Esprit Nouveau: Le Corbusier in Bologna

Have you ever imagined to walk and move around in a building designed by the great architect Le Corbusier, father of contemporary urbanism? In Bologna you can!
Today we bring you discovering a hidden gem of the learned city, a unique and must-see place for every art and architecture lover: the Esprit Nouveau Pavilion.

The Pavilion, that takes its name from the famous French magazine founded in 1920 in Paris by Le Corbusier, was originally built for the Exposition International des Arts Décoratifs, held in the park of Grand Palais of Paris in 1925.

The Pavilion consists of two parts, studied separately since 1922 and integrated here: a housing unit cell-type “Immeubles Villas”, which conceptually was the model for the construction of future quarters, and a round unit for projects’ exhibitions, the “Diorama” (here some photos of the original pavilion).

At the end of the Exposition, the Paris Pavilion was destroyed and returned to be just a drawn on paper until 1977, when the two architects Julian and Jose Gresleri Oubriere decided to realize in Bologna a detailed faithful replica, so that it is now the only existing pavilion recognized by Fondation Le Corbusier.
The Bologna Pavilion was built in just three months in the Fiera District (Piazza Costituzione 11), a few steps away from Kenzo Tange Towers, and inaugurated on October 6th 1977, at the opening of SAIE.

The Bologna Pavilion is completely identical to the Paris Pavilion, both in architecture and interior furniture and even in the integration of a tree incorporated in the structure. About the tree, certainly one of the most curious details of the structure, perhaps not everyone knows that it wasn’t expected in the original Le Corbusier design, but he had to add it since it was present in the garden area of the Grand Palais chosen for the construction of the Pavilion!

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This article has 4 comments

frank thaler

Is this exhibiting extending? I will be there in May2018

April 15, 2018 at 18:35 //
Reply
- Elisa Mazzini
  
  Hi Frank,
  unfortunately, visits has been open only until March 29th, 2018. If there will be other openings, we will update the blogpost.
  For any more tip about Bologna and Emilia-Romagna please ask us 🙂
  
  April 16, 2018 at 07:01 //
  Reply
  - Frank Thaler
    
    Thank you Elisa,
    
    Are there other architectural and/or design projects to see in Bologna?
    
    April 29, 2018 at 16:16 //
    Reply
    - Elisa Mazzini
      
      Not far from the Esprit Nouveau Pavilion (that you can always see from the outside) there are the towers designed by the Japanese archistar Kenzo Tange: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiera_District
      To discover more about monuments in Bologna you can also take a look here: https://www.bolognawelcome.com/en/home/discover/places/architecture-and-monuments/
      🙂
      
      May 2, 2018 at 09:37 //
      Reply