31 July 2014
Acquired a few year ago by Jean-Marc Drut, apartment no. 50 of the Unité d’Habitation in Marseille has been turned into a cultural attraction, thanks to the farsightedness of its owner. Conscious that most people’s knowledge of the history of architecture is limited to what they have seen in photographs, Drut has opened his apartment to the public—for limited periods of time—and has entrusted its temporary décor to international designers, asking them to reinterpret the architecture with their own products. The only constraint, the finishings must not be touched and the objects and furniture already present must be left unaltered. After Jasper Morrison in 2008, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec in 2010 and Konstantin Grcic in 2013, it is the turn this year of Pierre Charpin, who has filled it with pieces he designed for Venini, Galerie Kreo, Ligne Roset and others, placing them alongside the original furnishings and some of the products left over from previous temporary exhibitions. It will be possible to visit apartment no. 50 and see Le Corbusier’s architectural and urbanistic dream from up close until August 15, 2014. You can also use the opportunity to go up onto the roof of the Cité Radieuse, where the gym has been turned into a contemporary art space by the designer Ora Ïto.
