John Grusd PhotographyMy Favorite Building
This is la chapelle Notre-Dame du Haute (the chapel, Our Lady of the Heights) in Ronchamp, France. Designed by the famous architect, Le Corbusier, I think it is one of the two most innovative buildings of the 20th century, the other being Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater.
It is creatively designed, a supreme response to its hilltop site and fulfills its program superbly. (A “program” in architectural speak is the set of requirements set forth by the client.) From some angles it may look a bit whimsical but I assure you, there is nothing there that doesn’t serve a specific purpose.
The program required that it not only had to contain a small public chapel and several private chapels, it also had to accommodate large pilgrimage crowds. This image shows part of the eastern façade’s outdoor pulpit overlooking a large lawn that serves as a gathering place for the thousands of faithful who make the pilgrimage on celebration days.
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John Grusd Photography 