Fun trail at la Cité radieuse

A visit dedicated to children

Would you like to discover la Cité radieuse le Corbusier with your children, brothers and sisters, little cousins? Our special children’s guided tour is perfect for you!
Discover one of the 20th century’s architectural masterpieces, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the heart of Marseille.

Published on 14 December 2023

Mélanie Trible

Marseille in 3 words

Surprising, warm, radiant.
My favourite neighbourhood

Endoume, an ideal district to stroll around all year round and to have a swim and cool off in summer.

Rendez-vous at the foot of la Cité radieuse

Today I’m heading to la Cité radieuse with my little sister Eline! We take the B1 bus from the Prado roundabout to get to the housing unit, and we pass right in front of the Orange Vélodrome stadium and over the Huveaune river.

We soon make out la Cité radieuse (after all, with its unique design, it’s hard to miss).
Our guide Alexandra was waiting for us just outside and it was easy to spot the group of other children. The tour began, and we stayed outside because there were so many special features to see on this very colourful building.
Alexandra gives all the children a little notebook to keep and fill in throughout the visit: drawings, riddles, explanations… the youngsters will have to watch and listen carefully!

She explains how the building was constructed: the loggias, the stilts, the lift tower, the choice of colours for the façade, the units of measurement used by Le Corbusier and even how concrete was used for a large part of the exterior façade.
As Alexandra puts it so well: ‘The façade of la Cité radieuse is like a face: it’s unique, with its little flaws. That’s what makes it unique.’

Did you know?

The Cité radieuse is made up of ‘streets’, not floors. Le Corbusier wanted to create a small town: there are 337 flats ranging from 32 m2 to 203 m2; a school, a gymnasium, a hotel, a restaurant, a shopping street… and many other surprises!

More info about la Cité radieuse

VG-enfants-parcours-ludique-Cite-radieuse-Mel-OTLCM-114-rotated.jpg

VG-enfants-parcours-ludique-Cite-radieuse-Mel-OTLCM-87-rotated.jpg

VG-enfants-parcours-ludique-Cite-radieuse-Mel-OTLCM-91-rotated.jpg

VG-enfants-parcours-ludique-Cite-radieuse-Mel-OTLCM-111-rotated.jpg

Discovering the streets and the roof terrace

Our tour continues and we arrive at the entrance to the building, where everyone is delighted to discover the interior. Alexandra shares a few anecdotes and we understand that la Cité radieuse was really built to make life easier for its inhabitants.
We cross the hall and arrive in the lift tower, heading for the roof terrace!
The view is magnificent and we realise how lucky the children who go to school here are (their playground is on the roof terrace!).
Our group listens attentively to Alexandra while the youngsters solve a few riddles, concentrating hard and not letting any clues slip through their fingers.

After touring the roof terrace, discovering all its secrets, seeing the sea, the hills, the Orange Vélodrome stadium and much more (because there’s a 360° view!) we headed back down towards the flat.
By chance, we meet one of the doyennes of the residential unit, who will be 101 this year, and she tells us how much she loves her building: ‘I’ve been lucky enough to live in la Cité radieuse for 65 years and I still love it as much as ever!’

A visit to an authentic flat

We had the privilege of being able to visit a real period flat, something not everyone gets to do!
The interior is very bright, just under 100m2 and very large for the period in which it was built (la Cité radieuse celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2022).

Alexandra uses photos to show us what it was like and take us back in time, as the flat we’re visiting is unfurnished.
Inside, everything has been thought out to make life easier for the residents: a kitchen where everything is within easy reach, ergonomic staircases, very well thought-out bedroom layouts (but shhh! I’m not telling you everything…).
The children discover and love how Le Corbusier thought about creating these flats, which were very avant-garde for their time, and at the same time they discover how people used to live (not everyone had a fridge, but Le Corbusier obviously had a solution!).

After visiting this very well thought-out flat, the children want to live there! Unfortunately, it’s not for sale, but Alexandra took us to the shopping street, where we discovered the ‘Hôtel Le Corbusier’ and a restaurant called ‘Le Ventre de l’Architecte’. At least they’ll be able to spend a few nights there in the future (if the parents agree).

We finish our visit in this shopping street and it’s impressive to see what’s available today in the heart of the building, but above all to discover what was there before!

Alexandra answers our last questions before leaving us, and we’re allowed to walk around before leaving this very special building. My sister and I decided to have a snack in the ‘Archi Gourmand’ tea room to finish off this great visit with a sweet touch.
My little sister tells me that she really enjoyed the visit, but above all she admires Le Corbusier’s way of thinking: ‘Everything he’s done is super intelligent’, she says.