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Ren Burri, Swiss photographer,

born in 1933 and studied from 1950

to 1954 at the Kunstgewerbeschulein Zrich in the famous class taught

by Hans Finsler and Alfred

Willimann. Has been a member

of Magnumsince 1959 and lives in

Paris and in Zrich. First photo-

reportage on Le Corbusier in 1955

(Ronchamp). Has published numer-

ous portraits and articles in major

international magazines: special

issues of the monthly Du(including

Koh Samui and Picasso), portfolios

in Camera. Publications include

Les Allemands, 1962, Les Gauchos,

1968, Che Guevara, 1997, 77 Strange

Sensations, 1998 and Le Corbusier,

1999.

Large-scale retrospectives and

monographs in 1984 (Ren Burri,

One World) and in 2004 (Ren Burri,Photographs). Has directed several

films, including Two Faces of China,

1968. Chevalier de lOrdre

des Arts et des Lettres, 1991,

Dr. Erich Salomon Prize, 1998.

Burri also practises the art

of collage.

hile still a student, the artistand press photographer Ren

Burri became interested in thealready mythical figure ofLe Corbusier. From 1955 onwards,he frequently had the opportunityof photographing him on differentoccasions, in his private life and hiswork as a painter, in his architectsstudio, on the La Tourette buildingsite or at the inauguration ofRonchamp. Particularly in the yearsaround 1959-1960, when Burri was ayouthful member of the legendary

Magnum agency, he displayed greatsensitivity in his approach to themaster who, quite simply, had come

to embody the myth of the architect.

This exhibition presents a selectionof the pictures resulting from thisfruitful dialogue, evidence of thestrong congenial bond that devel-oped between Le Corbusier and hischronicler, who brought to the taskall his patience and all his art. The

choice of photographs favours amore personal view of the artist-architect, illustrating at the same

time the working methods of a greatphotographer discreet, rapid,unexpected. Such is Ren Burri.These images afford us rareglimpses, biographical snapshots

that are little, if at all known.Going about his daily activities in hisartists studio under the roofs of therue Nungesser-et-Coli, Le Corbusier

is prepared, for once, not to be inabsolute control not that he is

under any illusion about just whathe is revealing to the ears and eyesof his visitor. Taking us round theprivate apartments, he puts on alittle act and then doesnt know how

to conclude it. He is also seen inhis architects studio in the rue deSvres a magical space fromwhich emerged so many architecturalmasterpieces with a pencil in hishand, talking to his collaborators.He even lets himself be taken un-awares in the course of his solitaryjourneying.

One or other of these icons is thereto greet the visitor in the hall of theMaison La Roche, while the snaps

taken in the privacy of the rueNungesser-et-Coli can be seen in

the dining room. Objects from hisprivate collection and the paintingentitled Vzelay(which can be seenin the large colour portrait on viewin the hall) are further remindersof his informal side.In the anteroom to the gallery is

a series showing him in action asa painter.In the gallery, the pictures and thefurniture in Le Corbusiers little officeillustrate the daily work of his archi-

tect's office.Spread out on the marble table isan album folded concertina-wise, a

tribute to the master by Ren Burri.In the library on the second floorare documents evoking his manyjourneys. Others recall the holiday

atmosphere of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.

W

Le Corbusier - Ren Burri

A DialogueFondation Le Corbusier - Paris24 March to 24 June 2006

Le Corbusier at table,Zrich 1960

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The photographs in the entrancehall are evidence of the originalityof Ren Burris vision. Architecturefor him is always an opportunity for

telling stories.In the famous photograph taken on25 June 1955 at the inauguration of

the Notre-Dame-du-Haut chapel atRonchamp, the only part shown of

the building itself is the concretesails of the huge shell invading the

upper part of the picture. The lowerpart is taken up by the crowd ofpilgrims forming a characteristiccompact mass, in which the curve of

the roof is echoed by the shape ofthe womens hats and, with perfectsymmetry, by a large umbrella.

