do you know that the largest urban complex by the architect Le Corbusier in Europe it is located at Firminy (42) 15 minutes from the Gorges de la Loire? It is also the 2nd most important site in the world after Chandigarh in India. A whole complex was built in the 20th century according to the plans of the famous architect in Firminy: municipal stadium, house of culture, Saint-Pierre church, swimming pool and housing unit which originally included a school and shops.
Le Corbusier is a world famous architect. Visionary genius and complete artist, he is also an urban planner, decorator, painter, sculptor.
Visit the Le Corbusier complex in Firminy 1 hour from Lyon
Each year, more than 20 visitors from all over the world discover this classified exceptional heritage, like all of Le Corbusier's work, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. All a walk is offered in the town of Firminy and its original working-class district: Firminy – Vert.
Visually, the modern architecture of the work from Le Corbusier to Firminy is still just as avant-garde, the walking route easily demonstrates this, however, we strongly advise you to take part in a guided tour to understand everything and appreciate all the symbolism and thought of Le Corbusier.
More:
Le Corbusier site – World site for XNUMXth century modern architecture
One-day road trip to the Saint-Etienne conurbation:
A remarkable heritage imagined by Le Corbusier in Firminy in the middle of the 30 glorious period
After the 2nd World War, the population of Firminy grew rapidly. Saint-Etienne, nearby, needs labor and the Ondaine valley is in full industrial expansion. The city center has a lot of unsanitary housing, the mayor of the time Eugène Claudius-Petit then decides to create a new district, more comfortable and modern to house the population: it is the birth of Firminy-Vert. Friends since their meeting in the United States several years earlier, the mayor, who was also minister of town planning and reconstruction under the 4th Republic, invites Le Corbusier drawing up the urban plans for the new district. This one will imagine Stadium, the house of culture et church at first, then he carries out the plan of “The Housing Unit”, building with accommodation, equipment, services and meeting places.
The architectural ensemble is exceptional and corresponds to its leitmotif “Where order is born, well-being is born. » . He died in 1965 before the end of the various constructions. The church will even be finished much later, for lack of funding, and inaugurated in 2006. The swimming pool, initially planned by the architect, will finally be designed by his pupil André Wogenscky after the death of the master Le Corbusier.
It's very close to here :
