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LE CORBUSIER
VILLA SAVOYE
GROUP 04
Typical characteristic The design has five points using a flat roof and raised
buildings, as well as the wall portion is not a structural element, in the installation of
windows in a horizontal position
VILLA SAVOYE
The VILLA SAVOYE building was built by architect Le Corbusier with a location in
Poissy France this project took place in 1929.
Ribbon Windows that blend into the facade of a flashy, white, the facade of any
hierarchy. Window streamer started playing with the perception of the interior and exterior
decoration, which is not entirely revealed until once inside.
Le Corbusier put living room around a communal outdoor terraced that is separate
from the living area by sliding glass walls.
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Analysis of Villa Savoye
By Dalton Webb
The Villa Savoye was built in 1931 near the town of Poissy, France.1 The architect
that designed Villa Savoye was none other than Le Corbusier. It is built in the International
style and is set on top of a hillside. This house was built for the Savoye couple, who
wanted a vacation house in the countryside that was not far from Paris. The house
consists of a living room, master bedroom, two small guest rooms, kitchen, pantry and a
servants’ quarters. Those things are just the labeling of rooms though. Le Corbusier
used his 5 points of a New Architecture to create the layout of the entire building. These
5 things are: (1) pilotis that elevate the mass off of the ground, (2) an open floor plan, (3)
free façade, (4) long horizontal windows and (5) the roof garden.
In order to gain access into Villa Savoye you first have to be let into the property.
The caretakers’ house was made in the same spirit of the Villa Savoye. It is elevated off
of the ground with pilotis and has a set of horizontal sliding windows that face toward the
entrance of the property. After driving through the gate you will go through some woods
and then you will enter a clearing. As you drive up towards Villa Savoye you will first notice
how it floats off of the ground with the thin pilotis supporting it. The white façade of the
upper floors are free of decoration and gives off a stark contrast to the green forest that
surrounds it. The green painted façade on the first floors on the hand helps connect the
building with forest. This first floor is used as the parking garage, drive way, location for
the two guest bedrooms, and part of the servant area.2
Upon parking your car inside the carport-like entrance to the house, you will notice
an elongated ramp that glides up and around what seems to be the central part of the
house. The elongation of the ramp gives you time to embrace and experience the house
itself. Like walking on a cruise liner where your key importance is to enjoy your time there.
The second floor where the ramp leads you first is the piano nobile of the house since it
contains most of the functions and interactions of the house. 5 This is visibly noted in the
exterior with the band of sliding glass windows. Upon entering the second floor you will
see the start of the outside ramp that extends up into the 3rd floor that contains the roof
garden. The 2nd floor also contains the master bedroom, living room and the start of the
roof garden.6
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This house is in the International style due the nature of Le Corbusiers’ 5 points of
architecture. The 5 points were Le Corbusiers’ way to produce a style of house that fits
the international style. A building that has no past connections, creates its own zeitgeist
of its time and make an architecture that is for everyone. A house that fits into the
International style is usually geometric, extensive use of concrete and glass, and does
not have noticeable details from other styles. The International style was the start of
modernism but the Villa Savoye is the monument of the first stage of the Modern
Movement.6 Le Corbusier thought that Modernism was the absence of connections to the
past. At the same time he kept the same core values of the past when designing the Villa
Savoye. This is how he kept but also developed something new at the same time.
Villa Savoye was built for a married couple who had no perceived conception of
either modern or ancient architecture.7 This gave way for Le Corbusier to implement his
5 points of architecture. Using the free façade that is void of any exterior structuring, pilotis
that “float” the piano nobile above the ground, the free floor plan that separates the house
into sections but gives an open airy feeling, and the roof garden that is used to make up
for the area of ground lost by the foundation of the building itself.
The exterior of the building seems to float on top of the pilotis but with the use of
the green paint on the first floor walls it is balanced with the nature around it. It seems at
home with its long bands of horizontal sliding glass windows, free façade, and its pilotis
that you could compare to the trees that surround the property.
The Villa Savoye is the prime example of the International Style. It shows no
connection to the past, it creates an architecture of its own, it has its own feel to it which
does not belong to any other past architecture and it creates its own zeitgeist.
