A New Glimpse into Atelier Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret

Ernest Weissmann’s (1903 – 1985) career as an architect was notable in its variety. He was a promoter of avant-garde and functionalist architecture, he worked on projects in places such as Zagreb and Belgrade and, during the Second World War, in the United States. Later he became a UN Housing and Planning Officer and Head of the Industrial Reconstruction Department (UNRRA).

Before all this, as he was beginning his career, Weissmann was the cinematographer for Atelier Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. Between 1929 and 1930, Weissmann captured the activities, work and idiosyncrasies of the duo on a 9.5mm camera. This footage has never been published. For the first time, the reels alongside thirty stills taken from the film are on display at Atelier Jespers, Belgium.

Highlights of the footage include Le Corbusier’s departure for Moscow, a working meeting between Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, the realization of the Mundaneum diorama for Geneva and visits to the site of Villa Savoye.

The exhibition is part of an ongoing exploration into Le Corbusier’s life and works realized in collaboration with the Le Corbusier Foundation and expert Véronique Boone. This is the third exhibition in the series which previously explored the relationship between Le Corbusier and Georges Candilis in 2016 and Pierre Jeanneret in Chandigarh in 2017.

In addition to the footage, which shows both the everyday lives of the atelier as well as the extraordinary achievements and practice of the Le Corbusier and Jeanneret, the exhibition includes original documents from Le Corbusier, offering a new glimpse into the life of these renowned architects.

Atelier Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret 1929-1920: The Photograms of Ernest Weissmann will be on display until January 6