This building is called the most significant building of the 20th century from an artistic point of view. The chapel was built by the famous architect Le Corbusier and fits perfectly into the complex surrounding landscape. Initially, the non-standard building caused violent protests from local residents who refused to supply water and electricity to the temple, but by now tourists who come to see it have become one of the main sources of income for the population.
Notre-Dame-du-Haut is called the most significant religious building of the 20th century from an artistic point of view and belongs to the modernist trend of new expressionism, created and proclaimed by Le Corbusier himself. The initiative to build the chapel belonged to the priest Pierre-Alain Couturier, who previously worked with such titans of modern art as Matisse and Chagall. Le Corbusier, not being religious, was initially skeptical of the proposal, but a trip to Ronchamp convinced him to take on the project on the condition that the Catholic Church would give him complete freedom of creative expression.
The Ronchannes chapel blends in perfectly with the complex surrounding landscape. The curved roof was inspired by the shape of a shell that Le Corbusier picked up on a Long Island beach. Seeing in the form of a shell the natural embodiment of the idea of shelter and security, Le Corbusier also sculpted several “sculptures” out of sand, which became the prototypes of the chapel. The towers on the sides of the temple are similar to those sketches that Le Corbusier made in 1911 during a student trip to Hadrian’s villa.
