Cabanon as Construction

Drawn up in the nominal forty-five minutes Corbusier claims it took to complete the task, the plans for Le Cabanon exemplify his investigation into the Modular and simple, efficient design in its truest sense. Originally connected directly to the Cafe Etoile de Mer via a small door, the cabin is a twelve foot by twelve foot structure which contains the fundamental necessities for human existence, with the exception of food, found next door. Pursuing the idea of the single cell, the Cabanon is an exercise in building a fundamental structure which can contain all human needs while remaining simple in plan and assembly. Corbusier later took this singular unit as the basis for his collection of apartments in the Marseilles Unite d’Habitation.

Constructed to have a log cabin exterior while using a corrugated Everite slanted roof, the first thing to notice is it’s size. As a twelve-foot by twelve-foot space, Corbusier designed the floor space to optimize the furniture. Indeed, some of his first sketches on the Cabanon are of the furniture, not the building itself. He included a small diagonal table, crates for chairs, a screen concealing the toilet, and a bench-like bed. Contrasting the rough unmilled pine exterior, these pieces of furniture and the interior walls are made of walnut, plywood, and oak.

-Rachel Cohen-Murison

Information Sources:

Le Corbusier. Project Roq et Rob, Roquebrune-Cap Martin, and Other Buildings and Projects, 1948-1950. New York: Garland, 1983.

Le Corbusier. Unité d'habitation, Rezé-les-Nantes. New York : Garland, 1983.

New York Times Online. “Le Shack.” New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/01/magazine/le-shack.html?scp=1&sq=cabanon+corbusier&st=nyt (accessed Jan 12, 2010).