Art: Chapel in Concrete

At the end of World War II, the villagers of Ronchamp (pop. 1,900), in France’s Vosges foothills, faced an old. familiar problem: how to rebuild the chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Haut atop a nearby hill called Haul Lieu. Hallowed since pagan days, Haut Lieu lies near the invasion route through the Belfort Gap, and in war it makes a prime military observation post. Over the centuries the chapel has been repeatedly destroyed; each time it has been faithfully rebuilt by loyal parishioners.

After liberating French troops knocked out the church again in 1944, a local committee headed by a lawyer, a manufacturer and the curé decided to save on building costs, construct the new church in reinforced concrete. Even in provincial Ronchamp, the name of the best architect for the job was obvious: Swiss-born Charles Edouard Jeanneret. world famous under his professional name, Le Corbusier,* as Europe’s leading exponent of reinforced concrete.

Shape & Sound. Hats in hand, a village delegation waited on Le Corbusier in Paris, got a brusque turndown from the master. But soon afterwards Le Corbusier showed up in Ronchamp. climbed Haut Lieu, and after peering around the site, began making quick architectural notes. For Le Corbusier, who is currently building a new capital city at Chandigarh in India’s Punjab (TIME, June 8, 1953) and erecting a second edition of his much-discussed Marseille “radiant city” outside Nantes, the opportunity to build his first church was irresistible. What particularly caught his interest was the problem of designing a building to accommodate a handful of worshipers on ordinary days but on occasion pilgrimages numbering as high as 15,000.

Le Corbusier designed the exterior of the church to create what he called “an acoustic component in the domain of form.” Then he designed one outer wall of the church as an outdoor backdrop for large pilgrimage ceremonies. By using old brick left over from the previous church, plus concrete, Le Corbusier priced the new chapel at $171,000.

“Ungodly & Ungainly.” As Le Corbusier’s chapel in rough concrete and white plaster began to take form atop Haut Lieu, Ronchamp villagers threw up their hands in horror. The Walls, instead of rising straight upwards, sloped inward or outward like sets for a surrealist movie. The ceiling sagged like a tent ceiling. The main church tower, looking like an ocean liner’s funnel, and two lesser towers served only as light wells for chapels within.

Piercing the hollow, curving south facade were 27 deep-set, rectangular openings, decorated by stained glass designed by Le Corbusier. The broad church door also bore a symbolic painting by Le Corbusier, done in enamel. Capping it all was a swelling, sausage-roll roof from which extends a mighty spout to carry rain water to a concrete tank. Said Abbé Besançon, one of Ronchamp’s priests: the church is “ungodly and ungainly.”

Gypsy Blessing. But as dedication day approached, excitement steadily mounted in Ronchamp. A steady stream of famous visitors had replaced the villagers’ early doubts with growing pride. Said Dominican Father Regamey, whose order sponsored Matisse’s chapel at Vence: “Le Corbusier’s modulated chapel in reinforced concrete is hard and soft at the same time, like the Gospels.” Swiss Architect Hermann Bauer praised it as “more like sculpture than a work of architecture.” A band of gypsies, adept at mind reading, decided they liked the new chapel “because of its pure form and white color.” Even Abbé Besançon confessed a change of heart: “I take back everything I said against the chapel. I think it is beautiful and believe people can pray in it.”

On hand for the dedication, Le Corbusier proudly proclaimed: “The Christian drama has henceforth taken possession of this spot. I hand over to you this chapel made of loyal cement, molded with boldness, with courage …” Replied Besançon’s Archbishop Duchet: “I have the honor to bless the most modern chapel in the world.”

But the archbishop, who feels that modern is as modern does, cautiously decided to let a year or two pass before final consecration. He wanted to see if the chapel in practice inspires the proper mood for prayer. As far as Le Corbusier and the proud village owners are concerned, Our Lady’s new concrete chapel has already proved that it will.

*His mother’s maiden name, which he first used in signing articles on architecture, later legally adopted.