VILLA "LE LAC" LE CORBUSIER

Dating from 1923, this villa was intended for Le Corbusier's parents. It was designed by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret according to a highly innovative concept for the time: human scale, free plan, respect for proportions, garden roof overlooking the lake. This archetype of the minimalist house (64^m2) is an exceptional contribution to the Modern Movement. As such, it was listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2016, along with sixteen other Le Corbusier buildings. Offering maximum comfort and space, the Villa "Le Lac" crystallizes a certain idea of modernity around the fundamental questions of minimal housing and housing for the greatest number, which were to have a considerable influence in the ^20th century. The 11 m-long window - a real technical innovation in 1923 - opens onto a wide panorama of the lake and the Alps, letting in the southern light.

The interior has remained untouched, identical to the one the architect's parents discovered the day they moved in. The furniture designed by Le Corbusier during his youth can still be seen. In accordance with the architect's wishes, the Villa "Le Lac" is now a museum presenting exhibitions by internationally renowned artists and architects such as René Burri, Erling Mandelmann, Adrien Couvrat, Florence Cosnefroy, Daniel Libeskind, Mario Botta, Bernard Tschumi and Brauen Wälchli Architectes.

Villa "Le Lac" was also a musicians' house: Le Corbusier's mother was a pianist and his brother a violinist. Today, Villa "Le Lac" also offers artists' residencies, as well as concerts of classical and experimental music, as Le Corbusier's brother practiced them in the spirit of 1950s musique concrète or inspired by the rhythmic music of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze. Restored in 2023 to mark its centenary, the interior of Villa "Le Lac" is once again decorated in its original colors - those Le Corbusier's parents discovered a hundred years ago on the day they moved in. Ultramarine blue, light cerulean, Sienna earth and vermilion red have been restored in their exact shades and original materials: lime paint, glue paint and oil emulsion.

Entering Villa "Le Lac" is like taking a trip back in time to discover an intact avant-garde of the Modern Movement.