No_6_1956 — Page 73

INTERNATIONAL

BUILDING EXHIBITION BERLIN, 1957

Two views of the "Unité d'Habitation" described in this article.

The International Building Exhibi- lin 1957, describing many of these tion is being held in Berlin from July projects, one of the most interesting 6th to September 29th. The co-opera- of which is a residential skyscraper by tion of more than fifty renowned foreign the famous French architect, Le Cor- and German architects in the recon- busier, relevant details of which are struction of the Berlin Hansa district given below. The building, which he will be the centre of interest and theme calls a "Unité d'Habitation", will be of this Exhibition.

We have just received a number of bulletins from the Press Office of the International Building Exhibition Ber-

135 metres long, 23 metres wide and 56 metres high, its seventeen floors containing 527 flats. Construction work began at the end of last and be-

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Le Corbusier, the famous French architect.

ginning of this year. The concrete foundations were laid by the end of February. The building will be under construction during the International Building Exhibition with thirteen of the seventeen storeys erected.

Discussions on the Height of Rooms

Le Corbusier has developed his own system of гоот measurements, the "Modulor", after extended studies and calculations. This is based on the sectio aurea and the measurements of the human body. The two best known houses design- ed by Le Corbusier, at Nantes and Mar- seille, both have been built оп the "Modulor" system. The first designs which Le Corbusier offered for Berlin were also based on the "Modulor" and allowed only for a height of rooms of 2.26 metres (seven foot five). Berlin was not inclined to accept these measurements for Berlin con- ditions. It must be stressed that the city building administration did not reject the 2.26 metres height because this was a violation of building rules, which call for a height of 2.50 metres (eight foot two). But it was doubted that such flats could be let and that this big project would prove to be economical once the housing shortage has passed.

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The Le Corbusier project also revived another question of principle should apartment houses be built as skyscrapers? The Berlin building administration is not basically opposed to high houses being erected at certain points to underline city constructional conceptions and to win more open spaces. But the administration be-

lieved that such houses could not offer ideal accommodation for families with several children. They should therefore be reserved mainly for single people and This married couples without children. Corbusier house containing mostly small point of view resulted in the Berlin Le

and therefore more flats as compared with the buildings at Nantes and Marseille. Of the 527 flats, 428 will have only one or two rooms. All rooms in the Berlin house will be 2.50 metres high. The flats will be four metres wide as compared to 3.66 metres in the French "Unité d'Habitation”.

The bedroom, which in Marseille stretches