Mendini: Appt N.50

Alessandro Mendini pays homage to Le Corbusier: the event at the Appartement N.50 invites designers every year to dialogue with spaces at the Unité d’Habitation.

Alessandro Mendini, installation for the Apartament N.50 in Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation, Marseille, 2016. Courtesy Fondation Le Corbusier

Alessandro Mendini created the Summer installation of the Appartement N.50, in the Unité d’Habitation of Le Corbusier in Marseille. On the narrow South facade of the Unité d’Habitation, the apartment listed as Historical Monument since 1985 opens its door to the public, for a summer design exhibition. The idea is to confront the Le Corbusier heritage to the vision of a designer, by sharing the keys of this place kept in its historical authenticity.

For its sixth edition, the Apartement N.50 welcomes Alessandro Mendini, who succeeds Jasper Morrison, Ronan& Erwan Bouroullec, Konstantin Grcic, Pierre Charpin and l’ECAL (Ecole Cantonale d’art de Lausanne).

“The installation I am proposing for Appartement 50 of the Cité Radieuse extends over the right-hand side of the space. Across from the entrance, on the balustrade of the mezzanine, stand eight ceramic totems with a strong presence. Each is hand-painted with the colors that were most typical in Le Corbusier’s design for the Unité d’Habitation in Marseille. Descending the stairs, the vertical space given by the modulation of the lateral walls receives a rhythm given by diagonal lines made with Japanese ribbons. The two blue niches host a small collection of objects of affection that I have made over the years. A carpet woven in Nepal, two brand-new Korean LED lamps, and a miniature Poltrona di Proust complete the project. The hypothesis of the installation is to have modified the reading and transformed the energy of Le Corbusier’s interior using but few objects and a small number of minimal visual inventions.”
Alessandro Mendini