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Villa Ruf, based on the principles of design conceived by Le Corbusier in the 1920s, continues to serve as a machine à habiter in the 21st Century. This website introduces you to this remarkable house, its design, its history and its present state.
Villa Ruf stands in a semi-rural location in Le Grand-Saconnex, in the Canton of Geneva. The building is recognized by the Direction du patrimoine et des sites of the République et Canton de Genève, which has kindly advised on and supported the restoration of the house.
An expression of the architectural conception of Le Corbusier, the design was finished by the leading Genevois architect Francis Quétant. It embodies the five points articulated by Le Corbusier in Towards a New Architecture:
1. Ribbon windows: 'The window is one of the essential features of the house. Progress brings liberation… Windows can run from one end of the facade to the other.'
2. Free facade: 'The facades are no longer anything but light skins of insulating walls or windows. The facade is free.'
3. Elevation of the mass: 'The house is up in the air, far from the ground...'
4. Greening the roof: '...the garden is also over the house, on the roof... Reinforced concrete is the new way to create a unified roof structure.'
5. Free plan, with no supporting walls: 'The floors are no longer superimposed by partition walls. They are free.'
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