Centre scientifique de la Main-d'œuvre

The Centre scientifique de la Main-d'œuvre was one of the first major initiatives against unemployment, with the Minister of Labour and the Seine département as its joint patrons. An association, the Centre d'Étude du Travail, ran it, with Philippe Serre, a former Under-Secretary of State for Labour, at its head.

In 1938 this Centre d'Étude du Travail commissioned Le Corbusier to refit the former France Mutualiste premises on the square Jean Thébaud, between 24 rue de Cambronne and rue Paul Chautard. The budget was small, and the architect offered from the outset to reduce his fees. The final plans were approved in the course of November.

The building, in Paris's 15th arrondissement, has been demolished.

The building ran to two perpendicular wings and had a ground floor and one upper floor. On the ground floor a large reception hall sat in the middle, with the administrative offices on the left and the medical rooms on the right. The upper floor was given over mainly to test and psychotechnical examination rooms; in the left wing, the room for group examinations was made of tiered seating, five rows of four places.

Le Corbusier sought to cut costs, yet he insisted on soundproof partitions. The economics of the project also forced okoumé veneers on him; he judged the wood "out of fashion and withered" and turned to Joseph Savina, a sculptor from Tréguier whom he would later work with on his sculptures, to improve their appearance. To win him over, he wrote that it must be done "for the fatherland".