All photographs of the work of Le Corbusier © Philippe Savoir & FONDATION LE CORBUSIER/ ADAGP 2013
Unité d’habitation Le Corbusier
Appartement 50, 5ème rue
280 boulevard Michelet
APPT.N° 50 - Installation by Konstantin Grcic 2013 There is an apartment in Le Corbusier´s famous Cité Radieuse (radiant city) in Marseille, which is almost completely preserved in its original 1952 condition. Appt.N°50 is privately owned and it is thanks to the generosity and passion of its owner/occupant that the place is made accessible to a wider public during the summer months of each year. As proof that Le Corbusier´s visionary Unité d´Habitation has the same vibrancy today as when it was originally conceived the apartment is turned into a temporary stage for the ideas and works of contemporary designers. A short series of scenographic installations has been realized over the years; my project is the third in line following Jasper Morrison (2008) and Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec (2010). Apart from placing a selection of my favorite furniture and objects I decided to tag the walls of the apartment with four blown up scans from an original punk fanzine. The punk motifs are tempting a slightly devious link between two completely unrelated worlds: Le Corbusier´s architecture and punk rock. Without forcing the idea of common grounds, I find that both have a rawness and uncompromising spirit which I have always found compellingly beautiful. Bringing both cultures together in this project felt most inspiring and, in the end, surprisingly fitting.