Le Corbusier's Last Building

The slow-poke blogging continues....

So now we are in Zurich looking at 

Le Corbusier's

Heidi Weber Museum

also known as the 

Centre Le Corbusier.

Heidi Weber approached Corb to design a museum

that would house his

paintings, drawings and sculpture,

making it a 

"Gesamtkunstwerk"

or a "complete" work of art.

This would be the last building he designed,

he died less than a year after the construction started.

Not a bad way to go out Corb!

This is how it appears as you approach from Lake Zurich.

Dang Nab It!

CLOSED!

Oh well, we'll just press our noses to the glass

and get the most out of the outside,

which ain't shabby.

That's Alex to the left who planned this whole trip.

Thanks Alex!

The building is predominantly steel.

The panels are enameled not painted.

The roof also functions as a sunshade for the patios,

this is hard to see in my pics, 

but it is such a great and unique feature.

The construction details are there to see and very beautiful.

Love this door,

really looks like the Perriand door you see at auction

every now and then,

but this one is much more 

"pill" like.

This is the Perriand door.

Look at this handle!

Inside is the amazing looking gift shoppe,

next year I guess.

There appeared to be lots of art inside and 

the interior which

appeared to be almost as interesting as the outside

construction wise.

I like when a building is honest about how it is constructed,

and not a facade of sheetrock hiding

a wooden "stick-built" construction.

Cooktop and cutting board,

original to the building and so simple, 

efficient and amazing!

Sink with perforated draining platform.

Sorry for the reflective pics,

but I am having to shoot through the windows remember.

The iPhone is holding it's own,

but I may upgrade next trip.

This is 

"behind the green door"

that I like so much.

Oh!

Look at that light and "Modular Man" sculpture! 

See the bolts?

They used over 20,000 in the construction.

Nice detail and concrete work on the foundation.

The enamel panels were composed according to a 

"rhythmic system".

See the round "tube" in the right corner?

That was filled with beautiful rocks 

and was a drain for the roof.

This is the main entrance.

Do you see how the roof floats over the structure,

creating a covered area on the other

"roof" (more like ceiling)?

There must be a name for this.....

Most of the building was prefabricated 

and then assembled on-site.

The colors are so good,

notice the blue of the enameled ceiling panels.

Alex told me to take this shot and I am glad I did.

It really gives you a sense of how

shocking and out of place this building

must had seemed (and still does!)

in this wealthy lakeside neighborhood.

Look at this fucking thing!

I mean come on!

I keep referring to that 3rd story

covered roof deck that is covered by the roof

making it something other than a roof deck,

anyway,

you can almost get a feel for it here.

Bye Bye 

Heidi Weber Museum!

I can't wait to explore the inside next year!