The Many Lives of Apartment-Studio Le Corbusier

Le Corbusiers apartment-studio is an iconic object of the twentieth century, combining the indisputable material values of the building with the intangible sense of place of an architects home. Le Corbusier, who lived there from 1934 until his death in 1965, treated it as a permanent construction sitea unique place of spatial, plastic and constructional experimentation. Phases of change at 24NC are overlaid as a palimpsest, and the apartments many lives create major philosophical problems for conservation. A study of its material history over time reveals a simple fact: the stratigraphy itself, hard to unscramble yet rich in meaning, is key to the objects importance. This first monograph on the apartment-studio, richly illustrated with largely unpublished visual material, presents research undertaken by the authors for the Fondation Le Corbusier during preparatory investigations for the program of restoration.