We are to be pitied

Maison La Roche (1923-1925)



"A man who practices a religion and does not believe it is a poor wretch; he is to be pitied. We are to be pitied for living in unworthy houses, since they ruin our health and our morale. It is our lot to have become sedentary creatures; our houses gnaw at us in our sluggishness, like a consumption. We shall soon need far too many sanatoriums. We are to be pitied. Our houses disgust us; we fly from them and frequent restaurants and night clubs; or we gather together in our houses gloomily and secretly like wretched animals; we are becoming demoralized."

link: Le Corbusier's 1923 manifesto Towards a New Architecture
images: Foundation Le corbusier

2 Days in Paris

Le Comptoir Général, a museum dedicated to ghetto culture.

Beaune details

Museum of Regular (Burgundian) Life

When visiting a new place, a natural curiosity is to find out how people of the area live. How do their customs differ from the customs of the visitor's culture? What foods do they eat? How are their days structured? What do people do for work? What is their history?

In you happen to be in Dijon, the Museum of Burgundian Life can answer these questions for you. I think it's the first museum I've ever been to that is completely devoted to the history of regular life. There are models of former local factories and work places, collections of old objects, and, of course, a lot of history about the production of mustard...



There are also recreations of old stores and interiors, some charming, and some funny and creepy--



The museum is housed inside a former monastery.



Summer camp outside

Five links

1. The Tapered House by Index Architecture is made up of a larger square-ish area and a long skinny triangle that tapers down to a point
2. I'm not planning on getting a new phone soon, but I'm pretty into this case for the new Iphone
3. A nice reflection on collecting from Fine Little Day and a peek into her bedding closet. There's even a set with Moomins on it...
4. I don't know what rock I've been hiding under, but I hadn't heard of Mimi Thorisson's beautiful blog "Manger". Food and nature and French country life... what's not to love?
5. Here's a charming video of Mimi making an apple tart along with the recipe