Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut

Just when it came time to consistently layer up for the fall cold, we knew our days to see Corbusier’s chapel at Ronchamp were numbered. It’s on a steep hill overlooking the town in eastern France, and the place would be covered in snow very soon. I’m glad we went when we did because the sun was out to help ward off chills while we were taking pictures.

There have been a few moments in my life when I’ve been in a room too beautiful to speak. I think I spent them all in this place. It was like everyone inside was petrified by the light pouring in from the sky and through the perforations in the walls. Everyone was quiet, sort of hoping someone would move towards a bench so we could all hear a legendary echo before he or she sat and got more petrified. The arrangement of things in that space is really hard to wrap my head around, and the same goes for the outside.

It’s a sculpture where people go to church. There are things about most sculptures I can’t comprehend without knowing what the artist knows, but that helps me appreciate the things I can understand. The craftsmanship, the formal elegance, and the play of light through the building are foundations I can build off of when I take a stab at figuring it out. That’s probably all I can take, for now, but that’s ok. Corbusier just took a leap with this one, and designed something out of the box he created for everybody else. That’s how you know he’s good.

1 year ago  /  1 note