Maison Mirbel: meeting Virginie on the fourth floor of the Cité Radieuse

Hi everyone! Today I wanted to return to a meeting that happened in a place already unusual in its own right: the fourth floor of Marseille’s Cité Radieuse. That is where I discovered Maison Mirbel, Virginie's boutique.

I had come to explore the building, take photographs and understand a little more about what it is like to live there. There was already so much to look at between the corridors, shops and flats, and then I walked into Maison Mirbel. Cue my usual problem: far too many beautiful things in one place and the urge to buy all of them.

A shop where you never quite know where to look

There is jewellery, screen prints, books, tote bags, tableware, lighting, furniture and all sorts of small things you only notice on your second or third lap. You think you’ve finished with a shelf, come back to it and spot something else. We eventually left with a Le Corbusier poster and a small Cité Radieuse notebook. Choices had to be made.

Maison Mirbel is more than a collection of beautiful objects. Virginie mixes mid-century vintage pieces with contemporary work, restored finds and small editions made with designers and craftspeople. She told us about the screen prints in particular, and I loved hearing the stories behind the pieces rather than simply being shown them.

The 70-square-metre shop keeps the layout of a home, including Charlotte Perriand’s original kitchen. It completely changes how you see the objects: they aren’t placed against a neutral shop set, but already live within the architecture of the Cité Radieuse. Virginie also works on interiors and produces pieces under the Maison Mirbel name. Her approach begins with what is already there, giving real space to upcycling and collaboration.

Virginie, in front of my Fujifilm

In the middle of all this, I asked Virginie whether I could photograph her for the article. She said yes and even told me I could come back whenever I liked because the picture was so colourful 🤪.

That made me ridiculously happy. Her green top, the graphic curtains, red lamps and all that light pouring into the shop had already made the image before I even pressed the shutter.

She asked if I was working on a feature. I said, ‘Yes, you could call it that.’ I explained that I write about the places I visit, share my opinion and tell stories from my everyday life on the blog. I don’t want to stand at a distance; I want to write about what I actually saw and the people I met. And honestly, this building deserves to be written about. So does Virginie.

The fourth floor, still full of surprises

Part of what I love is Maison Mirbel’s setting. On the same floor, you pass an estate agent, a bookshop, an orthopaedic clinic and other spaces that make it feel almost like a covered arcade suspended inside the building. You open a door expecting a shop and find a genuine living space overlooking Marseille.

That contrast stayed with me throughout the Cité Radieuse. The corridors can be very dark, almost disorientating, then a door opens onto colour, a wall of windows or the sea. I wrote more about that feeling in my article on the duplex I visited inside the Cité Radieuse. I also spent a night in the building, which I wrote about in my review of the Hôtel Le Corbusier.

Why Maison Mirbel deserved a post of its own

I could have added two lines about the shop to my hotel review and moved on. But that would have missed the point. Maison Mirbel tells another story about the Cité Radieuse: one of a place that continues to be lived in, adapted and seen afresh by people who genuinely care about design.

And Virginie was so open and lovely that I wanted to keep my word. Writing about a place isn’t simply sharing an address. It is keeping a trace of what happened when I stepped inside, what caught my eye and the person who welcomed me.

Maison Mirbel
4th floor of the Cité Radieuse
280 boulevard Michelet, 13008 Marseille
Discover the Maison Mirbel website and the online shop.

I think this meeting sums up what draws me to my work: understanding why a place works, noticing how its identity takes shape in a physical space and finding a way to convey it through images and words. That is also what I do with Minuit d’Orsay, helping shops, hotels, restaurants and independent projects build their visual world and website. If your venue deserves more than a few images dropped onto a page, you can tell me about your project here.