November 2022
A 30-minute walk from Piazza Maggiore, sitting in an open field, is the Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau. Originally the project was a model home constructed for the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, designed by Swiss architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret.
The Pavillon was conceived as a modular dwelling that could be combined with others like it to form a larger block. The building utilized an open plan measuring 2,200 square feet. The lower floor held living spaces and a kitchen while the second floor housed bedrooms and a bathroom. The house itself, in an attempt to reduce the need for furniture, included a myriad of built-in furniture, cabinets, and shelves.
At the end of the 1925 exhibition, the Pavillion was destroyed. Then, in 1977 Glauco Gresleri, Giuliano Gresleri, and Jose Oubrerie constructed an exact replica of the building in the Fiera District of Bologna, in collaboration with Fondation Le Corbusier.
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The Pavillion has been closed for many years. I have read that the Bologna Visitors Bureau is known to give tours, but I was unable to find any information as to how to get a tour, how to access the interior, or even if it was still being taken care of by any organization.