The Maison ronde

This group of 5 properties, built in the late 1920s, occupies a distinctive semicircular site. This configuration gives the development an introspective feel, with building entrances and shops giving onto a curved inner courtyard while the garages are set into the more or less south-facing outer facade. This is broken up by bow windows that provide a generous extension to the living rooms, benefiting from the best natural light and the best view. The 3- to 5-room apartments were designed for middle-income-earners, who needed, the architect said, affordable, healthy homes, practical and easy to maintain. Under the roof, laundries and drying areas offer collective facilities of a high standard.

The Maison Ronde is undoubtedly one of Maurice Braillard’s most important achievements. Distinctive in morphology and treatment, it brings together the most significant themes of his work: a new mode of architectural expression appropriate to the material (reinforced concrete), the articulation of private and public spaces in such a way as to encourage appropriation and identification, a coherent relationship to the urban context.

20th-century housing: a historic monument

The exceptional qualities of the Maison Ronde were recognised by the Canton of Geneva when it listed the building as a historic monument in June 1995. This would ensure, in particular, that appropriate measures were taken to maintain and renovate the building, measures that were becoming very necessary 70 years after its construction. A first step, taken by the Canton’s Direction du Patrimoine et des Sites, was to commission an architect to produce a report and a detailed survey as a preliminary to any large-scale works, which could thus form a basis for a strategic plan for the renovation of the buildings.

Actions by the FBA

Apart from having initiated the procedure to gain legal protection for the buildings, the FBA has since the early 1990s undertaken a regular programme of activities intended to make those concerned aware of the quality of this housing development as an example of Modern architecture. The Foundation compiled a fact file that was given to owners and managing agents, and has organised many meetings to establish a system of coordination among the owners, more particularly with regard to the works to be carried out.

A one-day conference

In September 1998, a debate was initiated among a wider public with the organisation of a one-day conference on the theme “Vers une politique du patrimoine?”, in which the Maison Ronde featured strongly, alongside other high-quality social housing projects in other countries. The conference was preceded by a survey of tenants and shopkeepers at the Maison Ronde, which formed the basis for the document “Eléments et réflexions pour un projet de réhabilitation,” provided to all conference participants.

Recent developments

In the summer of 1998, three of the five buildings passed from private to institutional hands (now being owned by CIA – Genève), brining a new dynamism has seen the establishment of a “renovation committee” intended to secure the long-term future of the Maison Ronde. After the grant of planning permission in 2000, the first large scale works were begun, involving the restoration of the facades and the replacement of some of the woodwork.

Documentation available

Reduced copies of the original plans and drawings can be consulted at the Foundation, as can black and white and colour photographs take at different times (among them a number by Boissonnas). A comprehensive file of information, including articles, student research, site logs etc., is available at the Foundation’s premises, as are the studies mentioned on this page.

A special number of the magazine Architecture et Patrimoine (No. 12–13, October 2003) is also available, either from the FBA or from the Direction du Patrimoine du Canton de Genève.