Located in the sixteenth district of Paris, the villas Jeanneret and La Roche are often regarded as the first application of Charles-Edouard Jeanneret’s, known as Le Corbusier (1887-1965), ideas. If the first one was meant to house a family (that of his brother, Albert Jeanneret, his wife and their three children – nowadays, the Fondation Le Corbusier is settled there), the second house is commissioned by the Swiss banker Raoul La Roche, a single man and art enthusiast.
Built in 1926, the project is part of the ‘purist’ villas built by Le Corbusier in the West of Paris (see the villa Stein-de Monzie at Garches or the villa Savoye at Poissy), eager to experiment the theories he had developed in his book, Toward an Architecture (1923), a collection of essays published in the magazine L’Esprit Nouveau in the early twenties, which aimed to define a modern architecture more functional and aesthetically purer. Thus, an impressive triple-height hall welcomes the visitor, who can accedes the upper floors by two staircases on either side of the room.
The highlight of the villa La Roche is probably the painting gallery, in which an interior ramp connects the room with the library upstairs, as a perfect example of the ‘architectural promenade’ coined by Le Corbusier. The gallery is bathed in light through the high ribbon windows, which give the impression that the roof is levitating.
The house also features a library and a dining room, which original furniture was reinstalled in 2009, and a roof garden. Other furniture exhibited includes a Grand Confort armchair in the gallery and a chaise longue LC4 in the walkway, as a nod to his collaboration with Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret. All these features contribute to the exceptional character of the place, recognized by the client, Raoul La Roche, who complimented his compatriot by these words: “I had commissioned you ‘a frame for my collection’. You are providing me a ‘poetry within walls’.”(1)
Source:
(1) Letter from Raoul La Roche to Le Corbusier, May 24th 1926, quoted by Tim Benton in ‘Les Villas parisiennes de le Corbusier, 1920-1930. L’invention de la maison moderne‘ (1984)
Photos credits: @elegantinparis
Elégances Parisiennes 