Day312: Paris “To Be There”
It would be no exaggeration to call the Villa Savoye one of the most famous houses in the world. Located in the suburbs of Paris, it’s reachable with a flat-fare metro ticket for €2.55 (plus €2 for the rechargeable card when you first buy it; if the 30-minute walk feels too long, you can take a bus for an additional €2.05). It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so visiting it might feel like ticking off another tourist destination, but it is still a building I would strongly recommend.
What struck me most was the ramp. Normally, ramps are not used in houses. Compared with stairs, they require a much larger footprint, so in most residential projects—where floor area is limited—they are considered inefficient. Perhaps that is also why I had rarely encountered a house with a ramp before, but the spatial experience created by the ramp here was truly remarkable. As you ascend slowly, the light, the lines of sight, and the relationship with the exterior change gradually and continuously. It felt as though that very sense of gradual transformation was the central theme of the design.
The building is famous as one of the clearest embodiments of the Five Points of Modern Architecture proposed by Le Corbusier. I had looked at photographs of it many times since my student days, but the spatial experience you gain through your own body is entirely different. It reminded me of what my university mentor used to say: “Go see architecture in person.”
世界で最も有名な住宅の一つと言っても過言ではないサヴォア邸。パリの郊外にあって、地下鉄で一律料金2.55€（最初はチャージして使う式のカードを買うのに+2€、30分弱の徒歩が辛いならバスで+2.05€）で行けるところにある。世界遺産にもなっており、またもや観光地巡りみたいだが、それでもやはりおすすめしたい建築だ。
特にスロープが面白かった。普通、スロープというのは住宅に用いられない。なぜなら階段に比べて面積がかなり必要で、大抵面積が限られた住宅に用いるにはもったいないからだ。そのため、スロープのある家をそもそもあまり見たことが無いのもあるが、ここのスロープの空間体験は本当に見事だった。スロープをゆっくり上がっていくと、光や視線、外部との関係がグラジュアルに変化していく。コルビュジエの提唱する近代建築の五原則を最もわかりやすく体現した建物として有名で、学生の頃から写真では何度も眺めてきたが、その空間体験は本当に見事で、「建築は実際に見てこい」と大学の恩師がよく言っていたことを思い出した。
