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Le Corbusier’s Restored Paris Home Opens to the Public

The apartment where the famed architect lived and worked is welcoming visitors after a two-year restoration

By Haley Chouinard
Modern living room with red accent wall, black lounge chairs, cowhide rug, and dining area in the background with colorful art.
The home of Le Corbusier, the Swiss-French architect who pioneered modern architecture. Photo: © flc-adagp, by Olivier Martin-Gambier and Antoine Mercusot
After two years of renovations, the Paris studio where Le Corbusier lived for nearly 30 years has reopened to the public. The apartment—which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016—is part of Immeuble Molitor, a complex of 15 apartments that Le Corbusier designed in the 1930s with his cousin, Swiss architect Pierre Jeanneret. The building was one of the first residential complexes to include large panes of glass on its exterior.
Spiral staircase in modern home interior with natural light and colorful walls
Le Corbusier saved the top two floors in the Immeuble Molitor building he designed for his own duplex. © flc-adagp, by Olivier Martin-Gambier and Antoine Mercusot
The duplex is maintained by the Fondation Le Corbusier, an organization dedicated to the conservation, knowledge, and dissemination of Le Corbusier’s work, specifically through preservation. Recommended: Jeff Koons Retrospective Is Coming to the World’s Oldest Public Museum Working with the Fondation Le Corbusier, French architect François Chatillon and his studio oversaw the restoration of the apartment, which involved replacing degraded materials, reviving colors, and improving the heating and air-conditioning in the space.
Spacious art studio with stone walls, arched ceiling, a wooden chest of drawers, a stool, and an easel.
An artist’s studio where Le Corbusier often worked is situated on the second floor of the apartment. © flc-adagp, by Olivier Martin-Gambier and Antoine Mercusot
When Le Corbusier lived in the residence with his wife, Yvonne Gallis, from 1934 to 1965, he applied several of his five points of architecture to the design. This resulted in a sort of proto-open-floor-plan, with very few doors or walls separating one room from another. A roof terrace, another of his five points, is also accessible through the apartment. Le Corbusier’s restored apartment at 24 Rue Nungesser et Coli in Paris is now open to the public and can be visited on Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday.