“Nemo emerges as an outsider with
its unique collection from outstanding architects
of the 20th century (Le Corbusier, Mario Bellini, etc...)
and today’s designers, each determined to bring
the poetry and technique of their own time,
as exemplifed by the Bird lamp of Bernhard Osann.”
Marie Godfrain, Le Monde
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Fondation
Le Corbusier
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The Le Corbusier Foundation, created in
1968 in Paris, was born and implemented
down to its smallest detail by the great
French architect of the twentieth century, Le
Corbu, as he signed himself and was
affectionately referred to by his admirers.
Aware of the need to preserve his work and
protect it from being wrongfully scattered,
for more than half a century the Foundation
continues to disseminate the work as well as
to preserve the rich materials in his
possession, which includes most of his
original drawings, studies and projects, a
collection of works of art, and written and
photographic archives. Also protected by the
Foundation are Le Corbusier’s architectures,
including the seventeen additions to the
UNESCO World Heritage Site, as a
«testimony to the invention of a new
architectural language that marked a break
with the past.
This conversation took place in early 2023
between Brigitte Bouvier and Federico
Palazzari, CEO of NEMO Lighting.
��� We note a constant development
of the Foundation’s
international activity.
How has your international professional
experience in the French cultural service
contributed to this evolution?
� Le Corbusier is the first «globalized»
architect, that is, he traveled and gave
lectures all over the world to convince of his
ideas. He also welcomed in his studio young
architects who revolutionized the
architecture of their country, DOSHI in India,
KIM CHUNG UP in Korea, MAEKAWA in
Japan. The 17 works inscribed on the
UNESCO World Heritage List since 2016
include 7 countries, so it is not surprising
that the Foundation’s international activity is
so rich and lively.
In my career within the French cultural
network internationally, I learned to work in
very different cultural contexts and
developed the taste to create partnerships
with cultural institutions, local actors to
develop artistic or academic exchanges
between France and the countries where I
worked (USA, Morocco and Poland).
At the Le Corbusier Foundation, I found this
dynamic of partnerships and collaborations,
for example, with the City of Chandigarh on
restoration issues, with the American artists,
Gerard and Kelly, for danced performances
in the architecture of Le Corbusier, or with
Japan for the safeguarding of the Floating
Asylum, a barge built by Le Corbusier to
welcome the homeless after the flood of 2018.
This year the Suzhou Biennale of Design and
Architecture in partnership with the
Foundation is organizing an architectural
competition on Le Corbusier’s shed as a model
of minimal and sustainable housing. This
influence of LC’s work internationally is also the
result of partnerships developed in recent years.
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Conversation with Brigitte Bouvier, Director of the Fondation Le Corbusier.
Fondation Le Corbusier
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��� The Maison La Roche, headquarters of the
Foundation, has become in recent years a
must-see destination for architecture lovers
passing through Paris.
During the visit, it happens to meet great
architects, important designers, writers,
actors. What was the recipe for achieving this
consolidated and unique position in such a
short time?
� No recipe, except the genius of Le
Corbusier can be a more effective
communication and diversification of our
partnerships and actions beyond the world
of architecture.
��� Your many international activities are
having a significant impact on emerging
markets, particularly in Asia. The cultural
role of the Foundation goes beyond Le
Corbusier’s message and, in fact, transfers a
set of values and experiences in a global way.
What kind of interest do you see in these
initiatives?
� The mission of the Foundation, which Le
Corbusier created during his lifetime, is to
preserve, make known and transmit a work that
has revolutionized the discipline and
architectural practice. Today we can see its
ability to bring together across borders, its
universal and profoundly humanist value. LC’s
work and research find an echo that can be
amplified after the COVID crisis that has made
us rediscover our interiors.
In 1925, when he imagined the Pavillon de
l’Esprit Nouveau, LC was already anticipating
current expectations for architecture: more
greenery, more outdoor space, more comfort for
the development of each and to live better
together.
The relationship with nature and ecological
awareness were at the heart of his work.
In a 1961 lecture at the Faculty of Medicine in
Paris, he said:
«Urban planning is a word that is wrong
because it does not concern itself only with
the city; we all have to take care of
something else, the Earth itself!»
