For its 20th anniversary, Zentrum Paul Klee dedicates a major exhibition to Le Corbusier

From Feb. 8 to June 22, 2025, the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern is dedicating a major exhibition to Le Corbusier (La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, 1887 - Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, 1965) on the occasion of the museum’s 20th anniversary, focusing on the creative process of the Swiss-French artist-architect, designer and urban planner and placing Le Corbusier’s three-dimensional thinking at the center of the exhibition. Le Corbusier. The Order of Things, this is the title of the exhibition curated by Martin Waldmeier and produced in collaboration with the Le Corbusier Foundation in Paris, aims to present a comprehensive overview of Le Corbusier’s entire output from an artistic perspective, including both iconic objects and groups of works that have so far remained largely unknown. Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, world-famous under the pseudonym Le Corbusier, is one of the major protagonists ofmodern architecture in Switzerland. He was also among the world’s most important and influential protagonists of international modernism.

The exhibition focuses on how Le Corbusier approached form and what his relationship was to composition and space, light and color. On display are numerous drawings and studies. Throughout his life, Le Corbusier conceived of drawing as a fundamental tool for capturing what he saw and for developing new ideas. The exhibition also aims to present the sources that went into the artist-architect’s creative process, from objects found on the beach to ancient architecture.

For Le Corbusier , order was of great importance. With this concept, the exhibition also takes up an accessible and universal artistic and art-historical theme that goes back to antiquity, while remaining relevant even today. Especially in the 1920s, order was a key concept in Le Corbusier’s thinking. To design meant to “order” things. For the central task of art and architecture was to understand and shape the world through order. Only through order, according to him, could humanity develop spiritually and free itself from the moods of nature, chance and randomness. Le Corbusier’s conception of order goes back to the classical traditions of art and architecture, particularly ancient architecture.

Art, architecture and research

The exhibition is organized both thematically and chronologically and is divided into three sections: art, architecture, and research. The art section illustrates Le Corbusier’s evolution from his training and his later work. Art has always played a central role for Le Corbusier, both as an activity in its own right and as a stimulus for architecture and design.This part of the exhibition begins with studies of nature, landscape, and architecture that have rarely been exhibited. They show how the young Charles-Edouard Jeanneret dealt with space and architecture. This is followed by iconic paintings in the style of 1920s Purism, an avant-garde movement that Le Corbusier co-founded with artist Amédée Ozenfant in Paris. The art axis also includes abstract and colorful paintings, striking sculptures and collages from his later works. They reveal a side of Le Corbusier that has been little known until now.

Thearchitecture section focuses on Le Corbusier’s design practice and his engagement with the architectural principles of the order. It is here that both realized and unrealized projects are shown. They include sketches and drawings, models and visualizations for urban planning, and close parallels with his artistic work are evident. On display are the original plans for the Unité d’Habitation in Marseille (1945-1952), for the city of Chandigarh in India (1950-1965), and the Notre-Dame-Du-Haut Chapel in Ronchamp (1950-1955).

The research section, devoted to the idea of “Atelier de la recherche patiente” (Patient Research Studio), is the centerpiece of the exhibition. It constitutes the link between architecture and art. Here the public gets an insight into the daily working life of Le Corbusier, who divided his activity between two Parisian studios. The research section displays, among other things, the artist’s collection of natural objects: he saw them as “objects à reaction poétique” (objects that provoke a poetic reaction). A selection of his photographs is also exhibited in this section. In addition, the Zentrum Paul Klee exhibits Le Corbusier’s collection of postcards for the first time in Switzerland.

For its 20th anniversary, Zentrum Paul Klee dedicates a major exhibition to Le Corbusier

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.