Construction Elective Journal

CONSTRUCTION - PAVILLON L’ESPRIT NOUVEAU - AC4006

ROBERT MORGAN

CONTENTS 01 Le Corbusier - A Reaction through Purism 02 Pavillon L’Espirit Nouveau 03 The Pavilion as an Appartment Block 04 The Pavilion in Contemporary Construction 05 Conclusion 06 References and Figures

LE CORBUSIER - A REACTION THROUGH PURISM

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01 Purism was a movement formed around 1918 which proposed a kind of painting in which objects are represented as powerful basic forms stripped of detail.

The movement was founded by Edouard Jeanneret (better known as Le Corbusier) and Amédée Ozenfant, a German artist.

he gave an added emphasis to their flatness. A motif of circles is echoed in the various openings of the bottles, pipes, and containers. In such works, Le Corbusier and Ozenfant were attempting to create a symphony of consonant and architecture forms (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016).

They set out the theory of purism in their book Après le Cubisme (Fig. 4) published in 1918. They criticised the fragmentation of the object in cubism and the way in which cubism had become, in their view, decorative by that time. This can been seen in the adjacent painting Violin and Candlestick (Fig. 1) by Georges Braque. Resulting from Georges Braque’s love for stability and form and his intention to experiment Analytic Cubism, Violin and Candlestick is a painting that cracks, broke, and compressed the known objects and reconstructs it in multiple point-perspectives on a small space. The focus point of this painting is at the centre where the objects are placed and the colours are darker, drawing viewers’ attention. However, the violin is placed on the left side of the viewer to make the viewers look at the different parts of the painting (Picasso and Braque, 2016).

A crucial element of purism was its embrace of technology and the machine and it aimed to give mechanical and industrial subject matter a timeless, classical quality. References to ancient Greek architecture can be seen in the fluting (like a Greek column) on the bottles in Ozenfant’s still life compositions (Tate.org.uk, 2016).

Instead they proposed a kind of painting in which objects were represented as powerful basic forms stripped of detail. Le Corbusier’s Still Life (Fig. 2) is a typical Purist painting. He purified the colour scheme to include only the neutrals - grey, black, and white - and monochromes of green. He applied the paint smoothly to enhance the sense of impersonal objectivity. He also repeated the rhythmic, curving contours of a guitar (a favourite Cubist motif, which the Purists eventually rejected for being too picturesque) in the shoulders of a bottle and in other objects on the table; by tilting the tops of the objects toward the spectator, Fig. 1 Violin and Candle (1910)

Fig. 2 Part of Still Life (1920)

01 Ozenfant and Le Corbusier ran an art magazine called L’ Esprit Nouveau spanning from 1920–1925 that was used as propaganda towards their Purist movement (Ball, 1981).

This is where they published the Purist Manifesto, describing the rules that Ozenfant and Le Corbusier created to govern the Purist movement. There are twelve points in total: Purism does not intend to be a scientific art, which it is in no sense.

Cubism has become a decorative art of romantic ornamentism.

There is a hierarchy in the arts: decorative art is at the base, the human figure at the summit.

Painting is as good as the intrinsic qualities of its plastic elements, not their representative or narrative possibilities.

Purism wants to conceive clearly, execute loyally, exactly without deceits; it abandons troubled conceptions, summary or bristling executions. A serious art must banish all techniques not faithful to the real value of the conception.

Fig. 3 L’Espirit Nouveau (1910)

Fig. 4 Apres le Cubisme (1920)

The method must be sure enough not to hinder the conception.

Purism does not believe that returning to nature signifies the copying of nature.

It admits all deformation is justified by the search for the invariant.

All liberties are accepted in art except those that are unclear Purism reached a climax in Le Corbusier’s Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau (Pavilion of the New Spirit), built in 1925 for the International Exposition of Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. This was hung with work by the three principals and also included the cubists, Juan Gris and Jacques Lipchitz (Tate.org.uk, 2016).

We also saw the beginning of Le Corbusier’s Five points of Architecture in the Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau, a set of architectural principles that dictated his technique.

The five points were: Pilotis The free designing of the ground plan

Art consists in the conception before anything else.

