Ronchamp Chapel

Fig 1. Betancour, F. La Ronchamp (2012) Artist Impression.

Chapelle de Notre Dame du Haut Ronchamp
by Le Corbusier.
This essay is about the Ronchamp chapel from le Corbusier, one of the most recognized Architects of the last century a true artist in many fields, a man whose contribution was so broad in art, literature, drawings, even sculptures, this words are in a way a tribute to theartist and genius of Le Corbusier.
There has been much talk about the work presented below, for its expressive value and importance in the evolution of the Architect, as it is a true break from his earlier works at the time he was already involved in several other projects of different complexity, some of them were the ”Unite de Habitation” in Marseille, his most important building to date also acollective living project which reflected the town planning theories that he had been repeating all over his carreer, In India he was working in a new Capital for the state of Punjab.
Somehow this church can be considered as a break from the big projects per say, if we compare dimensions, budgets, technical complexity and other no less important factors such as social impact.
Before the writercarries out the analysis of this masterpiece, it is necessary to understand what is the true meaning of the word “Church” the Greek term for church is (Ekklessia) which means a congregation as a result of a call or summons.
In architectural terms the concrete act of faith of a community embodied in a space.

Fig.2 Ronchamp Original Church (2010) Online Image.For this reason, there has been great importance historically around d places of worship and their definition, because they are the manifestation of a group about life, which is consolidated in this places and perpetuated over time.

For Christians, churches can also be seen as the starting point to understand the world, becoming the foundations to build a vision of spiritual life on apersonal and group level.
Basically the church is the people gathering in a place or a building to receive the message of the gospel, and the preaching of the faith in Christ.

THE PROJECT: SITE AND HISTORY
Located in one of the roads linking southern Germany with France, is in the middle of a route frequented by pilgrims, the place had served since the Middle Ages as a settlement for a smallshrine to the Virgin, The Chapel suffered a voracious fire in 1.913, consequently was rebuilt in Neo Gothic style. During WWII the original Temple was bombarded by the Nazi troops, killing several people so by 1945 what used to be the temple was completely in ruins.

“(…) It only remains to decide whether occupying one’s self poetic phenomena, manifested by volume, colour and rhythm, is an act ofunity or one of chaos-whether architecture, sculpture painting, that is to say volume, form and colour are incommensurable or synchronous-synchronous and symphonic . And whether life, admittedly not dedicated to glorification (…) of the famous ‘functionalism’ a word which was never invented here, can but touch unknown beings along its path, by the means that one commonly calls ‘art’. The dictionarysays that art is the manner of doing’” Le Corbusier.
Pauly. D. (1997) Le Corbusier: La Chapelle de Ronchamp. USA, Library of Congress.

According to Pauly.D.(1997), The Church is located on the top of a hill, which has extensive views towards the four cardinal points.
For the designer the plot offered and exercise for the imagination, in which the absolute liberty in forms where partof the design.
At the peak of his career Le Corbusier, had never paid attention to sacred buildings and also a well known atheist, sensed a sac red relationship of the hill with its surroundings, the Jura mountains in the distance and the hill itself dominating the landscape.
He fell impacted by this location, was also interested in raising something in space with a significant tradition....