Travel Guide: the top 10 design destinations in the South of France
1. Cite Radieuse, Marseilles
Cite Radieuse in Marseilles was the first building to be completed in Le Corbusier’s influential Unite d’Habitation project. This summer our Head of Sales, Christian, stayed in the building while touring the south of France with his family.
2. Villa Noailles, Hyères
Designed in 1923, Villa Noailles was one of the first modernist residences in France. An early work of architect Robert Mallet-Stevens, the villa includes a cubist garden designed by Gabriel Guevrekian. Free guided tours run throughout the year in addition to an active exhibition programme.
3. E-1027, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin
Last summer The Modern House team visited Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1027 on the Côte d’Azur. Completed in 1929, the house has a compelling history of love, lust and murder and is a model for Gray’s remarkable approach to architecture and design. Perched above the rocky coastline, the house is open for guided tours through Cap Moderne.
4. Le Corbusier’s Cabanon, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin
A short distance from Eileen Gray’s E-1027, Le Corbusier designed this cabin as a personal holiday home in 1951. A series of vibrant murals adorn the modest space. The house was recently listed as a UNESCO heritage site and is open to guided tours through Cap Moderne.
5. Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux
This fifteenth-century castle was transformed into a centre for contemporary art in 1990 by Swiss architect Gittfried Honegger. A modern gallery in the castle grounds holds a permanent collection of works by Richard Serra, Richard Long, Dan Flavin and San Scully.
6. Musée Jean Cocteau, Menton
Located on the French Riviera, the Musée Jean Cocteau was designed by architect Rudy Ricciotti and directly inspired by Cocteau’s life and work. The museum holds an extensive collection of graphic illustrations, watercolours and films by the artist.
7. Musée Fernand Leger, Biot
This museum is dedicated to the French painter, sculptor and filmmaker Fernand Leger. A contemporary of Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp, his work was regarded a forerunner of pop art. His drawings informed the vast mosaics by Lino and Heidi Melano that adorn the museum’s exterior.
8. Fondation Maeght, St Paul de Vence
If this itinerary were ordered by priority, the Maeght Foundation would be high on our list. This phenomenal complex was designed by Josep Lluís Sert in 1963 as an exhibition space for modern and contemporary European visual arts. The building’s dynamic form is highly attuned to its context and the surrounding sculpture garden.
9. Musée Marc Chagall, Nice
The Musée Marc Chagall was designed in 1973 by André Hermant, a collaborator of Le Corbusier and Auguste Perret. Developed to house the collection of paintings Chagall donated to the State, the artist was highly involved in the design of the building and its relationship to the artwork it contains.
10. Fondation Vasarely, Aix-en-Provence
The Vasarely Foundation is a striking architectonic structure designed by Victor Vasarely between 1971 and 1976. Intended to ‘beautify the artificial environment’, the aesthetic was heavily influenced by Vasarely’s role in the Op Art movement. The building is now open to the public and regularly hosts temporary exhibitions and cultural events.
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