Technique is only a tool, humbly at the service of the conception.

The free design of the facade

Purism fears the bizarre and the original. It seeks the pure element in order to reconstruct organized paintings that seem to be facts from nature herself.

Roof gardens

Fig. 5 (Below) Five Points of Architecture (2012)

The horizontal window

PAVILLON L’ESPRIT NOUVEAU

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02 The Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau at the Paris Exposition des Arts Décoratifs of 1925 was a signal triumph over difficulties. No funds were available, no site was forthcoming, and the Organizing Committee of the Exhibition refused to allow the scheme I had drawn up to proceed. As mentioned, the pavilion was the pinnacle of the Purism movement, the rejection of decorative art as such, accompanied by an affirmation that the sphere of architecture embraces every detail of household furnishing, the street as well as the house, and a wider world still beyond both.

Le Corbusier’s intention was to illustrate how, by virtue of the selective principle (standardisation applied to mass-production), industry created pure forms. He also wanted to show the radical transformations and structural liberties reinforced concrete and steel allowed - in his words “that a dwelling can be standardised to meet the needs of men whose lives are standardised” (Fondation Le Corbusier, 2016).

In addition to these points, Corb wanted to demonstrate that these comfortable and elegant units of habitation, these practical machines for living in, could be agglomerated in blocks of villa-flats. The Pavilion was accordingly designed as a typical cell-unit which would then be part of a block of multiple villa-flats. It consisted of a minimum dwelling with its own roof-terrace.

In the rotunda attached to the Pavilion at the Paris Expo, detailed studies of town-planning schemes; two large dioramas, each a hundred square meters in area, one of which showed the 1922 “Plan for a Modern City of 3,000,000 Inhabitants” and the other the “Voisin Plan” which proposed the creation of a new business centre in the heart of Paris. On the walls were methodically worked out plans for cruciform skyscrapers, housing Fig. 6 Paris Expo (1924)

Ground Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Section through Living and Sleeping space

colonies with staggered lay-outs, and a whole range of types new to architecture that were the fruit of a mind preoccupied with the problems of the future (Fondation Le Corbusier, 2016).

This is something I will be looking at through this report, to see if the pavilion can work as a block of flats, asking questions about the public and private circulation and access to the individual flats.

02 As mentioned, the pavilion is one of the first implementations of Le Corbusier’s Five Points of Architecture. From the drawings there’s clearly an emphasis on the Pilotis, with the pavilion being raised from the ground and the structure visible on the exterior faces. As the design uses pilotis, structural walls are non existent, allowing for the free design of the plan and also the free design of the facade. We see two large openings in the South Elevation and then, typical of Corbusier’s work, a longs horizontal window to the North. Though there is no ‘Roof Garden’ on the pavilion though there is a terrace within the plan, showing the beginnings of an idea of a private garden within the city.

South Elevation

East Elevation

The ground floor is open in it’s plan, with movement easily made from the entrance to the north through the kitchen area next to the entrance and then to the double height living space. To the south the pavilion is completely removed of any solidity, with a large opening for the terrace and a floor to ceiling window over the living area. From the living area you can make way into the open terrace space to the west. On the first floor there is a single bedroom that is a mezzanine over the living space. There is also a wash room on the floor next to stairs.

Structurally, as we know, the steel pilotis hold the building with the external walls giving lateral bracing.

From our research we found that the exterior walls of the pavilion are a composite material. They are made up of a compressed straw infill that has then been coated with a concrete render. These were placed between the steel structural elements. The pilotis stick to a grid of 2.44 meters by 3 meters in the centre and the larger grid on the wings are 3 meters by 4.8 meters.

West Elevation

North Elevation

As seen from the drawings, the structure of the steel is visible from the exterior, giving rhythm to the elevations.

The elevations are finished in a concrete render with a supergraphic on the east side. The windows are a very basic steel frame and single plane of glass. As there was no thought or requirements for cold bridging at this period of time this was a standard window with no thermal breaking.

The floor is a concrete floor (in the Bologna rebuild the floor is also finished with tiling) and this is laid upon the secondary steel structure of the framework. It is raised above the ground level by the framework revealing the pilotis underneath.

