Wall/Column - La Tourette

An exhibition of columns:

A large number of Pilotis, one of Le Corbusier's points toward modern architecture, carry the weight of the building. The pilotis are basically the connection between the building rising from the slope of the terrain and the ground.

These vertical elements are designed in a variety of shapes; almost like an exhibition of walls and columns:

Something that grabbed my attention while walking around the pilotis was the fact that it is sometimes hard to tell if a "vertical element" is a wall perforated with a void, or two columns with a beam on the top. It certainly depends on the way of looking at these objects:

Same question came to my mind when I visited Villa Jeanneret-Perret, one of the earliest works of Le Corbusier:

Sometimes, the repetition of columns shape a continuous surface in perspective, and this repetition was evident in many parts of La Tourette:

I found the panes of glass located on the three exterior faces of the courtyard one of the most significant features of the building. These long strip windows that provide a strong illumination for the hallways beyond them, are the result of the free facade system. Therefor, there is a gap between the exterior layer which is glass and non-structural thin concrete elements, and the supporting pillars inside the space. Next comes the pilotis (flush with the concrete wall) underneath the structure to connect the elevated corridor to the ground.