The Villa Savoye like many projects such as, Falling Waters by Frank Lloyd Wright,
gives that architect an stamp on history. It not only helped create something new at that
time but it gives the future generations something to study. It gives them something to
absorb, manipulate, change, integrate into other styles, and make it into something of
their own. Famous buildings such as, Villa Savoye and Falling Waters fuel the waves of
creativity in the minds of people for generations to come.
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Long band of horizontal
sliding glass windows
pilotis
Free facade
Roof garden
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Fig 6.01 - Le Corbusier, main door into Ronchamp
Fig 4.09 - Plan analysis of Villa Savoye showing Ouevre Fig 6.03 - Plan of the Acropolis (from
Vers une
proportions and regullating lines Complete) architecture)
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Fig 7.05 - Villa Savoye, roof solarium Fig 7.09 - Villa Savoye, ground level plan Fig 7.10 - Villa Savoye, first level plan Fig 7.11 - Villa Savoye, second level plan
Fig 7.08 - Villa Savoye, west-east section looking north Fig 7.12 - Sketch perspective of roof garden looking towards living room.
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THE CONCEPT
The Villa Savoye was one of Le Corbusier’s most vital experimental pieces. It was a
part of a variety of minor test pieces that now became one of the great modern buildings
in the 20th century. Influenced by many he took on a Mediterranean style to this specific
building something very unique compared to other professionals at that time (Frank
Lloyd Wright opposed to the fact that the building was hoisted and sat on ‘pilotis’). The
design of the ground floor has an almost semi-circle like portion to the building facing
north. Illustrating his interest in automobiles, he wanted to have the building revolve
around the car. He even placed a sink in the foyer area where the owner would come in
from a hard day at work and wash his impurities away and settle into his home. These
subtle concepts may seem small to a regular person but it’s astonishing in the eye of a
modern day architect.
· pilotis- Stilt
· faҫade libre- free facade
· fenȇtre en longueur- window length
· plan libre- free plan
· toit-jardin- roof top garden
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These elements separate the building from the ones that were created at that time of
construction.
The structure oozes the words shape, build, edges and geometry. The actual form of
the building looks as if it’s floating on the piece of land that it is standing on. The stilts
actually become visible as you approach the building from behind the trees. Inside, all
the straight sharp edges fade into curve like structures that bend their way towards the
roof top garden challenging the normal clean cut methods used on the first floor of the
exterior façade. Some may say it is almost an abstract building as the ground floor’s
plan differs to the one above it. Again using the auto mobile as the main source of
revolving the house around. In my opinion I think that Corbusier intended to have this
structure standing out rather than blending it into the landscape, a masterpiece that was
meant to object to its surroundings.
A feature that is really talked about is the roof top garden that is open to getting the
most of sun’s rays as it travels across the sky revealing the landscape along its journey.
It is placed so that is faces away from the sun so that the observer doesn’t get a
restricted view of the surrounding area by having the sun in their eyes. To admire the
landscape outside the site Corbusier placed viewing spaces to the facade of the
building, it has been quoted that the windows ‘appear like naturalistic murals’ to the
observer. The patio on the first floor is another feature to allow the resident to get views
of the surrounding area. This again relates back to the Mediterranean style of having
“patio houses” a term that Italian architect Ernesto Rogers stated of Corbusier’s
buildings.The attention towards detail has been a priority for Corbusier whether it is for
the physical building or the actual person and how he or she views the architecture
within the building. Corbusier stated “the house must be open to all horizons”
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Structure of Villa Savoye
On the ground level, Le Corbusier featured a three-car garage and a driveway with a
turning radius to accommodate a 1930s limousine. While garages are now
commonplace in homes today, at the time, Le Corbusier's focus on the automobile was
shockingly new. From the outset, the house's design embraced machines and
technology, just as it exuded a starkly modern style.
In fact, the house proved to be uncomfortable and unaccommodating for the Savoye
family. They abandoned it within a few years of its completion. By the time World War II
occurred, the house became a boarding space, first for the occupying Germans and
later the Allies. Following the war, it was nearly torn down many times, but eventually
saved and declared a national monument. In 1996, the home was restored to its original
condition and made into a museum.
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