Algiers-Marseille
Inaugurated in 1955, the celebrated Aéro-Habitat building in Algiers was conceived by three architects Bourlier, Ferrer and Miquel, in the lineage of the Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse of Marseille. When the Cité Radieuse was delivered in 1952, the city residents did not understand this block of grey concrete which they considered a big wart. What was first a social housing has evolved into a trendy place to live in, with a significant increase of the rent. These two buildings are configured in the same way, with a shopping street, on the 3rd floor in Marseille and on the 10th in Algiers and long and narrow duplexes. Today the passions have waned, but this beautiful architectural avant-gardist compound still carries its old nickname: The Mad's House. Unlike the Aero Habitat, where the philosophy of the village was immediately adopted. To live in this modern building with this breathtaking view over the sublime bay of Algiers, was a big privilege at the time…
