Modernism / The Ephemeral Pavilion

The modern movement was born in Europe after the First World War but it's a movement that was quickly organized internationally. The movement appeared as a result of a convergence of events. It was born in response to decorative arts. But it is a movement that emerged thanks to the growth of new technical possibilities of materials such as glass, steel and mainly reinforced concrete.

                                             
For modern architects facade should only reflect the building's function. « Form follows function. This is the law». This quote represents the spirit of the modernism.

Known as Le Corbusier, whose real name was Charles Edouard Jeanneret; it will be one of the leaders of this movement and one of its main theorists. Le Corbusier wanted to break with tradition by founding a consistent architecture with the needs of modern man.

                     

The Ephemeral Pavilion

From 1925, the modern movement took off; it is in fact this year that Le Corbusier designed the ephemeral pavilion of the new spirit, on the occasion of the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts held in Paris.

This building creates a scandal. Indeed, the pavilion is included in an exhibition that aims to promote the decorative arts. Within this building, no decoration is inserted just simple geometric shapes nested. Despite the harsh criticism made ​​to it, this pavilion will be a decisive influence or significant architectural production on the following decades.

Relegated to a corner of the Grand Palais, the pavilion is not understood in its innovative approach: transformation plan, standardization, and industrialization. "There is no architecture here," concluded the Vice President of the Jury Grand Prize of the Exhibition. At the opening of the Exhibition the building was cache by a fence on the pretext of its incompleteness, but it will be removed the next day by order of the Minister of Education.