From Le Corbusier’s Marseilles To Wang Shu’s Vertical Courtyard

Modern Chinese urban housing’s usual mode of development demolishes and rebuilds by the block, typically without regard to cultural background and regional considerations. At the same time, in response to an increasingly densif ied urban population, newly constructed residential areas are rapidly replacing traditional housing and consequently changing the modern way of life. In my opinion, these hurried constructions’lack of sensitivity causes people to lose their sense of belonging. From my own familiarity with a collective living experience, I hope to discuss social housing with a critical lens towards collectivity and individualization.Due to its iconic status as a symbol of social unity, this thesis began with the research of French architect Le Corbusier’s (1887-1965) project, the Marseille apartments, precisely because of the importance of collective living in today’s city and urban planning. With the absolute standardization of his Marseille apartments to the standardization of difference in his Firminy-vert apartments, Le Corbusier laid the groundwork for future architects to make breakthroughs in the design of differentiation in architecture. In fact, the Vertical Courtyard apartments by Wang Shu hold a parallel thinking to Le Corbusier in this evolution of differentiation and collectivity, and stand as an excellent contemporary example of individualized collective living. At last, this research was foregrounded with two main considerations:architectural typologies and regional sensitivities, and the interconnected nature of typologies and new society.