he Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau, bu

he Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau, build for the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs in Paris 1925, was posited as a prototypical two-storey high-rise dwelling-unit, created by combining the megaron form of the Maison Citrohan with the characteristic two-storey L-shaped monk’s cell and garden of the standard Carthusian monastery. Lit by a light-well to the rear of the court, the duplex was built around an inset “hanging garden” rather than being equipped with a balcony in the conventional sense. It is this singular feature that has remained a challenge for all residential high-rise construction ever since, perennially unrealizable it seems due to its volumetric extravagance.d out plans for cruciform skyscrapers, housing colonies with staggered lay-outs, and a whole range of types new to