Architext: Maison au bord de l'eau

Friday, June 26, 2020

Maison au bord de l'eau - Charlotte Periand

"Evolving from a competition for affordable weekend housing for the working class, organized by the magazine 'Larchitecture d'Aujour'hui, Maison au bord de l'eau is one of Charlotte Perriand's prefabricated architectural projects of the 1930's. Designed for mass production, to be delivered as a self-building kit, the house adapts to all kinds of terrain thanks to its stilts. it is made up of two symmetrical housing volumes opening onto a terrace. Simple devices are designed to match the house (regardless of the time of the year) so it will respond to the different states of mind that one has on the weekend. the important thing is to begin with a sound and sustainable construction. the terrace (rooms for play, hygiene, cooking, etc.) will be the true campsite of the house, and each visitor will bring surrounding nature into the house (rocks, tree trunks, plants, reeds, etc.) conventional or spiritual objects. thus people will have the chance to express themselves directly," explained Perriand.

Possibly in the hope of finding a buyer, perriand shifted her project toward a wealthier public, offering a certain amount of comfort, with sliding windows onto the terrace a stretched velum over the open space to collect rainwater. for eighty years, the design was unrealized till it was built for the exhibit at fondation louis vuitton. it was perfectly sited at the foot of the stepped water feature at the fondation.

Without analyzing her drawings, i suspect perriand's design followed her mentor's proportioning system "le modulor". Le Corbusier developed the Modulor while jobless during WWII when crossing the Atlantic by boat. In the long tradition of Vitruvius, Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, and Leon Battista Alberti, corbusier tried to uncover and apply mathematical proportions of the human body to improve the appearance and function of architecture. The system is based on human measurements, the double unit, the Fibonacci numbers, and the golden ratio and it was deployed at the Unite d'Habitation housing projects to regulate everything from concrete slab thicknesses, window mullions, arrangements, ceiling heights, railings, etc... to the exact millimeter.

When perriand came back from a stint in Japan and vietnam with a newborn daughter and asked to return to Corbusier's architecture studio, he replied, “I do not think it would be interesting, now that you’re a mother … to oblige you to be present in the atelier... On the other hand, I would be very happy if you could contribute to the practical structural aspects of the settings which are within your domain, that is to say the knack of a practical woman, talented and kind at the same time.” corbusier would ultimately have Perriand develop the compact modular kitchens for the acclaimed unite d'habitation Marseille project.