��� When it comes to Le Corbusier’s lighting
programs, the partnership with Nemo has
indeed revealed to the world projects that
have remained hidden for many years and
immediately became icons.
What is the functional recipe for a research
and product development activity between
the Foundation and Nemo?
� Nemo contributes to the Foundation’s
missions: to make known and transmit
aspects of Le Corbusier’s work, such as the
creation of lighting and lighting systems for
architecture. Le Corbusier liked to say that:
«Architecture is the correct and
magnificent clever play of volumes
assembled under the light.»
It is therefore not surprising that he also
designed lighting for our interiors as well as
for public space as in Chandigarh.
Our partnership with Nemo is based on trust,
a shared love for innovation and research,
and also the desire to share the beauty of
form and design. Our collaboration is also
based on the desire to transmit the history of
objects that remain as faithful as possible to
the first prototypes imagined by Le Corbusier.
Fondation Le Corbusier
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The heritage dimension is as important as
the innovation dimension for works that
remain timeless.
��� The Le Corbusier Foundation is unique in
the world of architecture and in the context
of institutions that are intended to transmit
and perpetuate a certain type of values.
It is an organization of French law, whose
corporate purpose and operating rules were
dictated by Le Corbusier himself.
In this context, how do you see the
development of the Foundation and what do
you hope in general for the institutions that
deal with the conservation and dissemination
in the world of architecture and design?
� During his lifetime, Le Corbusier created
the Foundation that bears his name, and also
designed its statutes and missions. Our role is
also to think about the future and to ensure that
Le Corbusier’s work does not become a heritage
object but rather continues to inspire
researchers and creators, and is also discovered
and rediscovered by younger generations.
��� Your ofÏces and the Foundation are
located in the splendid Maison La Roche
building, designed and built by Le Corbusier
and a prestigious example of modern
architecture where we find for the first time
the architectural expression of the five points
for a new architecture.
How does it feel to work on a daily basis
inside a building whose project so solidly
represents Le Corbusier’s work?
� Experiencing working in a Le Corbusier
building on a daily basis is both a great
privilege and a great joy. Living from day to
day the research of Le Corbusier on light,
color, openness to nature, is a source of
emotion but also of responsibility for the
preservation and transmission of this work.
This is a feeling shared by the entire
Foundation team!
��� From what we can see, the link between
the Le Corbusier Foundation and the Italian
companies, Cassina for furniture and Nemo
for lighting, is a link of success.
What are the aspects of the Italian companies
with which you collaborate, especially Nemo,
that contribute to valuing Le Corbusier’s work?
� We have a special relationship with
Italian companies, Cassina and Nemo.
Cassina and Nemo are the historical
publishers of Le Corbusier’s furniture and
lighting and I believe we share not only an
attachment to heritage but also a concern for
innovation and modernity. I am thinking of
Cassina’s ecological concern with its
sustainable collection and Nemo’s constant
search to make LC’s luminaires accessible
worldwide and to transmit their history
through exhibitions such as LUCE.
��� In your role as Director, which projects
have the Foundation carried out in recent
years that you are most proud of?
Fondation Le Corbusier
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� Our work is a team effort and the most
important project for the Foundation is not
the most visible and the most spectacular: it
is the creation of a database that will allow all
audiences around the world to have access to
all the Foundation’s resources, archives, and
collections.
The project to create a Le Corbusier museum
also mobilizes us a lot because our collection
of 8,000 drawings, 35,000 plans, paintings,
tapestries, models, sculptures as well as the
archives of the agency of 35 Rue de Sevres
and Le Corbusier is not exhibited, nor
accessible but kept in warehouses.
��� Can you tell us about the most important
projects for the near future that the
Foundation is following?
The Foundation must think about the future,
and we have been working for several years
on a project: the creation of a Le Corbusier
Museum. We have a considerable collection
that is kept in storage and that we would like
to make available to the public.
We also think of this museum as a research
center on architecture and the city, which
also raises the question of the social and
environmental responsibility of the architect.
Fondation Le Corbusier