E.1027 Alpes-Maritimes - 2012 138 PS ©
Copyright photo.
E.1027 from Buse beach, Roquebrune, Alpes-Maritimes, France.
.
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Extract from "More Travel Notes with an Architectural Eye - 2012":
So return to Nice gave me time for a short, less adventurous, excursion along the famous coast east from Nice to Cap Martin-Roquebrunne. The target here was to see E.1027, a remarkable early example of modern domestic design from the 1920s by Irish Eileen Gray. Actually E.1027 codifies for Gray and her friend Badovici. They were also friends of Le Corbusier next door, on the rocks above the azure bay. Corb had his 'cabin' here, and eventually drowned in the Bay.
I say 'friends', but there were rivalries too. E.1027 is sensitively set, discrete among dark pines, a sharp play with nature, even more secluded today, in spatial composition, startling for the time, but avoiding arrogance. I think it expressed the thinking better than Corb had at that point. Once, when Gray and Badovici were away, the all-arrogant Corb 'broke into' the house and painted five or six primary-colour full-wall abstract murals, in the pure-white domestic interior. Fine in themselves, but mis-using the setting to subservience. Gray was so upset, that she never returned again. And the house had a strange dark history of deterioration and murder. Only very recently the French have been restoring it, thank goodness, but they seem to think it's the murals that are most important — on the misapprehension that Corb was French. Art-historian myopia?
For me it was interesting to see how well it was set, how the fresh white picks up the white foam edges of the azure sea, and how, despite silly efforts to make it as difficult to see as possible, it integrates with terraced gardens. I was able to photograph the setting from the beach on the coast, and from the stepped garden below Corb's cabin on the east (but not see inside).
Wikipedia (outdated as you'll see.):
Add:
"After nearly 15 years of patience and concerted efforts, Friends of e.1027 is extremely pleased to announce some important updates about Eileen Gray’s seminal modernist villa in Roquebrune-Cap Martin in the south of France. While the Conservatoire du littoral (a French coastal conservancy agency) and the town of Roquebrune remain co-owners of e.1027, there has been a shift in the management of the site: introducing l'Association Cap Moderne, charged with the development and management of cultural and touristic considerations for the site at large. Friends of e.1027 will continue to work with our French counterparts to ensure the protection and maintenance of e.1027 and the adjoining buildings.
GRAND RE-OPENING 2015
E.1027 remains a work in progress, but we are happy to announce the current proposed date for the grand re-opening to the public: Summer 2015. "
E.1027 Alpes-Maritimes - 2012 138 PS ©
Copyright photo.
E.1027 from Buse beach, Roquebrune, Alpes-Maritimes, France.
.
Enlarge:
1. Simply click the upper-right diagonal arrows.
2. Further enlarge: Then press F11 on a PC, or Fullscreen. Allow re-focus.
Or
3. Max enlarge: If flickr's +cursor is showing, click it for max enlargement and allow to re-focus. Explore detail moving cursor.
.
Extract from "More Travel Notes with an Architectural Eye - 2012":
So return to Nice gave me time for a short, less adventurous, excursion along the famous coast east from Nice to Cap Martin-Roquebrunne. The target here was to see E.1027, a remarkable early example of modern domestic design from the 1920s by Irish Eileen Gray. Actually E.1027 codifies for Gray and her friend Badovici. They were also friends of Le Corbusier next door, on the rocks above the azure bay. Corb had his 'cabin' here, and eventually drowned in the Bay.
I say 'friends', but there were rivalries too. E.1027 is sensitively set, discrete among dark pines, a sharp play with nature, even more secluded today, in spatial composition, startling for the time, but avoiding arrogance. I think it expressed the thinking better than Corb had at that point. Once, when Gray and Badovici were away, the all-arrogant Corb 'broke into' the house and painted five or six primary-colour full-wall abstract murals, in the pure-white domestic interior. Fine in themselves, but mis-using the setting to subservience. Gray was so upset, that she never returned again. And the house had a strange dark history of deterioration and murder. Only very recently the French have been restoring it, thank goodness, but they seem to think it's the murals that are most important — on the misapprehension that Corb was French. Art-historian myopia?
For me it was interesting to see how well it was set, how the fresh white picks up the white foam edges of the azure sea, and how, despite silly efforts to make it as difficult to see as possible, it integrates with terraced gardens. I was able to photograph the setting from the beach on the coast, and from the stepped garden below Corb's cabin on the east (but not see inside).
Wikipedia (outdated as you'll see.):
Add:
"After nearly 15 years of patience and concerted efforts, Friends of e.1027 is extremely pleased to announce some important updates about Eileen Gray’s seminal modernist villa in Roquebrune-Cap Martin in the south of France. While the Conservatoire du littoral (a French coastal conservancy agency) and the town of Roquebrune remain co-owners of e.1027, there has been a shift in the management of the site: introducing l'Association Cap Moderne, charged with the development and management of cultural and touristic considerations for the site at large. Friends of e.1027 will continue to work with our French counterparts to ensure the protection and maintenance of e.1027 and the adjoining buildings.
GRAND RE-OPENING 2015
E.1027 remains a work in progress, but we are happy to announce the current proposed date for the grand re-opening to the public: Summer 2015. "