Villa Savoye

An astonishing white construction, set on the edge of a forest. Raised on stilts, with a roof terrace adorned with large cylindrical forms, the Villa Savoye is an architectural manifesto.

A major edifice within Le Corbusier’s œuvre, the Villa, completed in 1931, has maintained its avant-garde character. To employ the architect’s provocative terms, it is both a "machine for living" and a "machine for provoking emotions," arresting the viewer by the radicalness of its form. Today it is accepted as one of the masterpieces of 20th-century architecture.

A veritable manifesto for Modernist architecture, the Villa Savoye embodies Le Corbusier’s famous “Five Points Towards a New Architecture”: the supports; the free designing of the ground plan; the free design of the façade; the horizontal windows; and the roof gardens. For a more in-depth immersion in the architect’s history, don’t forget to visit the Maison La Roche in Paris, which Le Corbusier completed just a few years before the Villa Savoye. In 2016, UNESCO recognised Le Corbusier’s “Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement,” inscribing his architectural work on its World Heritage List.

Discover the villa Savoye through one of the treasure hunts in the Paris Region Adventures application specially designed for families and downloadable free of charge.

You might also like the Museum of the 1930s and its artistic, architectural richness and industrial heritage.