Quartiers Modernes Frugès, Modernist residential complex in Pessac, France
Quartiers Modernes Frugès is a residential complex in Pessac featuring approximately 50 concrete houses designed according to Le Corbusier's principles. The buildings display large windows, rooftop terraces, and open floor plans with private gardens and parking spaces.
Industrialist Henri Frugès commissioned Le Corbusier in 1924 to design this workers' housing scheme, but only about 51 of the planned 135 units were built. The project served as a test case for Corbusier's theories on rationalized housing.
The neighborhood embodies Le Corbusier's idea of standardized living through repeatable designs and rational space planning that shapes how people live together. The visible geometry and arrangement of houses show how daily life was meant to be organized through modern planning.
The complex is best explored on foot, allowing you to observe the different house types and street layout. Most areas are accessible to the public, although these are private residences.
Two distinctive zigzag structures within the complex each connect three houses through an innovative Z-shaped floor plan. This unusual design was Corbusier's answer to the challenging site topography.
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