Aberto exhibition at Maison La Roche celebrates Le Corbusier's enduring ties to Brazil

Le Corbusier's Maison La Roche provides a rich historical backdrop for the first international show from Brazilian design exhibition Aberto, on display at the World Heritage-listed home in Paris.

Aberto/04 is the fourth iteration of the platform's art and design show, which has been staged in a range of modernist buildings, including a 1970s brutalist house in São Paulo by architect Chu Ming Silveira that hadn't previously been open to the public.

For its latest exhibition, Aberto founder Filipe Assis and the curatorial team opted for a more well-known setting to house 40 artworks and design pieces by a mix of contemporary and 20th-century Brazilian creatives – the 1925 Maison La Roche constructed by pioneering modernist Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret.

The works are spread across the open-plan house, originally designed as a home-cum-gallery for art collector Raoul La Roche and characterised by ribbon windows, 17 distinct colours and a famed indoor ramp.

Among the multimedia pieces on show is a colourful painting of an ageing building by artist Luiz Zerbini. Hung in the light-filled entrance hall, the work echoes Le Corbusier's iconic Cité Radieuse in Marseille.

Also on the ground floor, the old caretaker's room presents a series of historical documents and architectural models, including a scale model of Rio de Janeiro's Ministry of Health and Education, completed by Le Corbusier and his renowned Brazilian collaborators Oscar Niemeyer and Lúcio Costa in the 1940s.

Moreira Salles explained that all of the works throughout the exhibition were selected to highlight Le Corbusier's significant contribution to Brazilian architecture and his lasting influence on Niemeyer and Costa, who famously designed the country's new capital Brasília in the 1950s.

"Corbusier was their role model," said Claudia Moreira Salles, who curated the exhibition alongside Lauro Cavalcanti and Kiki Mazzucchelli.

"After he left Brazil, Niemeyer and Costa continued his work, but they made changes, which is a story we want to tell with this show," she told Dezeen during a tour of the exhibition.

"Brazilians were inspired by this modernist, but they did things in their own way, influenced by their own culture and geography."

Upstairs, the main gallery space features a series of works from Brazil's neo-concrete movement. Among the pieces is a 1950s stainless steel hinged sculpture by artist Lygia Clark, splayed across a central table and defined by its spiky shape.

The gallery room is arguably the most recognisable space in Maison La Roche, known for its distinctive vantage points that paved the way for Le Corbusier's Five Points – the key features he felt necessary for modern architecture.

"Because the walls of the room are not parallel, you have all these diagonal lines, so we ended up choosing pieces that reflect this," explained Moreira Salles.

"We wanted objects that act in dialogue with the house itself," added Assis.

A collage by contemporary artist Beatriz Milhazes is suspended from a nearby wall. The work is made from a mixture of ribbons by French fashion house Chanel and Brazilian Sonho de Valsa chocolate wrappers, playfully connecting the two countries.

"We gave Beatriz this wall and she came up with the idea of doing her collages in conversation with Corbusier," said Assis, referencing the original 1958 Le Corbusier collage that hangs next to Milhazes's piece.

More contemporary sculptures, textiles and paintings made from diverse materials feature across the house, including an intricately woven silk canvas by Sidival Fila – a priest who makes art out of scrap fabric in his spare time.

Elsewhere, visitors can find a lumpy sculpture by artist Anna Maria Miolino, finished in white marble powder and structural cement.

When installing the exhibition, the team made use of Maison La Roche's permanent picture rail hanging system, fitted by Le Corbusier and Jeanneret.

This will make it easier to dismantle the exhibition without disrupting the interior – an important aspect of presenting shows in heritage buildings, according to Assis.

"I think the most difficult part was that since the relationship between Corbusier and Brazil was so rich, we really had to do the story justice," reflected Assis. "I hope Corbusier would like it."

Born in 1887, Le Corbusier designed 17 buildings over his lifetime that are now UNESCO World Heritage sites. Alongside Maison La Roche, the list includes France's Cité Frugès housing complex and Switzerland's Villa Le Lac, which he designed for his parents.

The photography is by Thomas Lannes unless stated otherwise.

Aberto/04 takes place from 14 May to 8 June 2025 at 10 Square du Docteur Blanche 75016, Paris, France. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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