Unité d’Habitation of Marseilles (1952) Le Corbusier
Throughout this report I will be examining the Unite d’Habitation of Marseille technological systems, researching into the structural strategy used and the materials evident in the building. And then conclude on whether the right decisions was made. Unité d’Habitation of Marseille One of architect Le Corbusier's most influential buildings is the revolutionary public housing scheme of the Unite d’Habitation of Marseille France. It was built between 1947-1952. The building has a brutalist architecture style to it with chunky pilotis that supports the 18-storey slab blocks. The Unite d’Habitation has 337 apartments with 23 different styles from single living to large ten person families. These apartments can accommodate up to 1,600 residents. With its high rise and large capacity the building must have a good structure for it to be well built. The purpose of the building was to provide a solution to the masses of severely displaced people after the Second World War, and Le Corbusier was commissioned by the French state to undertake this project. During the war because a lot of the houses were bombed in France this would have left the government with the problem of rehousing masses of people. Also during that time they would also have suffered from lack of government funds because of the war effort. So because of this it must have been a challenge for Le Corbusier to build a residential space with limited funds. The Plan The Unite d’Habitation is built in a large park having its main elevations facing East and West. And because of the sun directions the North side of the building is closed off due to the cold winds and the limitation of sun light. The building stands on pilotis which allows space underneath for cars and pedestrian access. The buildings plenum space is underneath the first floor and houses the air-conditioning plant, elevator machineries and diesel generators. This must be because of the easy access to the generators. The apartments in the building all have two floors with their own internal staircase. The living room is the height of both floors, 4.8 metres with a large floor to ceiling window of 3.66 x 4.8 metres giving full view of the picturesque scenery outside. The windows are deep set which allows room for a modest balcony. One of the benefits afforded by Le Corbusier high-density, industrial, urban society is that it freed up ground space for trees and bushes which would create a peaceful landscape as opposed to the dirty city streets. The corridors on every third floor allows access to each flat, like a jigsaw. From the corridor, access to one apartment would be on its ground floor while access to the other apartment would be on its first floor. By interlocking two apartments around the central access corridor, Le Corbusier had designed it for maximum use of the space within the building. This then resulted in more living space thus accommodating more displaced people and ultimately achieving one of the aims of the building. But though these central access corridors, “streets in the sky” were strategically planned to save space, they had lacked daylight and were dimly lit. On the seventh and eighth floor Le Corbusier designed two shopping streets which contained a hostel, this was intended for the residents guests to stay in and had eventually became a hotel. There are restaurant, laundry, shops such as grocery, dairy and a bakery, and a cinema. He also implemented the rooftop space by creating social amenities for the residents such as a swimming pool, gymnasium, running track, children’s nursery along with a paddling pool. This created spaces for the residents to use and socialise together. Materials Evident During the modern movement period new materials were introduced and became popular with architecture. Because with the International style and the idea of simple and unornamented building, architects had most commonly used glass, steel and concrete. These materials were used for the facade of the buildings, external support and also the floors and interior support. These materials had became very popular with modern homes for the minimal design. So descending from the modern architecture movement the Brutalist architecture had evolved. And Le Corbusier's Unite d’Habitation of Marseille building was one of the first buildings to come from this movement. The Unite building is made mostly from concrete which suited and fitted in with his idea of a more cost effective building because of the financial economic problems of post war France. Also using reinforced concrete to build the Unite it would have been the cheapest to use. Around the time Le Corbusier was building the Unite, beton brut concrete [bare concrete] which was inadvertently invented. This had later become the favourite material used by brutalist architects. This was mainly because it was the most cost efficient method and also the structural expressionism architectural style at the time, where the concrete skeletal structure is revealed on the outside as well as the inside. The walls of the apartments and balconies of Unite were precast concrete which were slotted in. These precast concrete walls were most likely manufactured off site and transported to the construction site for assembly. After doing research on the building and looking at pictures of the construction, I have come to the conclusion that Le Corbusier must have used the large panel system for most of the precast parts of the building and some parts the frame system. The large panel system is mainly used with multi-storey structures so it would have been very suitable for the Unite. These large panels are normally the size of one storey and would form a box like structure when connected in the vertical and horizontal directions. Once assembled they would resist gravity load. When the horizontal roof and floor panels are joined together either as one way or two way, they would then act as diaphragms that would transfer the lateral loads to the walls. The roughly finished cast concrete, textured by the formwork's wooden planks was unlike the smooth white surfaces that Le Corbusier normally used, this was bare concrete exposed in all its brutalism. Through shuttering wooden effect concrete was achieved. Local pale limestone aggregates was used and this gave a creamy white concrete that would have glowed in the Mediterranean coastal sunshine, like travertine marble. Precast concrete was used on the building because it must have been a cheaper alternative at the time