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Surrealism is a key to other late works of Le Corbusier, most notably the church at Ronchamp, France, of 1950-54... Notre-Dame-du-Haut was a more extreme statement of Le Corbusier's late style. Programmatically,...the church is simple„an oblong nave, two side entrances, an axial main altar, and three chapels beneath towers„as is its structure, with rough masonry walls faced with whitewashed Gunite (sprayed concrete) and a roof of contrasting beton brut. Formally and symbolically, however, this small building, which is sited atop a hillside with access from the south, is immensely powerful and complex. „ Marvin Trachtenberg and Isabelle Hyman. Architecture: from Prehistory to Post-Modernism. p. 542-4. Source: www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Notre_Dame_du_Haut.html Le Corbusier gave a plastic interpretation of an entire building for the first time in the pilgrimage chapel of Ronchamp. Le Corbusier used one of the strangest, but also one of the most sculptural forms that is possible to imagine. A dark roof with complex curvature floats over curving walls. The southern 'wall of light' is pierced by a multiplicity of irregular openings containing stained glass, filling the interior with colored light. Meanwhile, a ray of light penetrates through the junction between walls and roof; and 3 towers transmit light down from above into the chapel. A place for private prayer, holding only 50 people, the main chapel is enlarged on the east side by an exterior altar for the use of pilgrims. The most important feature of the chapel is its roof, made of two reinforced concrete membranes. This roof is supported by reinforced concrete struts, which also serve to strengthen the massive wall of local stone spray-coated with 'Gunnire'. A small gap which separates the shell of the roof from the outer walls makes the curvilinear surface of the roof seem to float above the interior, while the curved shape of the walls creates secondary spaces which are used as smaller chapels. The floor plan follows the natural slope of the terrain down towards the altar. From the first, this chapel aroused great interest among critics and the general public. This sprayed-concrete almost pure sculpture is situated at the top of a hill above the river Saªne surrounded by the Vosges Mountains was built of a mixture of old Vosges stone and concrete. The plastic qualities of both building materials have been exploited to the full and are perfectly matched in the architectural form and siting of the chapel. The absence of elements of a definite geometric form, the constant use of curvilinear surfaces, the almost brutal presentation of materials in their raw state, the return to traditional decorative forms (coloured glass, enamels, special lighting effects), do not in themselves constitute new elements in the work of Le Corbusier, especially when one remembers his paintings and sculpture. The exterior of the chapel and the surrounding area are both integrated in such a way that the whole landscape is called in to participate in the ritual work of architecture. The plastic forms of the liturgical objects (altar, pulpit, etc.) in the open-air chapel become part of the landscape. The billowing sail form of the roof plays its part in gathering in the surrounding space, and the different materials and colors which distinguish the surface of the roof from the architectural features underneath it accentuate the syncretic nature of Le Corbusier's style. The materials used for the towers were chosen for their effectiveness in diffusing light. The main door with its enameled sheet, the work of Le Corbusier, with its brightly coloured surface contrasts with the dark wall around it heightening the formal effect of both. The system of 'light-funnels' in the south wall, through which shafts of light enter through deep-set windows irregularly arranged yet composed by the 'Modular' system into a unified whole, is an expression of the human values implicit in the wall itself.' Source: www.serial-design.com/designers/chapelnotredame.htm |
