Maison Guiette, 1926

Maison Guiette is part of the 1920s series of Purist houses in which Le Corbusier applied his Five Points of a New Architecture: pilotis, roof garden, free plan, ribbon window, free facade. The project is similar to that of the Weissenhof-Siedlung houses in Stuttgart (1927). This is an unusual exploration of  the Maison Citrohan principle, one of his first theoretical housing models; it was based on the standardization of building features and on his moral approach to housing reduced to its essentials, as a “machine for living in”. The particlar character of  the Maison Guiette project stems from various factors: the building plot, long and narrow in shape, was in fact typically Belgian. In addition, the planning provisions imposed a semi-open layout, with a passageway on the west side. Finally, the owner’s explicit desire to reside on the ground floor, with immediate access to the garden, automatically eliminated the pilotis of the Citrohan model and led to the unusual insertion of the kitchen and toilets on the street side. The other specific elements are the horizontal windows, the rooftop terrace, uneven vertical bays with straight, steep stairways, the two-level studio and the entire spatial design, inviting the visitor to engage in an “architectural perambulation”.

The whole house comes down to a simple and perfect box. Since the local urban planning regulations required bare, visible materials for the facades, it was finally decided to use a bluestone coloured ‘granili’ coating. In both the front and rear facade,  the bay is marked by a slightly recessed, vertical glazed wall: it comprises two straight flights of stairs leading to the upper floors. The architectural promenade leads to the studio, with a mezzanine on its street side fitted with a large glass wall and a balcony. The mezzanine gives access to a walled roof terrace with a little balcony on the garden side and an oculus in its lateral face.