Cap Moderne : Eileen Gray and Le Corbusier, modernism by the sea

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Cap moderne

Eileen Gray and Le Corbusier

Modernism by the sea

An idyllic spot on the Mediterranean coast commanding a magical view of the Bay of Roquebrune, the Cap Moderne site features a concentration of avant-garde architecture.

Over the years between the twenties and fifties, a cluster of figures as diverse and engaging as the Irish designer Eileen Gray and her companion Jean Badovici, the Nice plumber and roofer Thomas Rebutato and his family, the architect Le Corbusier and his wife Yvonne, settled on this piece of land far from urban crowds. Each of them built a structure suited to his or her needs, from the ultra modern to the minimal. Together, these constructions ended by forming a harmonious environment at the centre of which stood the restaurant and bar the « Étoile de Mer », which provided a convivial setting for the numerous friendships born there. With the five « camping units » designed by Le Corbusier, the community opened to visiting holidaymakers.

This exceptional human and architectural adventure is the subject here. The author tells the story of the encounters that took place at Cap Moderne and provides a luminous description of the spaces that gave rise to them.