterized by a set of vertical and horizontal windows completed by a narrow balcony on the main façade. From the side, the house looks even more “modern” and minimalist than from the front – PHOTO – a large white plane of the house is cut only by two small horizontal windows in the central part completed by an odd hole in the right-upper corner, which is the only indication of a roof terrace, substitution of a garden, from the outside. I liked the house as I like the international style of 20-30s, and I trust the experts who selected this as a representative building of Le Corbusier. What I could see on photos, in contrast to austere and cubic exterior, the house is surprisingly colorful inside. This is a signature also of another landmark of modern architecture that I visited recently: TWHS of Muller Villa by Adolf Loos in Prague.

As concerns the housing estate in Marseilles, it has an iconic status for brutalist architecture and new social living in 40s and later periods even in socialistic Czechoslovakia, so one could find echoes of Le Corbusier even there.  

Hopefully, I will expand the list of visited sites by other buildings soon…