Making Science Seen: Le Corbusier's Photomural at the Pavillon Suisse
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The Department offers a five-year program leading to the Bachelor of Architecture degree. The program provides opportunities for general education as well as preparation for professional practice and/or graduate study.
The Department of Architecture offers two graduate degrees in architecture: a three-year accredited professional degree (MArch) and a two-semester to three-semester research degree (MS in Arch). Double-degree programs are currently offered with the Department of Community and Regional Planning (MArch/MCRP) and the College of Business (MArch/MBA).
History
The Department of Architecture was established in 1914 as the Department of Structural Design in the College of Engineering. The name of the department was changed to the Department of Architectural Engineering in 1918. In 1945, the name was changed to the Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering. In 1967, the name was changed to the Department of Architecture and formed part of the Design Center. In 1978, the department became part of the College of Design.
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1914–present
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- Department of Structural Design (1914–1918)
- Department of Architectural Engineering (1918–1945)
- Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering (1945–1967)
Related Units
- College of Design (parent college)
- College of Engineering(previous college, 1914–1978)
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Abstract
Le Corbusier aligned science with Modern movement architecture. At the opening of the Pavillon Suisse in 1933, he was directed by the Pavillon’s president to ‘cover up’ the exposed stone wall in the building’s lounge-dining room. Opposed to the decorative arts, Le Corbusier conceived of a photomural comprised of highly scientific, dramatically enlarged ‘new vision’ views of nature, artistically composed and integrated into the building. The mural imaged science and high technology, metaphorically aligning both with the new architecture. The provincial press understood the mural as propaganda exuding the virtues of high materialism. André Breton praised the mural as an example of ‘concrete irrationality’ that set the ‘object in crisis’. Like beauty, Le Corbusier’s picture of science resided, it seemed, in the eye of the beholder. This paper proceeds by interpreting Le Corbusier’s early works as ‘exhibition’, underscoring notions of propaganda and mobility in Modern movement architecture, and then details the demand for the Pavillion Suisse photomural, its make-up, and the assessment of the mural by the press and by artists. It attempts to illuminate one way of making science visible while underscoring the ambiguity of visual imagery in an age when science carried great authority.
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This proceeding is from Proceedings of the 2013 ARCC Spring Research Conference, edited by Chris Jarrett, Kyoung-Hee Kim and Nick Senske (Charlotte: University of North Carolina Charlotte, 2013). Full proceedings are available at http://www.arcc-arch.org. Posted with permission.