Once upon a time there was the Villa

The plan before the site and other stories

The true story of Villa "Le Lac" finally revealed! It relegates to the rank of fiction all the Corbuséan mythographies known to date, such as "the plan before the site","the white villas" and so on. This book presents previously unpublished documents, including an exceptional 1933 aerial view of the Villa "Le Lac" and the Zeppelin below the photographer's plane! Il était une fois la Villa is the story of one of Le Corbusier's masterpieces, its inhabitants and the people who knew them - an investigation that goes to the heart of history to meet Albert Jeanneret, Le Corbusier's brother, his father and his mother - who had a perfect pitch for music and never let a false note go unheard: Albert Jeanneret's violin students remember that this nearly 100-year-old lady was not shy about shouting "Albert c'est faux!" during lessons! Exceptional testimonials from Patrick Ferla, Pierre and François De Grandi, Zabu Wahlen, Alex Reichard and others, as well as contributions from leading Corbuséans Jean-Louis Cohen, Arthur Rüegg, Tim Benton, Bruno Reichlin and others... 

The richly documented book, illustrated with previously unpublished drawings by Le Corbusier and photographs spanning the century, is the counterpart to the Il était une fois la Villa exhibition, to be held in 2023 at the Villa "Le Lac" Le Corbusier.