French Pavilion

La Modernité, promesse ou menace?

France reflected back on a series of its own post-war architectural contributions that came to define modernism both nationally and later internationally. But it wasn't all rosy, and the exhibition highlighted how modernism could easily tilter on the verge of downfall. Curated by architectural historian Jean- Louis Cohen, the exhibition honed in on several ambitious French experiments ranging from Jacques Tati's Villa Arpel, the focus of his seminal film Mon Oncle, to panels from Jean Prouvé's prefabricated curtain walls and the imposing former concentration camp of Cité de la Muette in Drancy.

A model of Villa Arpel from Jacques Tati's film Mon Oncle.

'A significant number of structural and spatial inventions that contributed to the language of modernity were developed on its [France's] soil,' says Cohen. 'Modernity started out as a promise: for rational and affordable dwellings and healthy cities. But after 1950, this same configuration led to the mass production of monotonous complexes. As a result, modern architecture was also able to incarnate the menace of an existence dominated by machines and their repetitive productions.'

A model of Villa Arpel from Jacques Tati's film Mon Oncle.

A cinematic montage combining scenes from films by Jean-Luc Godard and Tati was projected simultaneously in each gallery on wall-wide screens, while intense light was thrown on a number of large-scale objects. The main attraction was a 1:10 scale model of the fictitious Villa Arpel, the protagonist of Mon Oncle, which smirked and winked its way throughout the famous film.