The historic Maison La Roche, designed by renowned architect Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret, is currently showcasing an extraordinary exhibition of contemporary German artist Heinz Mack's paintings and sculptures. The exhibition, which runs through December 20, 2025, presents a remarkable dialogue between modern architecture and contemporary art during Paris's major Art Week.
Located in the somewhat secluded 16th arrondissement of Paris, visitors must venture away from the city's bustling streets and crowded traffic to reach the tranquil Square du Docteur-Blanche. Behind the gate of this peaceful square, surrounded by houses with gardens, stands the striking curved lines of Maison La Roche. Built between 1923 and 1925 for Swiss collector Raoul Albert La Roche, this architectural marvel showcases Le Corbusier's five fundamental construction principles: the free facade, open floor plan, horizontal windows, roof garden, and pilotis (supporting columns), which the architect applied here for the first time.
The house itself is fascinating in its volumes, labyrinthine in design, and remarkably open to the exterior. Visitors come not only to admire its revolutionary architectural principles but also to experience the current exhibition dedicated to Heinz Mack, the German artist born in 1931 who founded the ZERO group in 1957. In his early years, Mack explored both kinetic art possibilities and prefigurations of land art before settling into constantly renewed experimentation with geometric form ballets.
Mack's artistic evolution spans from kinetic art to graceful abstraction, with his work now encompassing paintings, works on paper, and sculptures of various scales. Some smaller pieces are positioned on dining tables like decorative vases, while others reach architectural proportions, such as the sublime vertical totem placed in the entrance of Maison La Roche. His work demonstrates a deliberately sensual approach to abstraction, featuring luminous, exalted, and powerful colors that interact through subtle patterns and interference of lines.
The surfaces of Mack's sculptures invite touch with their granular, shiny, and polished textures, yet they truly come alive through their interaction with light. This reveals the kinetic roots of his art, which has evolved into something deeply material and anchored in substance. This characteristic creates a particularly harmonious dialogue with Le Corbusier's architectural vision, as both artist and architect shared an affection for theatricalized light and bold colors.
The successful encounter between Mack's contemporary art and Le Corbusier's modernist architecture enriches the viewer's appreciation of both creators. Both demonstrate a love for frank colors and straight lines, exploring simple forms with remarkable inventiveness. Each artist incorporates small touches of whimsy that challenge strict rigor: Mack through texture and organic repetition of motifs, and Le Corbusier through features like the dramatic ramp that descends spectacularly into the living room or the more discreet round door handles that function as small sculptures in themselves.
The exhibition transforms the house's dining room, living room, and corridors, creating a stunning synthesis between the artist's works and the architect's space. This beautiful encounter can be admired like a precious gem within a house that has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The show represents a rare opportunity to experience how contemporary art can enhance and complement iconic modern architecture.
The Heinz Mack exhibition at the Le Corbusier Foundation's Maison La Roche, located at 8 Square du Docteur Blanche in Paris's 16th arrondissement, continues through December 20, 2025. This unique presentation offers visitors an exceptional chance to witness the harmonious dialogue between two masters of their respective fields, separated by generations but united by their innovative approaches to form, light, and space.
