Future House(s):Genealogy: Maison Citrohan

This prototype house was intended for mass production for urban living. Thus, to be easily produced and replicated in linear series, fabricated and assembled similar to machines. In essence, Maison Citrohan was to work efficiently like an automobile and function effectively as a machine for living.

This three storey maisonette unit comprised of parking, garage and boiler room at ground level. Second floor double height living and dining space gets flooded with light by a double height window that was manufactured with industrial glass. Attached is garden space. A large balcony wraps around the front and sides on the first floor level. The Kitchen and maid’s room are at the rear. Some sleeping accommodations are on the gallery of the living room which is accessed by an internal spiral stair. The roof level encompasses sun terrace at the front and bedrooms and bathrooms at the rear.

This house was key in developing “5 points of new architecture” below. These were later repeated by Le Corbusier.

1. Pilotis

2. The Free Plan

3. The Free Façade

4. Ribbon windows

5. The roof garden

Each unit was to be stacked vertically or horizontally to create small housing blocks, planned for standardization but with flexibility for mass production. Domino structural system is applied in reinforced concrete construction. The cylindrical posts or pilotis frees the ground plane, frees the external walls to be non-load bearing walls. Thus frees the façade, allowing variation in location and flexible sizes of windows.

Spatial continuum of above elements, pure form and volume, rectangular floor plan, aesthetically sparse interior, built-in furniture other than chairs and tables are few main characteristics of this house. Movable furniture were made with tubular frames. Interior and exterior displays modernist white stucco walls. Roof garden connects inhabitants directly with nature.