Glass Art - September/October 2001
Light, Shadow and Mystery
Notre Dame du Haut à Ronchamp
This chapel is situated on a hill; it can be seen from very far away, and from it one can see for very great distances: a landmark and an observation point. It is not only a place to which one comes to pray but also a monument set in a particular place...a place set high, which is open to the four horizons and confronts them.
- Abbé René Bolle-Reddat (Chaplain of Ronchamp)
A place for prayer. A place of pilgrimage from time immemorial. This hilltop near Ronchamp, France has seen a succession of houses of worship. In 1913, the church that had graced this summit since the 15th Century was destroyed by fire after being struck by lightning. Its successor, built in 1923, fell victim to the artillery of war in 1944. Since 1955 a new jewel has adorned this place: Notre Dame du Haut (Our Lady of the Height), designed by Le Corbusier, one of the most imaginative and influential architects of the 20th Century.
Climbing up the winding path to the chapel, one senses that this is a special place. Pilgrims have taken this path since the Middle Ages to pray to the Virgin Mary. The trail curves high above the surrounding countryside, allowing a limitless view in all directions.
Since its completion, the new chapel has attracted another type of pilgrim to join the faithful at Ronchamp; the architects and artists whose imaginations have been stirred by the legend of this Le Corbusier, and by his unique structure (Figure 1).
Approaching the chapel, the prospect is both surprising and exhilarating; a photograph could never convey the unique and wondrous reality of this chapel on the hill. One striking feature is the array of windows of all sizes set seemingly at random into the south wall of the chapel (Figure 2). Le Corbusier himself designed these stained glass windows.
Usually, the news that an architect has designed the glasswork for their building inspires caution; sometimes even dread. The medium of stained glass is not always kind to amateurs, and even the most talented architect can end up with disappointing windows when he or she wanders into this unfamiliar territory. Blessedly, there are exceptions - architects whose artistry and imagination extend to glass design. Notable among these are the handful of geniuses who have designed exquisite and perfect glass art for their buildings: Frank Lloyd Wright, Antonio Gaudi, Louis Sullivan, Charles Rennie MacIntosh and Le Corbusier.
Le Corbusier was a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright, and his approach to architecture parallelled Wright's in many ways: both worked from a strong theoretical base and were entranced with the possibilities provided by advances in building materials in the first half of the 20th Century. Like Wright, Le Corbusier was driven by a passion to transcend the limits of building design, and create total environments.
Le Corbusier was born Charles Edouard Jeanneret Gris in 1887 in La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland. Trained as an artist, he travelled extensively through Germany and the East. He also studied in Paris, and it was there that he adopted the name Le Corbusier in the early 1920s.
Le Corbusier's ideas about architecture evolved over a number of years. His early works were related to nature, before he moved on to mass-produced industrial forms (in that time referring to his houses as machines for living in). In the post-war era, he rejected the industrial model in favor of vernacular materials, brute concrete and sculptural forms. The chapel at Ronchamp was built during this period, in 1955.
From the outside, Notre Dame du Haut gives the impression of immensity; but once inside, the chapel is seen to be quite small - even intimate - seating a maximum of perhaps a hundred people. The primary function of the building is as a pilgrim chapel dedicated to Mary. Its reputation in this regard is enhanced by the presence of a venerable wooden statue of the Virgin that has miraculously survived two disasters - the 1913 fire and the 1944 shelling. The statue is placed in the main window behind the altar, and it is framed in the light of the rising sun. Surrounding the east window which enshrines this Amiraculous image are a myriad of tiny uncolored portals of light - like a constellation - which seem to embrace the Virgin.
The space inside the chapel is marked by contrasts - areas of deep shadow give way to points of surprising brilliance. With each new perspective, the chapel delights and challenges the viewer. It is a building shaped by light - oriented and informed by its movement. With no nearby buildings to compete for the sunlight, the chapel exists wholly as itself; a triumph in modern times. Particularly inspiring for the contemporary artist is the way in which Le Corbusier created this profoundly spiritual space; not through the traditional architectural language of churches, but in the language of modern form and abstract design. It is as if a poem or a hymn has been turned into architecture. Indeed, on this windswept hilltop, the building actually seems to sing as the wind whistles through the eaves.
From the inside, the stained glass in the south wall presents many treasures. Irregularly spaced and sized, and set into reveals of varying depth, Le Corbusier=s windows shape and color the strong south light (Figure 3). Taken together, they give a whole new meaning to the affection we have for windows - those apertures of light.
The colors are simple and primary - yellow, blue, red, green and white. There are intermittent sections of clear glass, through which the viewer can glimpse the exterior world - trees, sky and flowers. This window treatment allows the interior space to breathe deeply. An important element in the experience of the windows is the whitewashed Gunite (a concrete mixture sprayed over steel reinforcements) used to build the chapel walls. This material catches and reflects the light and color of the windows, providing an echo and a counterpoint to their visual message.
The windows speak in the language of light and color, but Le Corbusier has added text as well. The words, in a simple handwritten style (most likely Le Corbusier=s own), are incorporated in many of the panels. They evoke the names of Mary, as well as words of praise: Etoile du Matin (star of the morning); La Mer (the sea); Mere du Dieu (Mother of God); Marie Brilliante Comme le Soleil (Mary, brilliant as the sun). An interesting aspect of the text is the way it appears upside-down as it is projected onto the window sill or floor (figure 4). It seems all the more engaging and gentle for all this. A quality of sincerity and simplicity pervades these windows.
The windows also include some images associated with Mary: the moon, a star, a flower and a leaf. The windows are signed by Le Corbusier: LC 14 Mai 55
Technically, the windows contain an eclectic mix of glass techniques - dalle-de-verre, colored antique, translucent clears, acrylic and float glass are all set directly into the concrete window openings. They encompass almost every technique in use at the time. Within some of the apertures, clear and black silicone are used to create divisions between colors and types of glass. The glass painting/ enamels are done with a casual, simple line work (figure 6). Unfortunately, these are poorly fired and have deteriorated somewhat since they were installed. Other technical problems are indicated by cracks in some of the colored antique glass; the result of its having been set directly into concrete. The expansion and contraction of the wall materials through the seasons don=t match the expansion and contraction rates of the glass. To repair and reinstall these panels would be difficult. Moreover, the unleaded glasswork is so integral to the aesthetic of the architecture that it would be hard to conceive of a satisfactory alternative.
Among the windows, there is one that stands out: a small panel composed only of warm red and medium cobalt blue panes, in a ratio of about four to one. The mixture produces a distinct violet color within the window reveal. I have never seen this effect so clearly demonstrated. This powerful window is located near the votive candles. (Figure 6).
Other color mixtures are not as distinct owing to the addition of clear glass into the window panels. The clear float glass functions beautifully, with many calculated views to the exterior world (Figure 7). The chapel also contains many panes of textured clear glass that simply provide abundant light and a reprieve from the emotional impact of color.
Aesthetically (if not always technically) the chapel at Ronchamp is a wonderful example of a building existing in harmony with its windows. In designing these windows, Le Corbusier took a fresh approach, and in the process challenged some of the accepted rules of stained glass design - for example the near-prohibition against mixing clear and colored glass in a south wall. The genius of Le Corbusier was that he was able to pull this off, where another would have fallen flat. Perhaps one of the reasons for his success was that he clearly designed for light. In his own words: AThe history of architectural material has been the endless struggle for Light....in other words, the history of windows. In this bold (and blessedly successful) effort, Le Corbusier has made a brilliant contribution to the art of stained glass.