compared to the steel frame that Le Corbusier originally planned for the Unite. The use of these precast concrete walls had multiple benefits such as increased efficiency, high quality control and greater control on finishes. Precasting is not adversely affected by weather conditions. Beton brut concrete would have been used as an insitu concrete for the exterior facades. Insitu concrete is beneficial for large structures and for complex shapes. Le Corbusier must have used this because mainly because is would have been easier to create the same shapes over and over again. Structure Strategy The structure of Le Corbusier building is kept as simple as possible. The building runs along 165 metres and is 56 metres high, and each apartments runs 24 metres which is the depth of the block. Le Corbusier used his Modular System concept to work out the spacing of the internal floor plates. This concept was developed using a six foot human along with the golden ratio. Because of the way pairs of the apartments are interlocked around the access corridor, these corridors only had to be located on every third floor. Any alterations to the layouts was not possible due to the strict grid and the thick sound proofed walls which contained metal sheets within them. The east and west elevation has balconies with deep set windows, and each wall of the balcony has either a red, blue or yellow colour. By using rectilinear ferroconcrete grid, precast concrete apartment units were then able to be slotted in, and in the architects words like ‘bottles into a wine rack’. This must have made the building easier to construct as it would have been quick and easy to assemble compared to the conventional brick buildings. Conclusion Overall my thoughts on the building was that it was well thought out and planned. Le Corbusier had considered all aspects from the limited funds from the government to the rehousing of masses of people. The Unite d’Habitation of Marseilles had served its purpose of housing the masses of people in a small area. The building is also cost effective from its construction strategy and its material uses. Most of the high rise buildings nowadays are built with a steel construction, these buildings are more stronger but are also more expensive. So Le Corbusier's material use and also structure strategy was the best choice for the building at that time as the concrete was cheaper and easier to put together. Concrete is a good material in compression but is weak in tension. When concrete blocks are assembled together they are stronger. It is generally fire-resistant and has a good thermal mass, with a high energy intensive process of 1400 degrees. So Le Corbusier's implementation of the Modular System and the use of materials e.g beton brut concrete has helped enormously in achieving the living space where the residents were afforded privacy as well as the benefits of communal living. Le Corbusier's quote that a house is “a machine for living in” was later applied to this building. References Sbriglio, J (2004) Le Corbusier: The Unite d’Habitation in Marseille, Birkhauser Architecture Brutalist buildings: Unité d'Habitation by Le Corbusier. (2016) [ONLINE] Available at: http:// www.dezeen.com/2014/09/15/le-corbusier-unite-d-habitation-cite-radieuse-marseille-brutalist-architecture/. [Accessed 9 April 2016]. Unite d'Habitation - Le Corbusier - Great Buildings Architecture. (2016) [ONLINE] Available at: http:// www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/unite_d_habitation.html. [Accessed 9 April 2016]. Fondation Le Corbusier (2016) [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.fondationlecorbusier.fr/corbuweb/ morpheus.aspx?sysId=13&IrisObjectId=5234&sysLanguage=en- en&itemPos=58&itemCount=78&sysParentId=64&sysParentName=home. [Accessed 10 April 2016]. What is concrete? Concrete is made from aggregate, sand, portland cement, water and others materials. The Romans had developed these concrete materials. Cement as a hydraulic can get under waster so cement as a non-hydraulic can't set under water. The Pantheone building in Rome is one of their famous concrete buildings. The Pantheone is an example of pozzolana concrete completed around 128AD. Vitruvius, De Architecture had three principles of good architecture 1. Firmatis - which is Firmness, the structure has to be sturdy and durable 2. Utilities - which is Commodity, the building has to be useful and serve a purpose 3. Venusatatis - which is Delight, the building has to be pleasing and enriching to experience. Modern Cement is made from limestone and clay. Concrete is made from Portland cement, aggregate, water and other materials. Concrete is good in compression but weak in tension. It is generally fire- resistant and has a good thermal mass, with a high energy intensive process of 1400 degrees. What is reinforced concrete? Reinforces concrete is material added to concrete which will result in strong tension.Concrete that isn't reinforced is termed mass concrete. Insitu construction is using pre-casing concrete. This type of construction was mostly used around 1905 The categories of structure
These are Henrich Engel's five categories of structural types: - Form Active - is where the shape is changed by the way the forces are applied (pure compression/pure tension) - Vector Active - is when you derive a shape which can span large distances within minimal material - Section Active - Surface Active - Height Active Durability of reinforced concrete - In some environments concrete can be subject to adverse reaction from the surroundings like: - the acids/alkalis in the ground - the sale on the roads - types of silica material in some aggregates Expansion and contraction - In casting - exothermic - In use - solar radiation - seasonal climate variations Creep - Continues deflection under a sustained load Structural Concepts
Basic forces
Loads/ Actions There are many types of 'loads': dead, imposed, snow, wind, thermal and accidental Stress/ Strain Stress can be from both tension and compression. Strain is when a load is applied to the object and with result in elongation, compression or shearing. Strength/ Stiffness Strength is the amount of stress a material can take before it breaks. Stiffness is the restraint against movement Limit State Design and Factors of Safety Unlimited Limit State (ULS) - Is for safety, to avoid structures collapsing and causing harm. Serviceability Limit State (SLS) - If for function, so that the structure words during day-to-day loading. |
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