In 1952, the legendary Swiss architect Le Corbusier unveiled the Unité d’Habitation, which he described as “the first manifestation of an environment suited to modern life. Made to the human scale…and revealing the new splendour of bare concrete”. Hailed as the original Brutalist building, the structure comprised three hundred and thirty apartments, divided into twenty-three different types, while a shopping street and hotel-restaurant on the seventh and eighth floors, and a kindergarten and sports facilities on the roof terrace, strove to cater to all aspects of contemporary living, under one roof.
