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The Philips PavillionLe Corbusier and Iannis XenakisBrussels World Fair, 1958The 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels was to be the first World’s Fair held since the end of World War II; the Philips electronics company had developed and now wanted to showcase their new technologicalproducts in lighting, audio, and electronics. They decided to not display any commercial goods at all, but to create a pavilioncelebrating the new forms of their electronic technology in as many forms as possible.“I will not make a pavilion but an Electronic Poem and a vesselcontaining the poem; light, color image, rhythm and sound joinedtogether in an organic synthesis.” Le Corbusier.

Function, Layout and Circulation

Le Corbusier was not concerned with the exterior of the pavilion, and concentrated his efforts on the interior, leaving Xenakis to design

the exterior form. Le Corbusier shaped the interior plan in a manner similar to the stomach of a cow, in which the audience would enter int the pavilion in groups of 500 at ten-minute intervals, allowing 20,000 visitors to pass through every day. They would be squeezed through a small dark passagewayinto a futuristic, alien world, to be then ‘digest-

ed’ and transformed by Philips’ amazing new technology, (an intense space, resembling the incredibly high acidity in a cows stomach, that

allows huge masses to pass through daily).

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Circulation: Spatial Experience/Sequence

First, audience members would enter through a small passageway - a transitional experience for 2 minutes, in which they would enter

this futuristic, technological arena. Then spectators, standing, would experience an 8 minute visual and audio spectacle on two large

screens: Le Corbusier developed a ‘visual story’ in sections titled: Genesis; Spirit and Matter, From Darkness to Dawn; Man-made

Gods: How Time Moulds Civilisation; Harmony; and To All Mankind. The images gave a sense of narrative and progress

through history; a relative theme in the post-war development of the 1950s. The audio component was a demonstration of the ef-fects of echo and reverberation - played in such a way through various speakers that the sounds would apear to move in space

around the audience. The audience would then exit the building “digested”,inspired and much more in awe of the Philips Pavilion than the American comercial approach of simply displaying their

products.

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transitional 2 minutes

Exterior and Envelope

Xenakis planned for the form to be composed of 3 conical shapes, as outlined in the diagram (left). The shape is based on a simple mathematical algorithm, but inspired by the shapes made by the rhythms and dynamics on a score of Poeme Electronique (music

composed by Edgard Varese especially for in the pavilion).

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Enclosing the envelope

Material

The hyperbolic paraboloid allowed for easy construction of the con-crete panels as straight lines could be formed. Concrete was chosen for the building as it could be reinforced and prestressed , both fac-tors which would make the structure stonger and able to take oppos-

ing forces. The steel masts are there to carry these forces through to the foundations. Aluminium paint was applied to the exterior to achieve a waterproof layer. For the interior the walls were covered with asbestos cement, acting like a plaster, to achive a smooth pro-

jection surface.

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exterior - steel frame

exterior - concrete panel

exterior - steel cable

exterior - aluminium paint

interior - asbestos cement

Structure

The struction which Xenakis invisaged would be a continuous form, where any joining between the plane of the wall and the floor would

not be visible, forming a tent structure. In some degree relating the design to Corbusier’s inner cow’s stomach, creating curving forms.

The structure was put together by the use of wooden scaffolding, in which the concrete panels would be laid after the projection of

the main steel frame. The concrete shell was composed by making sand moulds in order to achieve the right configuration and compo-sition of panels. The concrete exterior was then put together on site

laying prestressing wires over the top of the concrete in a grid.

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1:100 Model. Wooden dowel, string, foamboard.The model demonstrates the relationship between the interior and the

exterior forms of the Philips Pavilion. The three conical shapes are clearly shown in the dowel frame of the model, while the string shows

the structural wires that hold the shape of the envelope. The interior plan is shown in blue ink on the foamboard, illustrating the contrasting forms. This clearly presents the work of two architects and their differ-

ent approaches to the brief.

Abstract Model

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