ITER - Padiglione Esprit Nouveau

The Padiglione Esprit Nouveau in Bologna was designed by Le Corbusier and built in 1977.
It is situated in a strategic position, in the most emblematic area of contemporary Bolognese architecture - from the Trade Fair designed by Leonardo Benevolo, Tommaso Giuralongo and Carlo Melograni to Kenzo Tange’s Regional headquarters – an ideal place for the Region of Emilia-Romagna to set up its urban planning information centre.

The pavilion of the New Spirit was initially designed by Le Corbusier for the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (Paris, 1925), and was conceived as modern architecture’s revolutionary manifesto, challenging the then-dominant logic of the decorative arts bogged down in sterile debates, far removed from the crucial issues of contemporary life. Le Corbusier countered this logic, in response to the epoch-making changes which were rapidly transforming society from rural to industrial, with the new social need for low-cost housing, in which decorative ornamentation was rejected in favour of the quality of living areas, and exploiting the new opportunities provided by innovative building systems. Le Corbusier’s ideas, too avant-garde for the times, were not followed up and so the reconstruction of the prototype house, built in Bologna in 1977 on the occasion of the French participation at SAIE that same year, assumed the significance of a particularly important cultural event, an element which is still associated with the Padiglione Esprit Nouveau, now the headquarters of the OIKOS Study Centre.

Exploiting its image as one of the most important examples of modern architecture worldwide, as demonstrated by the vast number of visitors and scholars of contemporaneity who consider this place one of their favourite destinations in our country, the aim is to create a reference point in Bologna for the documentation and divulgation of urban planning policies, providing a service which acts as a regional information centre.

“The idea behind the project was to flank the old textile mill with a new building, three storeys high and the same length as the existing one. The theme of the project lies in the new structural relationship between the two parts, in the attention given to the pre-existing buildings and layouts – the old factory, the new plant, the two residential units for the company workers – and in the change in the direction of the main entrance.
The longitudinal main body bends inwards in correspondence to a small brick construction where the old gatehouse was, and modulates its ground attachment to accommodate pedestrian and vehicle access. The reception area is housed in a semi-circular entrance area spread over two levels, connected to the cylindrical, glass-fibre reinforced concrete envelope containing the vertical elements (stairs etc.) connecting the exterior, first-floor store-rooms and top-floor offices with the meeting room at the front of the entire system, level with the new factory entrance. To the front of the west wing, a stairway block, set between the existing building and a new concrete wall, closes the system: a unifying element and source of overhead lighting, a long longitudinal skylight indicates the spaces allocated to horizontal and vertical walkways, and illuminates the factory’s old façade from the inside.
The building framework consists of reinforced concrete walls which conduct the modulation of the interior space back down the ground, creating a deep portico used as a covered parking area.
The attention to structural detail inspired by local traditions reappears in the coupled supports which detach themselves from the continuous glazing on the back wall, to join the flat iron-framed roof clad in corrugated sheeting.
Attached to the roof coping a metal “carter” casing holds the black-out elements for the windows.”
(cited from: “Gregotti Associati 1933 - 1988”, 1990 p. 74)