We are really talking about a key monument of modernism - an apartment building, also known as the "Radiant City", designed by Le Corbusier in Marseille in 1947-1952. In June 2013, a new center for contemporary art, MaMo, opened on its roof terrace, and the opening day of its first exhibition was held. The city owes this to its native - the notorious designer Ito Morabito, better known under the pseudonym Ora Ito.
The story of MaMo began in 2010, when Ora Ito learned about the sale of a gymnasium located on the roof of a “residential unit”. However, it turned out to be not so easy to convert the hall into a cultural center: the fact is that, although this sports facility was created already in the 1960s, in 1986 it was recognized as an architectural monument as part of the Radiant City ensemble. But thanks to the assistance of the Le Corbusier Foundation in Paris, which has long fought to return the house to its original appearance (which was partially lost by 2010), as well as with the support of the Union of Owners of the “residential unit”, all obstacles were overcome.
About 4 million euros were spent on the restoration of the architectural monument, and most of this amount was collected by the residents of the house. “We are lucky,” says Ito, “almost all of them are architects, great professionals, and certainly Corbyu fans.” Today, the rooftop terrace has been reconstructed in accordance with Corbusier's plans, and the MaMo center itself is located where the children's art workshop was originally conceived.
The spirit of creativity and concrete ideas of Le Corbusier became the basis of the ideology of the new center of contemporary art. Its name is MaMo - short for "Marseille Modulor" ("Marseille modulor") or "Marseille Main Ouverte" ("Marseille open hand"). The proportional system "modulator", commensurate with a person, is especially relevant in this case, since it served as the main module in the design of the "Radiant City" and is reflected in the dimensions of doors, windows, window sills, ramps, steps … Another universal sign proposed by Corbusier was " open hand ", which he interpreted as a symbol of reconciliation: this palm is" open to receive and to give. " At the same time, MaMo is a kind of challenge to the New York Museum of Contemporary Art MoMA. "Yes, we are restless in Marseille!" - declares Ora Ito.
The new center houses an exhibition space, workshops for artists and a cafe. Each year it is planned to hold one exhibition of a contemporary artist who created his project for MaMo in dialogue with the avant-garde spirit of Le Corbusier, with his fundamental and universal ideas, as well as in cooperation with the ensemble of the Radiant City and its inhabitants, with the inhabitants of Marseille and the entire Mediterranean. Around the main exhibition, which will be held in the summer, a program of various events will be built, where contemporary art will combine with architecture, design with cinema, music with poetry.
The first MaMo exhibition was the Architectones exhibition by sculptor Xavier Veilhan, which is part of the 2013 Marseille-Provence European Capital of Culture year program. Since 2012, Veilhan has been working on a series of works created specifically for the famous monuments of modernism. His first three projects were implemented in Los Angeles: at Richard Neutr's VDL II Experimental House, at Pierre Koenig's Case Study House # 21, and at John Lautner's Sheets-Goldstein Villa. The fourth was the project for the roof of the Radiant City, which, among other things, features a statue of Le Corbusier, depicted painting directly on the surface of the roof of his building.
The exhibition will run until September 30, 2013.
