“Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light”
– Le Corbusier
Just before Christmas I took a fleeting trip to Marseille for a couple of days. In the past, whenever I’ve been one of my go-to visits is Cité Radieuse – Unité d’Habitation, designed by Le Corbusier. This time I went one step better. I booked to stay in one of the apartments in the building. The outside of the building is a brutalist dream of coloured concrete blocks, stilts and exterior staircases. The inside, a mid century heaven. There are strict rules about what alterations can be made, and so the original fixtures and fittings remained intact throughout the building, including the little shops, offices and services; the restaurant Le Ventre de l’Architecte (‘The belly of the architect’) and also the individual apartments. Polished wood, large windows, beautiful design throughout from the lamps and furniture to the original aluminium kitchen. There is access to the rooftop too, with stunning views of the city and the sea.
I wasn’t there long enough to do very much this time. A visit to Château Borély and a rather disappointing Man Ray exhibition but I really enjoyed the ceramics by Françoise Pétrovitch
We ate some great Indian and Egyptian vegan food; had a wander down La Canabière to Le Vieux Port; a walk around Mucem from the Fort Saint-Jean to J4 designed by Rudy Ricciotti and a visit to a very moving exhibition of contemporary Afghan art.
Here are some of the photographs I shot on film of a few things that caught my eye:
Yashica 35-ME |Kodak Gold 200