Nestlé Pavilion

In December 1927 Nestlé France entrusted Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret with a demountable exhibition pavilion, destined to tour the fairs of Paris, Bordeaux and Marseille for three years. To settle on its dressing, Nestlé supplied the studio in rue de Sèvres with an assortment of chocolates, including the Cailler, Peter and Köhler brands, whose names appear on the facade. The pavilion was built in 1928; on 19 February that year Le Corbusier wrote to his mother: “We had great success with our Nestlé Vevey exhibition pavilion for French fairs.”

To ease assembly, dismantling and transport, the facades are designed as a structure of fourteen portal frames linked by beams, with seven metal tubes added along the central axis. Three parallel rectangular zones follow one another, divided by glass partitions and painted wooden panels. The pavilion is 13.50 m long and 7 m wide, and stands 5.25 m tall, 1.25 m of which is the roof. Raised slightly to make up for uneven ground, it is entered by a small six-step stair facing a corridor.

A ramp runs the full length, and open display cases all around show the company's products. Beyond a glass partition, an intermediate zone is fitted with just a central shelf carrying a machine for wrapping chocolate bars. The third zone is a lounge for buyers, with armchairs, display cases and cupboards to store the products on show.

Le Corbusier and his cousin take up the brand's lettering, drawings, logos and colours. Inside there were also motifs from the company's industrial folklore, such as cows and alpine pastures. The roof, with two inverted slopes joined by a central gutter, is hidden by a large blue metal sheet laid on like giant packaging. Jutting from the facade at regular intervals are two tin-can replicas of Nestlé's flagship products, "Lait concentré" and "Farine lactée".