Friends of E.1027 is a non-profit organization devoted to raising funds for the restoration and preservation of E.1027, the modernist villa designed and built by Eileen Gray and Jean Badovici on the southern coast of France in Roquebrune-Cap Martin. Built between 1926 and 1929, E.1027 was a unique experiment in architecture and design. Gray combined built-in furniture with ingenious spatial planning to engage the user with the building and site, incorporating the sun and the sea into the very experience of the house.
The organization was first conceived in 1998, after Sandra Gering's visit to the site, when the building was in a state of disrepair after years of neglect and vandalism. Since then, Friends of E.1027 has blossomed, earning not-for-profit status as a sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts. The organization has been closely working with the French government and the township of Roquebrune-Cap Martin, who together purchased the villa in partnership with the Conservatoire du littoral soon after the inception of the organization. This important work of modern architecture was subsequently classified as a French National Cultural Monument.
Under the auspices of Pierre-Antoine Gatier, Architecte en Chef et Inspecteur Général des Monuments Historiques, renovations have been underway for the past decade, with emergency repairs being completed by 2006. So far, major renovations to the exterior of the house have been completed including the facades, roof, and other exterior surfaces. Additionally, renovations to the interior walls and surfaces are complete. The Le Corbusier murals will be restored on the interior walls of the house. Bids for the garden and grounds restoration are currently being reviewed as well as fabrication of the furniture, which will all be recreated from scratch. Once the house is fully restored and refurbished with copies of its original furniture and decor, it will be maintained as a public museum with an onsite study and exhibition center for architecture and design in conjunction with the Corbusier foundation. Friends of E.1027 intends to create a fund to send a young architectural student abroad each year for a month-long study program at the study center.
There is no established reopening date at this point. We hope that e.1027 will reopen to the public in the upcoming year. Your contributions can help speed up this process! Head over to How You Can Help to make your donation today.
Check back for further updates in the near future, or to join our mailing list.
Board Members:
Marianna Baer*
Jean-Louis Cohen*
Beatriz Colomina
Caroline Constant*
Rosa Esman
Steven Estok
Sandra Gering*
Angela Gilchrist
Robert Hobbs*
Dakota Jackson
Barbara Jakobson*
Marie-Laure Jousset
Paula Kane*
Juliet Kinchin
Dominic Kozerski*
Mary McLeod*
Robert Rubin
Laura Skoler
Frederieke Taylor*
Bernard Tschumi
Board Member Emeriti
Paola Antonelli*
Barbara Hoffman*
Christian Hubert
*asterisk indicates founding members