In 1959, Burri is fascinated by theunceasing movements of childrenplaying on the terrace roof of theCit Radieusein Marseille and cap-

tures the play of their movements,perceived as part of a world ofarchetypal forms, of spaces closedand open, ascending and descend-ing, concave or convex, planeshorizontal or in this case sloping.He is never satisfied unless he can

succeed in capturing perfectly thevibration of animated things.

On the coloured banner is a portraitof Le Corbusier made in 1959 in thedining room of his flat in the rueNungesser-et-Coli.

ENTRANCE HALL

In 1934, Le Corbusier moved fromSaint-Germain-des-Pres to livebetween Paris and Boulogne-Billancourt, where he had just com-

pleted one of his first urban projects,the Molitor building. The apartment-studio on two floors designed by himon Ville Radieuseprinciples, at the

top of a typically Parisian block offlats, is indeed resolutely futurist inits conception, with its large glass-walled faades and its open planlayout.In 1959 and 1960, nearly two yearsafter the death of Yvonne Le Corbusier,Ren Burri was at last granted

access to the private space themaster had so jealously guarded.

In the photographs from this sessionLe Corbusier can be seen success-ively showing to the visitor the vesti-bule, the drawing room and the

dining room. In the dining room isthe painting entitled Vzelay, 1939,used by Burri as a background to hislarge colour portrait of the architect.Le Corbusier is leaning against thewhite marble table, before leadingus towards the bedroom, reached

through a revolving cupboard.As he proceeds, Le Corbusiereverywhere draws our attention to

the various objects in his privatecollection, carefully arranged in

niches contrived for them.

ICONS

LE CORBUSIER

AT HOME

DINING ROOM

Ronchamp, Inauguration of the Notre-Dame du Haut Chapel, 1955

Paris 16e, 24 rue Nungesser-et-Coli, 1959

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Le Corbusiers apartment-studio,at N 24 rue Nungesser-et-Coli, wasconceived as two distinct spaces,a studio on one side and a dwellingarea on the other. The two areascould be isolated from each other bylarge revolving doors. The entrancehall communicated with the roofgarden via a spiral staircase.Arriving one day for an appointmentwith the architect, Burri found the

front door open. When working inhis vaulted studio, as he did almostevery afternoon, Le Corbusier tookcare to avoid being disturbed. In thestudio are paintings of variousperiods stacked pell-mell against theimitation bricks of the partition wall,a painters materials, improvisedwork plans scattered seemingly atrandom on the white stone tiles, two

old chests of drawers, woodensculptures, a man over seventywearing an American woollen shirtwith black and white checks. Burriquietly begins taking pictures, grad-ually getting closer to his subject finally Le Corbusiers voice breaks

the spell: Ah, there you are.

The photographers unobtrusiveapproach is recorded in nine suc-

cessive shots: Le Corbusier is seendyeing sheets of newspaper, piecesof which are to be inserted in a col-lage spread out on a makeshift table.This sequence is perhaps the mostvivid testimony of Le Corbusiersworking methods. And, withoutbeing taken in by the reporterssubterfuge, he shows himself aswholly natural and trusting.

A WORKSHOPFOR PATIENT INQUIRY

ANTEROOM TO THE GALLERY

Le Corbusiers architects studio,which he had occupied since 1924,had been set up along the full length

of a corridor - nearly 41 metres - in adisused part of a Jesuit monasterybuilt behind Nos 33/35 rue deSvres. It was on the first floor,backed on to Saint-Ignace churchand overlooked an inner courtyard.In 1948 Le Corbusier executed alarge wall painting on the back wall.At about the same time, he set aside

the first third of the studio to houseaccomodation for a secretary andfor the manager of his architects

office, keeping for himself a smalloffice with no window.

When Burri photographed the studioin 1959 and 1960, Le Corbusier had,in addition to his own, taken over

the managers office, over whichtowered a huge window going upto the ceiling.

