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Concrete versus Steel
Concrete versus Steel
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Concrete versus Steel

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Museum für Gestaltung Zürich
Ausstellungsstrasse 60
8031 Zurich
Museum map
Museum für Gestaltung Zürich
Toni-Areal, Pfingstweidstrasse 94
8031 Zurich
Pavillon Le Corbusier
Höschgasse 8
8008 Zürich
Museum map
  • Concrete versus Steel
  • Concrete versus Steel
  • Concrete versus Steel
  • Concrete versus Steel
  • Concrete versus Steel
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Listen to the text
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The first project draft for the Zurich pavilion envisioned a massive concrete structure. Raw exposed concrete surfaces alternated with open façade sections that were to be glazed and fitted with rhythmically distributed vertical concrete slats.
By the spring of 1962, Le Corbusier had already decided to revise his design and began—in parallel to the official project—to work on a steel variant. He based his design on a system for prefabrication for which he had applied for a patent in 1950, referred to as “Le Brevet,” the French word for patent. “The principle of this patent,” wrote Le Corbusier, “is that a single corner-piece is used throughout the construction.” The iron angles are 226 centimeters long, corresponding to the basic value of his Modulor system. Fixed in place using an auxiliary construction, the angles are welded together to form cubic modules. Le Corbusier believed that assembling several such modules provided an efficient and cost-effective way to construct residences. More than 20,000 bolts were needed in the Zurich pavilion.

Ramp leading up to the roof terrace, Pavillon Le Corbusier
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Literature

Catherine Dumont d’Ayot in collaboration with Tim Benton, Le Corbusier’s Pavilion for Zurich: Model and Prototype of an Ideal Exhibition Space, Zurich, 2013.

Jean Petit, ed., Le Corbusier. BSGDG: Breveté Sans Garantie Du Gouvernement, Lugano, 1996.

Quoted from Willy Boesiger, ed., Le Corbusier. Œuvre complète, 1946–1952, Zurich, 1953, p. 70.

Image credits

Rampenaufgang zur Dachterrasse, Pavillon Le Corbusier
Abbildung: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK

Detailansicht Fassade mit verschraubten Winkelprofilen, Pavillon Le Corbusier
Abbildung: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK

Detailansicht Stütze mit verschraubten Winkelprofilen, Pavillon Le Corbusier
Abbildung: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK

Patentanmeldung «Verbesserungen für Wohngebäude, insbesondere für solche aus vorgefertigten Elementen», Nr. 1.029.774 vom 15. Dezember 1950, Le Corbusier
Abbildung: INPI, Patent Nr. 1.029.774

System 226 × 226 × 226: Vertikalschnitt der Fassade mit den an den Profilen befestigten emaillierten Fassadenpaneelen, Pavillon Le Corbusier
Abbildung: Archiv Louis Fruitet

System 226 × 226 × 226: Schema zur Reihenfolge der Montage der Kuben, Pavillon Le Corbusier
Abbildung: Archiv Louis Fruitet