Aubette (building)

The three artists were equally responsible for different sections of the building; Theo van Doesburg was in charge of the two cafés and two dance halls, Sophie Taeuber for the entrance aisle, tearoom, and two bars, and Jean Arp for the basement, the passage, and billiard room.

In the eighteenth century, in order to underline and reflect the contemporary French style, Blondel was commissioned to re-build the remnants on Place Kléber, and it was then that the new building, L’Aubette (firstly named as Obet), was created.

In the 1920s, the lessees of L’Aubette, brothers Paul and André Horn, commissioned Theo van Doesburg, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and Jean Arp to transform the interior of the building to meet contemporary needs and give it a bold, modern look.

As the pioneer of Dutch De Stijl movement, Theo van Doesburg employed his perspective on elementarism and the neo-plastic style to decorate the ceiling and wall of cinema-ballroom with orthogonal composition in primary colors.

Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Jean Arp, two Zurich Dada artists, utilized their aesthetic dadaist ideology to challenge the conventions of architecture.

[4][5] As the experiencer Emmy Ball-Hennings described after visiting:"The interior arrangement was by Sophie Taeuber, who painted the house with Jean Arp and Theo van Doesburg.