La Tourette is a housing complex in Marseille, France.[1] It is located at the Old Port of Marseille and was constructed in 1946–1953 [2] following designs by the French architect and urban planner Fernand Pouillon.[3]
La Tourette and Vieux-Port developments are examples of modern massive-precut stone construction, one of the recent methods in stone construction.[4] [5]
La Tourette includes the first stone skyscraper, 2 Rue Saint-Laurent, a 16-storey tower made from load-bearing massive precut stone.
The architect Pouillon believed that "The more modest the housing, the more monumental the architecture should be.".[6] The construction process at La Tourette was used by Pouillon to support his claim that he could "build 200 dwellings in 200 days within a budget of 200 million francs.".[7]