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External Wall and Structure Detail

Fig. 7 Concrete reinforced with straw (2015)

Ground Floor structure and foundation

Window Detail

Internal Wall Detail

THE PAVILION AS AN APARTMENT BLOCK

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03 Firstly I looked at two of the points from the Purism Manifesto; art consists in the conception before anything else, and technique is only a tool, humbly at the service of conception. From these two points I wanted to look at the pavilion for what it was originally intended to be, an apartment in a villa block. I set out to explore the possibilities of the pavilion working as a block of apartments.

Le Corbusier’s conceptual idea of the villas was called the Immeubles Villas Apartments which was exhibited in the rotunda of the pavilion. It could have become an important argument in today’s debate on the possibilities of high-quality, high-density urban dwellings. There’s a very small amount of drawings of the villas but they resemble we can see from the plans that they somewhat resemble the deck access flats we see around the UK. Deck access is a type of flat that is accessed from a walkway that is open to the elements, as opposed to flats that are accessed from fully enclosed internal corridors. Deck access blocks of flats are usually fairly low-rise structures. The decks can vary from simple walkways, which may be covered or uncovered, to decks wide enough for small vehicles (Wikipedia, 2016).

Through the Immeubles Villas Apartments were never built, Le Corbusier was able to bring certain aspects of this vision to physical reality though his Unité d’Habitation. With its human proportions, chunky pilotis and interior “streets”, it redefined high-density housing by re-imagining a city inside an 18-storey slab block. He believed the tower block was the solution for rehousing the masses that had been displaced during the second world war, and that high rise building could be used to create spacious city homes with the same amenities as a typical street.

Fig. 8 (Above and Below Left) Corbusier Villa House (2012)

Fig. 8 (Below Middle) Immeubles Villa, Plan (2012)

Fig. 10 (Below Right) Immeubles Villa, Section (2012)

Fig. 11 (Above) Unité d’habitation, Marseille Photograph (n.d)

03 Though Le Corbusier had plans for how the pavilion would work as a villa block there’s evidence to show that the deck access typology of flats don’t work socially. This is why I have decided to look at how the flats may work for public/private access and circulation.

Firstly I looked at where the vertical circulation may be able to be situated. From the plans, it can be seen that there’s a central core to the pavilion with six pilotis situated closely together. This core currently holds the private circulation up to the first floor as well. The original idea was to have a concrete core that rose through the height of the block and this could then hold the structure for the floors of the apartments.

south meaning the stairs would have to run from east to west. As the circulation core takes up the space of the deck access it will have to become split level in section (seen on the next page). This creates space under the apartments that have to begin at the first half level (seen in the elevation in the drawings on the next pages). As Le Corbusier put a lot of emphasis on where the car fitted in with his architecture, maybe this space could become the car parking area as well as through access for the public.

This didn’t work; it compromised the plan of the first floor, rising through the wash area next to the bedroom.

It would also become similar to the deck access flats, with one core serving a number of flats. It would either be that or one core giving access to the rise, become quite inefficient.

After this I started looking at where the core could rise through the apartments without interfere with the original plan. I found that there was a small space in the pavilion which was used for a first floor exterior entrance used in the Expo. This would become redundant when used as a block of apartments, therefore there is a space that is open to the west of the washing area and this could be used as the circulation core. I’ve shown where this space is on the next page.

Following the decision of where the core is to be placed to allow for vertical circulation I looked at how the appartments would line up as a block horizontally.

As the circulation space is quite narrow from north to Fig. 12 (Above) Villa Stein-de-Monzie, “Les Terrasses”, Garches (Vaucresson) (n.d)

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THE PAVILION IN CONTEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION

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04 Much of Le Corbusier’s focus in his architecture was about mass production and repetitive construction therefore I wanted to look at how the structure and envelope would work today as efficiently as possible.

This began with looking at where the steel columns are placed. As mentioned, the spacial grid of the columns is either 2.4m x 3m or 3m x 4.8m. These would be made from a reinforced concrete (the same as Le Corbusier) and as the blocks would only be 3-4 stories high the columns would rise through the whole block. These would all be of a standard size, making it quicker and easier to construct, able to use the same form-work for the columns and using slip-forming to perform a quicker execution.

