An early Le Corbusier, a former cinema and a chance discovery - More Paris Modernism

Paris surely has one of the largest collections of modernist buildings of any city in Europe if not the world. Each time I am there I discover further examples of this architectural style, many of them in the less central arrondissements. My visit last weekend was no exception. 

216 Boulevard Raspail, 1934, Bruno Elkouken

The apartment building at 216 Boulevard Raspail is a stunner. Built between 1932 and 1934 for Helena Rubinstein to the designs of the Jewish, Polish born architect Bruno Elkouken, it originally included a cinema and artists' studios as well as apartments. Rubinstein retained one of the top floor apartments for herself. The cinema, Studio Raspail, closed in 1982 but the main entrance still retains the name. 

The upper floors have squared off bay windows with the facade showing some cubist features. However, the ground floor is my favourite with its rule of three canopy, glass bricks, integral lighting, and most of all, those beautiful curved rooms to each side of the entrance, one of which may once have been the cinema ticket office. The building's stylishness is further enhanced by the black stripe on the ground floor which contrasts with the cream and white of the rest of the facade.

Elkouken left Poland for Germany in 1929 and also spent time in Italy and before settling in Paris where he designed two other apartment buildings. He left for the United States in 1937, returning in 1940 to volunteer for military service. Remaining in France after the war he eventually gained citizenship and was involved in reconstruction of Dunkirk.

216 Boulevard Raspail, 1934, Bruno Elkouken

216 Boulevard Raspail, 1934, Bruno Elkouken

Elkouken was not the only Jewish architect working in the modernist style in Paris during the 1930's. Germain Debre was the son of Simon Debre, Chief Rabbi of Neuilly-sur-seine. He graduated from the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1920 having had his studies interrupted by ten years of military service, including serving during the First World War. Amongst other works, he designed the exquisite Villa Glodek in Rue Miguel Hidalgo in the 19th arrondissement. Built between 1930 and 1932, it was constructed around a reinforced concrete frame with plastered bricks and has a distinctly nautical feel with a porthole over the front door and ocean liner balconies at the upper levels.

If your French is good enough (and it will need to be much better than mine), you can read more about Debre's career here where you can see plans and images of some of his other works. Rue Hidalgo is located on the extension to line 7 of the Paris Metro - ligne 7 bis - and is a short walk from the Danube station. It is well worth a visit, not only for Villa Glodek, but also for the several tiny streets running off Hidalgo that make the area resemble a country village. Villa Claude Monet is especially beautiful and the whole area is worth spending an hour or so exploring.

Villa Glodek, 1932, Germain Debre

Boulevard Massena in the 13th arrondissement is home to two outstanding modernist buildings. I went there to see Villa Planeix at number 24-26a. Completed in 1928, it was designed by Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret for the sculptor Antonin Planeix. The stark facade faces a busy dual carriageway but is protected from the noise of the traffic by a solid almost windowless bay feature and a protective fence that does not appear to be original. The bay is topped by an elegant balcony, partially shielded from the elements by a very neat and very small central canopy. It is difficult to get a clear photograph of the whole Villa without taking the risk of crossing the dual carriageway and standing beside the tram lines that run up the middle of the road. I decided to risk it and came away unscathed!

The Villa has a roof garden, double heighted atelier and external walkways and staircases. It was originally built on stilts in true Le Corbusier style, but Planeix asked the architects to fill up the ground floor void with two studio spaces that he could rent out. This was because the costs of construction were almost double those of the original budget. Its good to note that spiralling costs is not just a problem for those of us commissioning new buildings today. The Villa stayed in the hands of the Planeix family until 2013 when it was offered for sale. You can see some internal views here. One of Le Corbusier's earlier and lesser known works, it is one of a series of villas he designed for artists to live and work in. Better known is the villa he designed for artist Amadeo Ozenfant in Avenue Reille in the 14th arrondissement.

Villa Planeix, 1928, Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret

Villa Planeix, 1928, Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret

Emerging from the Porte D'Ivry metro station on my way to Villa Planeix, I came across a beautiful school built between 1933 and 1937. It appears to have retained many of its original external features including exquisite lettering over the separate entrances for boys and girls, glass bricks in the canopy - some of which are in different colours (and need a good clean!) - and ornate doors. 

The school was part of a programme of building to improve the moral and physical wellbeing of children from poor families and amongst other things emphasised hygiene as a means of improving the lives of the pupils. The architect was Edouard Crevel whilst the external sculptures were the work of Rene Letourner. There is a plaque by the entrance which serves as a heartbreaking testimony to the murder of more than 120 Jewish children deported from the 13th arrondissement between 1942 and 1944, including several pupils of this school. 

Crevel became the chief architect of the city in 1935 and amongst other things was responsible for the development of Parc de Choisy. Earlier, he had worked with Jean-Paul Decaux on producing the winning design for a tuberculosis sanatorium - the Sanatorium d'Aincourt, completed in 1933 - also in the modernist style. During the German occupation of France in the Second World War, the sanatorium was used as a concentration camp. Crevel remained in France during this period and appears to have worked on at least one project for the collaborationist Vichy government.

School at Porte d'Ivry, 1937, Edouard Crevel

School at Porte d'Ivry, 1937, Edouard Crevel

School at Porte d'Ivry, 1937, Edouard Crevel

Villa Schempp is tucked away in Rue Gauguet, a cul-de-sac in the fourteenth arrondissement, just five minutes away from Villa Seurat, a small street full of modernist buildings that were once home to some of the last century's greatest artists such as Dali, Derain, Soutine, Orloff and Henry Miller. Villa Schempp was designed by architect Marcel Zielinski and was built between 1928 and 1931. He designed adjacent properties at numbers 5 and 7, both with large skylit workshops letting in enormous amounts of natural light and windows and balconies designed to emphasise the verticality of the building. Number 5 was built for American art dealer Theodore Schempp whilst the German artist Hans Hartung had a studio there for many years. The Russian born French artist Nicolas de Stael produced a work in response to number 7, entitled Rue Gauguet, which hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

My final modernist experience on this trip was to visit Villa La Roche, another Le Corbusier building now open to the public and part of the Fondation Le Corbusier which I will write about separately. And Paris still has many more art deco and modernist treasures waiting to be discovered on my next visit. 

Villa Schempp, 1931, Marcel Zielinksi.

Villa Schempp, 1931, Marcel Zielinksi.

Villa Schempp, 1931, Marcel Zielinksi.