Introduction to the work and building: Notre-Dame du Haut chapel

Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut stands on the hill of Bourlémont in Ronchamp, France. Le Corbusier paid particular attention to the landscape and sightlines, making the building seem to grow out of the hill. The official World Heritage description notes its asymmetrical plan and the crab-shell-like roof resting above curved walls. It has neither the side aisles nor the cruciform plan commonly found in traditional churches, yet it still faces east.

Its most compelling features are its thick walls, curved roof, light and sense of stillness. The exterior resembles a white sculpture, while the roof appears as a heavy but floating dark shell. Windows of different sizes admit light in highly irregular, almost mysterious ways. Fondation Le Corbusier also notes the use of materials including exposed concrete, painted render, wood, cast iron and bronze, with colored glass and light creating a distinctive atmosphere.

Poster / Glossy Paper

Artist and architect introduction: Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier was born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, in 1887, and began using the name Le Corbusier after 1920. Alongside architecture, he produced paintings, sculptures, tapestries and furniture, and wrote extensively on architecture and urban theory. The official World Heritage website notes that he became internationally known as an architect and urban planner despite having no formal degree in either discipline.

He was one of the most important figures in twentieth-century modern architecture. His early work is often associated with rationality, geometry, white houses and functionalism, as exemplified by Villa Savoye. At Ronchamp, however, his architectural language became freer, more massive and more sculptural. This is what makes the chapel distinctive: it brings spirituality, emotion and spatial poetry to modern architecture.