From this developed the idea of how the floors and walls woudl be placed between the columns. Pre-fabricated panels would slot between the columns allowing for a mass production of these panels, much like CLT or SIP panels. How they differ from these is that the panels will comprise of the entire wall build-up as they are not structural. This would include the interior finish, insulation and services cavity, the panel structure and the exterior finish. As the panels are pre-made in a factory, the residents living in the blocks could potentially choose they’re finishes themselves and these would be applied before arriving at the construction site.

The tasks that came from this method were; 1. How the floor panels would move past the columns without interruption but then be positioned in place?

2. How the panels are fixed to the structure without compromising the form of the apartments?

I go thorough the methods I’ve used in the next pages.

To answer the first question I began to look at how the floor panels could be stopped in their position. The first idea was a plate that would sit at the level of each floor. Though this would work for when the floor are static when the panels wanted to move down or up the columns they would be hindered. This made me think about a way of moving the plate out of the way of the moving parts.

A plate that was fold-able (seen in the drawings on the next page) was the first idea; something that could be folded into the column when the panel needed to move past and then, when the panel is needing to be supported the plate would fold out. The problem with this was that the plate was thin, and the leg that’s supporting the plate was also very small and it was unlikely to hold the weight of the panels.

Developing from this was the idea that, rather than something fold under the panels, a piece of the column would twist. This would mean that if the columns are square in plan the piece that twists would protrude from the column allowing for the panel to sit on that piece. The drawings and model in the pages following show the basic workings of this idea, where the panels can move freely down the columns when needed when the twisting piece is lined up with the column and when it is twisted 90 degrees the panels will sit on top.

These twisting joints would be pre-made into the columns at the height of each floor so the panels will sit at the correct height for each apartment.

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04 After building the model I came to realise that, though the rotational pieces worked, it would be difficult to place exterior walls against the angled edges that protruded from the post. This required further investigation into how the mechanism would allow for the building to be weather proof and thermally sound without the structural integrity of the joint becoming compromised.

This led me to look at if the joint could be hidden in the floor build-up. The sketches here show the idea of the turning piece becoming shorter and then fitting within the floor structure. This allows for the pre-constructed walls to fit against the static part of the posts. This is a lot more straight forward than the previous version.

In the section below I’ve shown a facing panel to be fixed across the exterior side of the joint. This will help stop any thermal bridging occurring at the connection.

It will also stop any cold bridging through the floor beams.

The model here shows the beginning of the construction programme. Firstly the columns that are a reinforced concrete pre-constructed with the twisting joints in place at the height of each floor level. To begin with all the joints will be sitting in line with the columns for the floor panels to move past. This is shown in the model image on the next page.

04 As seen in the image of the model on the left, once the columns are put in place at the centres of the structural grid the floor panels will be lifted and manoeuvred into place by crane. When the joints are twisted in line with the column (as seen here) the floors will move past into the correct height. Once the first panel is in place the joints above will be moved 90 degrees for the next panel to sit on.

The panels will have a primary structure in them that runs length ways between the two joints. There will then be secondary structure running width ways across the panels. This can be seen in the images of the model on the next page. The floor panels will each sit at their required height. They are each the size of one quadrangle of the structural grid and will then connect through the use of a seam that covers the joint.

As they are pre-fabricated off site the materiality of the flooring can be specified before bringing them to the construction. This allows for quicker construction time on site with the panels just needing to be placed and then joined. No added work to the panels will be needed such as servicing as this will also have been carried out off site. A cavity in the walls and floors allows for servicing (electrics, plumbing, air control etc.).

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04 Here in the model we can see how two walls and the floor panel come together to create a clean and seamless interior, something that is synonymous of Le Corbusier’s work. Here in the model the pilotis are visible inside and covered on the exterior side. Though they are covered the line of the columns are still visible by the connections between the panels. The panels on the exterior also cover the joint, concealing it and keeping it dry which is important as any moisture getting into the joint could compromise its structural integrity causing them to fail under the loads put on them.

