Architect Valentin Bontjes van Beek and a group of students gave Le Corbusier’s famed Maison Dom-Ino second life as a pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. The 1:1 model was built by students of the Architectural Association to commemorate 100 years since Le Corbusier first designed the Maison Dom-Ino as a prototype for mass produced housing. The model will serve as a particularly inspired resting or meeting place at this year’s Biennale.
The modern Maison Dom-Ino was first introduced by Le Corbusier in 1914 to the European market as a model of minimalist design to be mass-produced for European housing. Its simplicity has since become an iconic model of architecture, respected for a century. To kick off the biennale, the students of AA wanted to pay tribute to this seminal design, while creating an interactive pavilion that visitors can use as a naturally shaded seating area. The One-to-One Dom-Ino serves as a reminder of the inspirational design that showcases the fundamentals of Le Corbusier’s work — open plan floors with signature zigzagging staircases.
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Rather than using Le Corbusier’s intended concrete and steel, the students used durable engineered timber. In addition to being lighter and easier to transport to the site, the timber pieces can also be flat packed, allowing the entire structure to be shipped easily from site to site.
The students also have a program of Le Corbusier themed events and panels planned to celebrate one of the world’s greatest architects. The pavilion will travel to London and Tokyo in November after the Venice Biennale.
+ Architectural Association
+ Venice Biennale
Via Dezeen