A photograph shows Le Corbusierworking with Joseph Oubrerie,bending over a drawing board.Burri was aiming to capture thecreative moment, something thatcould not be taken for granted, evenwith this architect of genius.

STUDIO,35 RUE DE SVRES

GALLERY

Paris 16e, 24 rue Nungesser-et-Coli, 1960

Paris 7e, 35 rue de Svres. Atelier 35 S, 1959

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FONDATION LE CORBUSIER

8-10 square du Docteur Blanche - 75016 Paris

Tl. : 01 42 88 41 53 - Fax : 01 42 88 33 17www.fondationlecorbusier.fr

The tireless traveller is conjured upin a handful of pictures that are ondisplay in Raoul la Roches library on

the second floor of the house.In one, taken at the Gare de Lyon in1959, Le Corbusier is seen consultinghis diary before leaving for the LaTourette building site with Ren Burri.In another he can be seen, now enroute aboard the Train Bleu, notingdown his ideas in one of his innumer-

able notebooks.In another photograph the masterappears with a roll of papers underhis arm, surrounded by young admi-rers. He is at the foot of the hill ofRonchamp and it is 25th June 1955, thedate of the inauguration ceremony of

the Chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Haut.There are two snapshots showingLe Corbusier at Zrich in 1960. In one,he has just landed at Kloten airport inan Air India Super Constellationafter

a flight from the Himalayas lasting

29 hours. Waiting to meet him areHeidi Weber and Willy Boesiger.The other photograph appears in theposter for this Exhibition, and showshim seated in a restaurant in theneighbourhood of Zrich. Le Corbusierhas come to inspect the site on whichhis last work is to be constructed,after which he will go on to celebrate

the publication by Girsburger of astudy entitled Le Corbusier 1910-60.

Finally, there is Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, another magical place, whereLe Corbusier spent his holidaysbeside the Mediterranean and wherehe died in 1965. Burri has photographedThomas Rebutatos guinguette,Ltoile de Mer, and the Cabanon.Another photograph shows the gravedesigned by Le Corbusier in thegraveyard in the old village atRoquebrune.

MEZZANINE GALLERY

EN VOYAGE

LIBRARY

In his painters studio, Le Corbusiercreated three-dimensional naturemortesusing objects of all kinds.The worktables scattered all over hisstudio also resemble collages or in-stallations. This is certainly true of theassemblage immortalised in one ofRen Burris photographs, a woodenbox surmounted by a sculpture.

Le Corbusier had fixed paintings oneither side of a box and used thisimprovised pedestal to exhibit thesculpture Ozon IIthat he andJoseph Savina had created in 1957.Burri could not fail to be captivatedby this chaotic world.Work in progress is displayed inLAtelier de la Recherche Patiente.The bric-a-brac revealed in Burri's

photograph includes not just the mas-ters spectacles and two magnifyingglasses, but also a selection of puristsketches that Le Corbusier had justbeen showing to him. On the right arepencils held together by elastic bands- tools of the trade that accompaniedLe Corbusier wherever he went - and,in the foreground, a leaf of notepaper

with the heading: Le Corbusier,architect of Chandigarh, capital of

the Punjab.

These selected documents show bothLe Corbusiers way of working and thephotographers vision. The dialoguebetween the architect and the photo-grapher was constantly enriched byviews on art held in common.

The exhibition Le Corbusier - Ren Burri, A Dialogue was set up with the help ofRen Burri and the collaboration of Magnum Photos - Realization: Fondation Le Corbusier

Jean-Pierre Duport, Prsident - Michel Richard, Director

Conception and texts:Arthur Regg - Documentation:Isabelle GodineauCommunication:Christine Mongin, Paula de Sa Couto - Frames and showcases:Eric Galliache

English translation:Malcolm Stuart - Graphics:Bernard ArtalCopyright FLC-ADAGP / Ren Burri-Magnum Photos

Kloten airport, Zrich, 1960

Still life, 1965

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UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIES

Relations between Le Corbusier and his photo-

graphers were not always simple. The masters

mistrustfulness increased with age and he defended

his private domain with the same intransigence

as his personal image. In Burris case, the youngmans provoking interpretations of architecture as

narratives filled with living beings bore little

resemblance to the sober compositions one had a

right to expect from professional photographers:

volumes assembled under the light.