CONCLUSION Though I think that this system would work, on reflection I feel that the turning joint needs to be better resolved.

Looking at how it would be turned, either by hand or through a mechanism is something I haven’t touched on. Finding precedents of similar projects that may be outside of architecture would help understand the mechanics of how something like this would be able to rotate. Also calculating the possible weight that could be supported by one of the joints would give a better understanding of the way in which it worked.

Going back to what I originally looked at, which was Le Corbusier and Purism and the two points of; art consists in the conception before anything else, and technique is only a tool, humbly at the service of conception, I think that my take on the pavilion is still adhering to those principles. The concept is still apparent even with the change in construction method, with Le Corbusier’s Five Points visible. The pilotis still exist, the facades are free and so is the plan with the windows still able to be as large as is needed.

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REFERENCES AND FIGURES

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REFERENCES

FIGURES

Ball, S. (1981). Ozenfant and purism. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press.

Figure 1. Braque, G. (1910). Violin and Candlestick. [image] Available at: http://pabque.weebly.com/ uploads/2/4/7/5/24755417/5534940_orig.jpg [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2016). Purism | art. [online] Available at: http://www.britannica.com/art/Purismart#ref835497 [Accessed 15 Apr. 2016].

Fondation Le Corbusier. (2016). Fondation Le Corbusier. [online] Available at: http://www. fondationlecorbusier.fr/ [Accessed 15 Apr. 2016].

Picasso and Braque. (2016). Violin and Candlestick. [online] Available at: http://pabque.weebly.com/ violin-and-candlestick.html [Accessed 15 Apr. 2016].

Tate.org.uk. (2016). Purism. [online] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/ glossary/p/purism [Accessed 15 Apr. 2016].

Wikipedia. (2016). Tower block. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_block#Deck_ access [Accessed 17 Apr. 2016].

Figure 2. Jeanneret, C. (1920). Still Life. [image] Available at: https://upload.wikimedia.org/ wikipedia/en/b/bd/Le_Corbusier_(Charles%C3%89douard_Jeanneret),_1920,_Still_Life,_oil_on_ canvas,_80.9_x_99.7_cm,_Museum_of_Modern_Art.jpg [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].

Figure 3. L’Espirit Nouveau Magazine Cover. (1920). [image] Available at: https://40.media.tumblr.com/ tumblr_mc7bxvtXJ61rcv4a5o1_500.jpg [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].

Figure 4. Apres le Cubisme cover. (1918). [image] Available at: http://www.fondationlecorbusier.fr/ CorbuCache/410x480_2049_1992.jpg?r=0 [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].

Figure 5. Bar, E. (2012). Five Points of Architecture. [image] Available at: https://archidialog.com/tag/ five-points-of-architecture/ [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].

Figure 6. Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau, Paris. (1924). [image] Available at: http://www.fondationlecorbusier. fr/CorbuCache/410x480_2049_618.jpg?r=0 [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].

Figure 7. Documentario L’Esprit Nouveau. (2015). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=brQ-BZPQMQk [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].

Figure 8. Corbusier Villa House. (2012). [image] Available at: https://eliinbar.files.wordpress. com/2010/06/corbusier-villa-house0001.jpg [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].

Figure 9. Immeubles-villas, Plan. (2016). [image] Available at: http://www.fondationlecorbusier.fr/ CorbuCache/410x480_2049_1422.jpg?r=0 [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].

Figure 10. Immeubles-villas, Section. (2016). [image] Available at: http://www.fondationlecorbusier.fr/ CorbuCache/410x480_2049_1422.jpg?r=0 [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].

Figure 11. Emdan, C. (n.d.). Unité d’habitation, Marseille Photograph. [image] Available at: http://a3.images.divisare.com/image/upload/c_ fit,w_1440/f_auto,q_80/v1/project_images/3182992/ Unite_Habitation_Marseille.jpg [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].

Figure 12. Villa Stein-de-Monzie, “Les Terrasses”, Garches (Vaucresson). (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://www.fondationlecorbusier.fr/ CorbuCache/410x480_2049_1076.jpg?r=0 [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].