Villa Savoye, Poissy, France - SpottingHistory.com

Villa Savoye is a modernist villa in Poissy, in the outskirts of Paris. It was designed by Swiss architects Le Corbusier and his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, and built between 1928 and 1931 using reinforced concrete.

A manifesto of Le Corbusier's 'five points' of new architecture, the villa is representative of the bases of modern architecture, and is one of the most easily recognizable and renowned examples of the International style.

The house was originally built as a country retreat on behest of the Savoye family. After being purchased by the neighbouring school it passed on to be property of the French state in 1958, and after surviving several plans of demolition, it was designated as an official French historical monument in 1965 (a rare occurrence, as Le Corbusier was still living at the time). It was thoroughly renovated from 1985 to 1997 and is now open to visitors year-round.

In July 2016, the house and several other works by Le Corbusier were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Alzbeta Dvorakova (9 months ago)
Absolute classic. Wish the furniture was there so you could have a better idea about what it was like to actually live there. Still it is amazing to step inside the world of Le Corbusier. Just about 30 minutes from paris, definitely worth the trip!

Alan (13 months ago)
A worthwhile trip to the suburbs of Paris if you appreciate modern architecture and especially the style of Le Corbusier. The house itself isn’t large and can be visited in under half an hour, but make sure to sit outside for a bit to admire the exterior too. It’s surrounded by a lot of greenery and plenty of trees that barricade it from the outside world.

Oussama HAMDACHE (2 years ago)
This is a really interesting place for who is an Architect, or studying architecture. You will see what you have studied in Theory of Architecture in real life. Recommended Entry is €8 per person but it's worth it.

Glenn Versieck (2 years ago)
Beautiful architecture !

Fab Mich Sim (2 years ago)
Could become a better place by just renewing paintings and ground, and then what about setting up some photo expositions here?

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Broch of Gurness

The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.

The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick. The tower was likely inhabited by the principal family or clan of the area but also served as a last resort for the village in case of an attack.

The broch continued to be inhabited while it began to collapse and the original structures were altered. The cistern was filled in and the interior was repartitioned. The ruin visible today reflects this secondary phase of the broch's use.

The site is surrounded by three ditches cut out of the rock with stone ramparts, encircling an area of around 45 metres diameter. The remains of numerous small stone dwellings with small yards and sheds can be found between the inner ditch and the tower. These were built after the tower, but were a part of the settlement's initial conception. A 'main street' connects the outer entrance to the broch. The settlement is the best-preserved of all broch villages.

Pieces of a Roman amphora dating to before 60 AD were found here, lending weight to the record that a 'King of Orkney' submitted to Emperor Claudius at Colchester in 43 AD.

At some point after 100 AD the broch was abandoned and the ditches filled in. It is thought that settlement at the broch continued into the 5th century AD, the period known as Pictish times. By that time the broch was not used anymore and some of its stones were reused to build smaller dwellings on top of the earlier buildings. Until about the 8th century, the site was just a single farmstead.

In the 9th century, a Norse woman was buried at the site in a stone-lined grave with two bronze brooches and a sickle and knife made from iron. Other finds suggest that Norse men were buried here too.

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