Modernists Abroad

Villa Savoye: Poissy-sur-Seine, France

Leading modern French architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret built this modernist house outside Paris between 1928 and 1931. It’s one of the earliest examples of the new architecture called the International Style. Barr and Johnson each visited this house, and they chose it to be in MoMA’s 1932 Modern Architecture exhibition. An example of Le Corbusier’s lounge chair is seen in this interior view of Villa Savoye and also below.

© FLC / SOCAN (2019).

Watch the video

Interior view of modern house with courtyard visible in the background and a Corbusier chaise longue with brown-and-white cowhide upholstery and a table in the foreground.

The collection

Tubular-steel framed chaise longue set on a painted metal frame with tan and black upholstery and a cylindrical black pillow.

1932

Le Corbusier Lounge Chair

Designed by: Le Corbusier (1887–1965) © ARS, NY and Pierre Jeanneret (1896–1967)

Material: Chromium-plated steel, fabric, leather

Produced by: Thonet Frères, Paris, France

Dimensions: 67 x 58.4 x 158.4 cm

© FLC / SOCAN (2019).

Transcription

0:00:00 – 0:00:14

The video begins with an old map that moves and stops on the city Poissy, on the left side of the image. Poissy is encircled by a circle of light when the card stops moving. At the same time, on the right side of the image, there’s white and black videos that are showing cars in the street, a car from the inside, the road and a white building. Poissy-Sur-Seine is written in white in the middle of the image. We can hear auto engine noises in the background.

0:00:14 – 0:00:16

Poissy is still encircled by a circle of light on the old map that we can see on the left side of the image. On the right side of the image, there’s a white and black video showing three men that are looking at a map. The right image changed It’s now written Villa Savoye in the middle of the image. We can hear construction noise in the background.

0:00:16 – 0:00:34

On the left side of the image, the old map that encircled Poissy changes slowly for a more detailed map of Poissy. It zooms slowly in the map of Poissy. At the same time, on the right side of the image, there’s white and black videos that show men working on the construction of a building (Villa Savoye). We see men building the walls, two men walking near the brick walls, men watching the buildings, and we see part of the building being built. Finally, we can see the Villa Savoye at the end of the constructions. We can still hear construction noise in the background.

0:00:34 – 0:00:40

The old map zooms in and stops at a place called “Les Heures Claires”. At the same time, on the right side of the image, we can see the Villa Savoye from a distance. It is a large white villa supported by beams and which has many windows. It’s still written Villa Savoye in the middle of the image. We can hear music and birds singing in the background.

0:00:40 – 0:00:44

We can see an old architectural plan of the villa on the left side of the image. On the right side of the image, there’s a white and black picture that shows the interior of the villa. We can see a table, two sofas and big windows. Piano is playing in background.

0:00:44 – 0:01:01

The architectural plan of the villa that was on the left side of the image, changes for a white and black picture of The Corbusier. The Corbusier is the architect of the Villa Savoye. On the right side of the image, we can see another picture of the inside of the Villa. The ceilings are high and the walls are white. Finally, we can still hear piano in the background.