Krajobraz Le Corbusiera. Losy „superbudynków” na przykładzie realizacji w Marsylii, Berlinie i Katowicach / Le Corbusier’s Landscape. The Fates of “Superstructures” as Exemplified by Their Implementation in Marseilles, Berlin and Katowice

Abstract

AbstractThe project of a residential building (unit) of a proper size (unité de grandeur conforme) was designed in Le Corbusier’s atelier in Paris from the late 1940s on. Prepared by Jerzy Sołtan and Gerard Hanning, it was a theoretical model and was meant to be an answer to the shortage of housing after World War Two; it would also solve the functional program in an innovative way and at the same time would be based on the principles of the contemporary architecture created by Le Corbusier. For Le Corbusier, a very important part of the project was the spatial solution of the utilitarian roof. Essential elements here were: the landscape of the south of France, its scenic connections, spatial relationships and the silhouette of the City of Marseilles: these were called basic joys (joies essentielles), which should belong to everybody. The paper shows the histories of three buildings embodying the idea of the total housing unit: the prototype - the Marseilles Unit, its late copy - the Berlin Unit, and the Polish realization designed and built in Katowice by Mieczysław Król.