Morphology I: Maison Minimum

This will be the first post of a series to talk about the morphology of E-1027. During the 1930s, and especially after the second world war, there was an interest in efficient dwelling spaces among architects that could calm the extreme housing shortage in Europe. There was a massive re-thinking of the concept of the home, and an attempt to distill one's living space down to a comfortable minimum. Eileen Gray was not excluded from this debate. Many modernist dwellings were designed with their utilities compacted to one side of the dwelling, and with large rooms, composing the rest of the space, that could adapt to a great number of uses. Here are a few examples that were to precede and follow E-1027, which have a lot of the same uses of space.

In all photos, the areas highlighted in red represent the service areas such as kitchen, bathrooms, etc.
The areas highlighted in blue represent the large multifunctional spaces. Areas highlighted in green   represent another common element, which are outdoor terraces.

Floor Plan of E-1027, 1926

Eileen Gray's theoretical design for a "Petit Maison" - 1930s

Jean Badovici's studio apartment - Eileen Gray 1930-31

Le Corbusier, "Maison Minimum" - Late 1920s

Eileen Gray's "Maison Minimum" - Late 1930s

Another one of Eileen Gray's throretical projects, "Petit Maison#2" - Late 1930s

One of the pioneering designs of this type, Le Corbusier's Maison Citrohan, 1922