Berlin - La cité radieuse de le Corbursier - Photographed by Didier Gaillard-Hohlweg



Berlin - la cité radieuse  
le Corbursier

Photographies de Didier Gaillard-Hohlweg




In 1953 as part of the Interbau International Building Exhibition, new types of buildings were designed to eliminate the acute post-war housing shortage in Berlin. International architects of the calibre of le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer, Arne Jakobsen, Alvar Aalto, Pierre Vago and Walter Gropius wanted to revive the building tradition of the 1920s. 




The Swiss architect Corbusier, who had previously completed unités d’habitation (residential units) in Marseille (1947-1952) and Nantes-Rezé (1953-1955), was also involved, creating the design for the new unité d’habitation
Berlin style



Due to the size of the residential complex, the site of the Olympischer Hügel was selected close to the Olympic Stadium on the edge of Grünewald Forest












The construction phase lasted from 1956 to 1958. The high-rise building, with a height of 52.94 metres (174 ft), a length of 141.20 metres (463 ft) and a width of 22.96 metres (75 ft), contains 530 apartments, each with between one and five rooms. In 1979 they were turned into owner-occupied apartments. 


Along with a large store on the ground floor, there is also the washhouse, which serves as a cinema and the club apartment, which is used to hold exhibitions – amongst other things. In 2004, the Förderverein Corbusierhaus Berlin (Friends of the Corbusier House) e. V. was formed for the purpose of organising cultural and scientific events along with maintaining and caring for the community facilities. 















The building is classified Denkmalschutz since 1993




©2018 Didier Gaillard-Hohlweg
Thanks to Architect Philipp Mohr for his high contribution



More information on Le Corbusier's building here:
https://www.cairn.info/revue-histoire-urbaine-2006-2-page-131.htm#

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