Today I went to the Westend of Berlin to see the Unité d'Habitation by the famous Swiss architect Le Corbusier. He designed several Unités, which were all derived from his visionary 1922 city plan, known as Ville Contemporaine. The plan envisioned massive residential blocks set in open green areas—towers in parks, bringing light and air to the residents of urban housing. The plan was never realised.
The unité type was most notable for its creation of internal streets (essentially elaborate hallways) and accommodation of social and communal functions—kindergartens, medical facilities, recreational spaces—within the housing block. The Berlin unité, built between 1956-1959, lacks most of the amenities (save a shop and a post office on the ground floor).
