Perfection of the Five Points

   
NEMAUSUS I & II
(Jennifer Lenn)

      Le Corbusier introduced his five points of architecture in 1926 with the intention of designing a common thought for perfect habitation. It was not until 60 years later that his five points were perfected by Jean Novel with Nemausus I and II in Nimes, France. In addition to his five points, Corbusier defined the home as something that should operate as a machine, he particularly showed this in his Villa Savoye but Jean Nouvel presented the home as a machine on a much larger scale. The Nemausus project is a 10,300 square meter,  multi-family housing complex, constructed with steel, aluminum, and concertina garage doors. All together, the two seven story buildings contain 114 apartments and is classified as modern architecture. Nouvel uses the qualities of modern architecture to meet the demands of the project, rather than using the radical qualities of the modern movement in order to create a lavish master piece. This is what makes Nouvel's work so successful.

       Nemausus I and II exist side by side with a broad lucious canopy of trees between them. Nemausus II is shorter than I in order to fit the confines of the site and both are rounded at the east ends. With a limited budget, Nouvel constructed both buildings with low cost, long lasting materials that could function on the interior as well as the exterior. Using innovative materials and advancement in technology, Nouvel fused modern building qualities and Corbusier's five points of architecture. Logically, it may seem that no one could represent Corbusier's five points better than Mr. Corbusier himself, however, Nouvel executes this design project with perfect use of the infamous five points. Unlike Corbusier's homes as machines, Nemausus does not exasterbate radical modern forms for the sake of looking radical in a modern era. Instead, Nemausus uses radical forms in a way that seem to work with its surroundings and qualities that are crucial to fitting within the guidelines of the program. Nouvel used qualities of the modern architecture era because they were necessary for his project, not to fit in with a certain style or to boldly define a new one. This is why his Nemausus buildings fit so appropriately with their surroundings and their time. They do not attempt to flaunt any unnecessary means of construction for the sake of a flamboyant look, but merely appeal to the exact program using the most economical and inventive tools of the time. 

       Nouvel used the concrete from the exterior to also finish the interior walls to reduce cost of materials and emphasize a simple interior along with its open floor plans. Some of the apartments differ based on size, but for the most part Nouvel tired to leave an open floor plan as listed on Corbusier's five points. This also allowed for the building to be more flexible in the long term. With a more open floor plan there are more opportunities for the space to be used differently over time. This use of concrete reduced costs in order to meet the budget but also added to the life of the building by allowing for change. A canopy of trees between the two buildings reach the same height as the buildings making a large enough space for a luxurious garden. Perforated metal balustrades of the cantilevered balconies echo the repetitive rhythm of the interior units and also frame the ribbon windows on the facades. Nouvel also takes into account Corbusier's established importance of pilotis. The rounded eastern ends of the buildings are raised on pilotis allowing for a slightly recessed area for covered parking. This concept is very similar to Corbusier's method of pilotis in the Villa Savoye. 

        Corbusier does, in fact, carry out his own five points of architecture through his work but in a harsh and crude fashion. His work serves as somewhat of a diagram or "paint by numbers" to explain his concept of five points. While this is informative to others in illustrating his points, it does create a harsh architecture that struggles to find a balance between radical and comfortable architecture. Nouvel perfected Corbusier's five points by using the basic concepts rather than aiming to create a literal, visual translation of them.




SOURCES:

http://architecture.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=architecture&cdn=homegarden&tm=1534&f=10&su=p284.13.342.ip_p504.6.342.ip_&tt=33&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//housingprototypes.org/project%3FFile_No%3DFRA004

http://greatbuildings.com/wiki/Nemausus_Public_Housing,_Nimes,_France

Social Living

By Khris Kirk

With the growing population of the world and the expanding cities, people need places to live. At the beginning of the 20^th century, social housing arose as a means to house the large number of people moving to large cities from the countryside. Large apartment complexes, condominiums, and dorm rooms started to pop up everywhere. At the start of this architecture upbringing, the designs were plain and repetitive. However, after a while, the buildings started to reflect a more individual appearance. Another aspect that was a large influence of building these large apartment complexes was the cost of building them. Jean Nouvel’s Nemausus in Nimes, France, is a prime example of individual style of architecture and fairly cheap cost of building.  

Jean Nouvel was appointed to design a social living building by the mayor of Nimes. He started the project with the idea of giving the resident the maximum space to live in, and to make the apartment more functional in the way the resident actually uses the space. Before Nouvel designed his apartment complex, there was a method designing social housing that made the space not as comfortable for the resident. The bathrooms had no natural lighting; there were hallways, and tight spaces throughout the rooms. Nouvel thought these preconceived ideas of design were wrong and felt the need to design towards the liking of the resident. Therefore, he designed his social housing with the max amount of space and tons of natural lighting.

He went about making the max amount of space by designing the apartment without walls. The most common design throughout the apartment complex has one central shaft in the middle of the apartment that houses restrooms, water and heating, and storage space. Otherwise there is a continuity of space through the whole apartment. There is no defining line between public and private. Another way of making the space appear larger is having the north and south facades having walls of glass and movable, industrial doors. By having the minimalistic apartment, it allows for the tenants to create a space more personal to them.

Continuing on the minimalistic idea, Nouvel designed the whole building with concrete and prefabricated materials. The walls and structure of the building are made of concrete, which allows for the other elements of the building to be prefabricated materials like the fire station doors on the south façade. By having the walls and support be concrete, it allows for 30 percent more space within the apartments and saves money on the building costs.

Another aspect that was kept minimal was the decoration inside the apartments. There are none. All the walls within each apartment were left blank, showing the concrete. This makes the apartments appear unfinished, when they are complete. Nouvel wanted this idea to stay true through all the apartments that he made the tenants sign a contract that says they are not allowed to put anything on the walls or floors like wallpaper or carpet. However, the tenants rebelled and attacked the walls of their home with wallpaper and carpets. They felt the need to personalize their homes, and make the apartments feel less like a prison and more of an inhabitable space. Another down side to the apartment complete is that even though there was a lot of savings that went into building the Nemausus, the tenants have to pay 30 percent more for rent because they have 30 percent more living space.       

Overall, Nouvel has created a very well designed apartment complete by focusing on his minimalistic idea and making the apartment work best for the tenants.

Links:
Nemausus
Flexible Housing
Jean Nouvel-Nemausus