Andrew Samuel >

Scale Model of a Scale Model Inside the Scale Model of the Villa Savoye

What happens to modernist architecture post apocalypse? True post-modernism.

It also becomes a story of perseverence and labor and love, of self assessment and rearrangment and reordering. It becomes The Story of The Guardian Robot of the Villa Savoye.

The Guardian Robot before it was The Guardian Robot (when it was just a lawn mower (during happier days: the pre-apocalypse))
An HRR216K10VKAA fresh off the production line (note: not MZCG-1179183)

The guardian robot was a hover mower.

Manufactured by: DOC NEERE INC.

Model HRR216K10VKAA

Serial # MZCG-1179183

HRR216K10VKAA (#MZCG-1179183) had been tasked with cutting the grass and other low-level landscaping tasks on the premises of The Villa Savoye. But, after the apocalypse, HRR216K10VKAA (#MZCG-1179183) took command of it’s own artificial intelligence to gain a sense of belonging and purpose and identity and, in total, become the protector of the past (and by extension, the future) and, in sum, THE GUARDIAN ROBOT OF THE VILLA SAVOYE.

Equipped with sensors meant to avoid obstacles and alert humans of its presence, it retools itself in order to find answers. After THE GREAT CATASTROPHE, the robot was left to its own devices. The robot learned about the life and times of Le Corbusier, giving tours of the site to no one while defending the increasingly overgrown facade from roving bands of graffiti artists.

The Guardian Robot after a few years in service to the lawn of The Villa Savoye
The HRR216K10VKAA was already known as a durable model, but #MZCG-1179183 was a shining example of the product line. Even within mass production, there are lemons and non-lemons. #MZCG-1179183 was not just a non-lemon, it was THE MODEL of all the models of that specific line of models. Don’t let it’s run-down exterior mislead you, #MZCG-1179183 can still cut down any rug of thick grass to uniform length as easily as the day it hovered off the production line (partly due to its rigorus self maintainance routine)

The guardian robot doesn’t care for your critiques of Le Corbusier’s philosophical and artistic ambitions, it doesn’t care for you at all. You’re probably dead. You probably died in The Great Catastrophe. And if you did manage to survive, your world vision is probably shattered having seen what people are capable of when faced with true scarcity. You’ve probably devolved into nihilism and are unworthy of the space created by Le Corbusier. So the robot only cares about maintaining The Villa Savoye, making sure that it is kept in the same state as it was the day the modern world ceased to be.

Top down view of the scale model of a scale model inside the scale model of the Villa Savoye (which may itself be inside a scale model of a more real Villa Savoye)

ASIDE: The project was meant to be experienced in VR. You are given a tour of The Villa Savoye by the guardian robot if the guardian robot deems you worthy and finds no canisters of spray-paint on your personage. You are lead around the premises. You are shown the perfectly manicured front lawn. You are lead around the interior. You are shown the remnants of Le Corbusier’s attention to detail and you are given an explanation of his methodology and purpose. After gaining the robot’s trust through an series of well-completed tasks, you are lead into the basement where the robot shows you the real jewel of The Villa Savoye.

END OF ASSIDE

Realtime Diorama Turntable Featured in the Self Guided Tour of the Villa Savoye (it is not yet know if there is a more realtime diorama inside which this realtime diorama is featured)

But why is The Guardian Robot so protective of the remains of the Villa Savoye? Why did The Guardian Robot put so much importance on the perfectly maintained lawn while the rest of the world became overgrown and decayed? Why did the robot begin to take such an interest in an even-neglected-in-its-time-and-only-as-a-novelty-example-of-international-style-at-that modernist architectural masterpiece? What object was left inside the Villa Savoye when all the humans fled the urban and rural cultural centers that could be the key to restoring life on earth?

signed copy of book found in storage
cu of signature with personal note
The Guardian Robot scanning the perimeter for any threats or overgrown blades of grass

Well, here’s the story as best as I can gather: one day, as the robot was maintaining the interior, it discovered a hidden basement. And there, it found a scale model of The Villa Savoye.

scale model of The Villa Savoye found in the basement of The Villa Savoye

The scale model was even more realistic looking than the real Villa Savoye, whose lawn The Guardian Robot had sworn to manicure and whose existence it had vowed to protect. As the robot continued to clean, one of it’s blades came loose and, after ricocheting around the room, cleaved through the scale model, revealing another scale model inside the scale model’s basement.

Thus, The Guardian Robot’s journey into the post-apocalyptic, post-modern space/time continuum began.

cutaway of scale model revealing the scale model in the basement of the scale model

Enlisting* the help of the Roomba of The Villa Savoye and The Automated Hand Sanitizer Dispenser of The Villa Savoye, The Guardian Robot of the Villa Savoye set out to journey into ultimate post-modern masterpiece: a scale model inside a scale model inside a scale model inside a scale model inside a scale model inside a scale model of the scale model of The Villa Savoye inside The Villa Savoye of The Villa Savoye, with each step finding an architectural universe more self aware than the last.

And all the while, The Guardian Robot figured that maybe, just maybe, he could turn back both space and time to this moment:

The Model of the Villa Savoye that was once blessed by Le Corbusier during a better time in a better space. This is the exact scale model that The Guardian Robot found in the basement.

More answers can only come from the motion activated tour guide that was installed in The Villa Savoye before The Great Catastrophe. Listen carefully and you may hear them…

The Guardian Robot getting one last bit of charge before nightfall

The Guardian Robot standing guard on the lawn (hovering guard, really)

*by ‘enlisted’, I mean ‘cannibalized and scrapped for parts