Le Corbusiers irritated reaction was to exclaim Is

he making fun of me?, until one fine day he began

to take an interest in interpretations of this kind.

Burri succeeded in creating a privileged relation-

ship with the architect and this made it possiblefor him to produce original shots of him. Yet the

relationship was to remain fragile and constantly

apt to be called in question. One day Burri arrived

at the studio with a fine round stone resembling a

Pharaohs eye that he had brought back from the

Valley of the Kings in Egypt. He was expecting to

be met with enthusiasm - for years the architect

had been collecting this kind of poetic reaction

object - but Le Corbusier accepted the present

with a grunt and carelessly laid it to one side. Not

long afterwards, however, Burri received a mess-

age inviting him to call at the studio. On entering

the masters fabled cabinet, he found the object

occupying pride of place in the centre of the table.

No words were spoken, but the two men had

understood each other. Like many others in the

course of their long relationship, this memory was

to remain unforgettable for the young photographer.

In 1959, Burri accompanied Le Corbusier in the

Train Bleufrom Paris to Lyon on a visit to theLa Tourette building site. He took the opportunity

of observing him as he talked, reflected or wrote in

his notebook, which never left him. On a plate in

the dining car, the architect made a drawing of the

little house that he had built for his parents on the

lakeshore at Corseaux. Burri carried off this trophy

and treasured it lovingly in his library in Zrich.

One day, returning from a trip, he discovered in its

place what he took to be a second, untouched

plate. Alas, the drawing had fallen prey to the zeal

of his cleaning woman.

The most interesting story involves a photo-

reportage that Burri succeeded in making in

Le Corbusiers apartment-studio between 1959 and

1960. The images were first used in a very fine

article by Sylvia Kugler, published in June 1961 in

the Swiss monthly magazine Du. Le Corbusier

showed no particular reaction on receiving hiscopy. At the end of the year 1961, when Burri sent

him a greetings card showing a monk meditating

in a Zen garden in the Japanese town of Kyoto, Le

Corbusier was reminded of one of the photographs

A souvenir of Egypt Paris 7e, 35 rue de Svres, 1959

En voyage, 1959 Wagon-lit plate, 1959

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published in Du, in which hecould be seen in his bedroom

in front of a picture by Andr

Bauchant, Glorification de laVierge. Le Corbusier noted on

the back of the card : Write

to him - the LC/Bauchant photo

equivocal. Later, on the6th February 1962, his official

reprimand was dispatched:

My dear Burri, Thank you for

your card showing bonze and

Japanese garden. I have a

serious reproach to make to you.

In Du, in the article onLe Corbusier, you have produced

a thoroughly tendentious photo-

graph in which I seem to bepraying to a Glorification of the

Blessd Virgin by Bauchant,

whereas I was actually turning

round the lamp to light the pic-

ture. You might have abstained

from giving such false evidence.

Yet, immediately afterwards,

Le Corbusier commissioned

from him photographs of scale

models he needed for his exhibi-

tion at the Muse des Arts

Dcoratifs, together with several

portraits, adding This is to give

you some publicity, not me!

See also:

Arthur Regg (ed.), Le Corbusier,Photographs by Ren Burri/Magnum.Moments in the Life of a GreatArchitect, French translationCatherine Courtiau, Ble, Berlin,Boston : Birkhuser, 1999.

Arthur Regg (ed.), Ren Burri.Pour Le Corbusier, juin 1962(leaflet),Baden : Edition Lars Mller, 2006.

Glorification of the Virgin, 24 rue Nungesser et Coli, 1959