Le Corbusier

: Objet Mathématique

: Detail Objet Mathématique

: The Philips pavilion

: The Philips pavilion with Objet Mathématique

: The Philips pavilion with Objet Mathématique

: The Objet Mathématique with LEDs

: The Objet Mathématique with LEDs

'Objet Mathématique' (Le Poème Électronique') 1958

Location: On the lawn in front of the Auditorium
The sculpture was given on loan in 1998 by the Center 'Kunstlicht in de Kunst'.

'Objet Mathématique'

Brussels, 1958. Thousands of people leave the Philips pavilion at the world exhibition flabbergasted and astonished. The architects Le Corbusier (1887-1965) and Yannis Xenakis (1922-2000) have not only designed a highly remarkable building, 'Le Poème Électronique', but inside the building there is also a show by the same name that represents the development of mankind. On walls several meters high, slides are projected with pictures of nature, masks of old cultures, weaponry, children, adults, elderly men and women, cities, birth, life and death.

Especially for this Edgar Varèse (1883-1965) composes 'Le Poème Électronique', a piece of music that is still reputed to be modern. Varèse has collected all kinds of sounds for this: the ringing of bells, sounds of transformers or extensometers, babies crying, anything goes. What is revolutionary about this is that the sound supporting the images comes to the audience from various sides.

In Brussels Philips wants to show its latest developments in a special building. That is why Le Corbusier is approached, and his design for the pavilion is still talked about. The basic idea is a stomach: on one side you enter the building, and after the show you leave it on the other side.

Shortly before the opening Le Corbusier sees a problem. He does not find the difference between the entrance and the exit clear enough. Therefore, within a very short time span, he designs the 'Objet Mathématique', which serves as a beacon for the entrance. After the world exhibition the Philips pavilion is torn down. The 'Objet Mathématique', the only part that actually remains of the pavilion, is accommodated at Philips Lighting in Eindhoven for many years. The Center 'Kunstlicht in de Kunst' gives it on loan to the TU/e in 1998.

Special lighting

In order to ensure that the construction is also prominently present at night, Center Kunstlicht in de Kunst, Philips Lighting and the TU/e Art committee have thought of a plan to make the construction stand out by illuminating it with the latest generation of LEDs. That makes this historically valuable object one of the first projects in which these LEDs are used.

The LEDs have a total capacity of merely 4 watt, but still manage to light up the color planes of the Objet Mathématique from a great distance and with great precision, namely from the roof of Vertigo and from the Auditorium. In this way a combined play of art, architecture and light is created and the construction is once more a beacon for the latest developments in the area of technology.

More information about this construction can be found on
http://www.tue.nl/cursor/bastiaan/jaargang42/cursor39/cultuur.shtml
http://www.tue.nl/cursor/bastiaan/jaargang42/cursor42/voorpagina.shtml

The sound composition by Varèse can be downloaded here: http://www.digischool.nl/ckv2/ckv3/kunstentechniek/philips/het_philipspaviljoen.htm

Constructions and Installations

Le Corbusier