Ekphrasis

Different types of contradictory relationships are found in the facades of Chapelle Notre-

Dame du Haut by Le Corbusier. The characteristics of south west facade are in extreme opposition

to the north east facade in almost every architectural elements; wall and aperture, symbolic towers,

multi faceted roof, and color and texture. The former is mainly governed by verticality, monolithic

masses, and ethereal abstraction. The latter stands against every single characteristics of the former;

verticality is replaced by horizontality, monoliths by fragments, abstraction by concreteness.

The thick white tower on the south west corner is standing strictly upright reaching to the

highest altitude of the chapel. Next to the approximate mid point of the tower begins the roofline,

which is sloped to the sky with the degree gradually getting steeper along the way to its south-east

corner. The slope begins gentle but keeps increasing until it reaches the point greater than 45

degrees at the very tip. Mathematically, it means that the slope gets higher than 1. This progress of

the roofline manifests that horizontality gradually fades away finally to give way to verticality.

Intended or not, the surface of the roof is covered with a vague but clearly repetitive pattern of

rather thick vertical lines, which looks like a trace of moulding process. This vertical pattern

reinforces overall verticality.

On the southern facade is overwhelmed by the monolithic tower, roof, and wall. A narrow

wall above the entrance door is in the middle of those monoliths bordering the white tower to the

left, the grey roof to the top, and a large white wall to the right, Except for the edges of this narrow

wall, not even a single seam can be found on the surface of facade. Three of these huge undivided

chunks all together create massive impression. The pure white tower is thick enough to make it look

not long enough despite the fact that it is the tallest part of the whole building. The dull and blunt

shape of its tip also dedicates to the visual weight. The roof looks like a short Arabian scimitar but

never feels light because of multiple reasons. The far left side facing the tower is just as thick as the
tower itself. The grey color of the roof stands out among the white wall and tower. It significantly

adds to the heaviness which could have been reduced by its sharply tapering edge to the south-east

vertex.

Apertures dedicate to the overpowering impression of monoliths in different ways as well.

Although the entrance door is painted with bright prime colors, its form as a single mass which does

not split or slide open but just slowly and gracefully rotates, is also echoing this overall massive

impression. There are more than twenty windows on the wall. However, these are ironically

revealing the extreme thickness of the wall. The extraordinary number of the windows and the

variable sizes and shapes make the windows almost look like ground pepper scattered on a big

white dish. It contradictorily emphasize the domineering size and monolithicity of the tower, roof,

and wall. Long and smooth curves of the tower and roof make themselves look even heavier in

contrast with short and sharp edges of rectilinear windows.

West facade is completely dominated by white bumpy surface. The facade is fully blocked

with absolutely nothing on it except for a single vertical seam that divides the tower from the main

hall. The wall looks like a pure white plane with a long straight line. The image almost seems to be

denoting a coordinate system, specifically the seam as the Y axis upon the X axis, the ground line.

The nothingness on the blank surface reveals the rough texture of the wall. To have a closer look,

especially under the sunlight, every single bumps appear conspicuous with help of subtle shades.

These innumerable tiny bumps make the white surface considered as an abstract plane which

comprises a group of unlimited number of conceptual dots. This abstract interpretation is also

supported by the figures of rainwater tank in front of the facade. They are located within a separate

boundary of an oval platform in purely geometric shapes; a triangular pyramid and cylinder

diagonally cut on the top.

In bird’s eye view, the southern roof line is slightly concave whereas the eastern roof line is

rather convex. This is no more than a beginning of diverse ways that north east elevation contradicts
to south west elevation. Fragments, horizontality, and concrete worldliness overpowers monoliths,

verticality, and ethereal purity.

Singularity of monoliths dissolves by different conceptual separations in halves on the

northern elevation. Firstly, the left and the right are separated by two smaller towers standing back

to back. The entrance and vertical windows above it are located between the twin towers to make

the division even clearer. Secondly, the inside and the outside separate on the far left under the roof,

which functions as an outdoor chapel. Accordingly, the roof can be regarded as a mere canopy in

this space. Lastly, the high and the low are separated by the staircase in front of the wall. A staircase

of twelve steps departs from the ground floor and is followed by a narrow landing, and another

twelve step staircase leads to the door to the second floor. These exposed stairs imply that

horizontality takes place of verticality which is forced to break into parts or multi levels. The wall

on the southern facade presented pure hight that people cannot even imagine of reaching, the wall

on the north is accessible through horizontal movement along the stairs.

In addition, northern elevation also uncovers the back of the south east tower; it turns out that

the seemingly monolithic tower has hidden its behind actually split in two by a long narrow gap in

the middle. A group of windows below the gap also adds to the dissolution of singularity of the

tower. The massive roof looks completely different as well from the north. Majority of it is not

visible any more, only leaving the tip of it on the far left which now looks like a short canopy.

Apertures are not exception. Small and numerous windows of different sizes are more or less

similar to those on the southern facade, but they are now in harmony with the fragmental

surroundings.

On the east elevation, verticality and massiveness fades away in a cohesive manner. There is a

thick white pillar next to the pulpit. It is a vertical element, but it can also be interpreted as a

variation of the south west tower cut in half or dramatically compressed under the roof; thus the

verticality significantly reduced. The roof still looks massive and slightly sloped, but the slope does
not increase but keeps steadily gentle. The dappled pattern of vertical lines are replaced by

horizontal ones as well. Verticality almost seizes to exist.

The magnificent scheme of contradictions achieves its completion by aperture and objects that

chime in. There are multiple protrusions on the wall, which is completely different from the clean

and white western facade. A window protrudes on the mid left while a choir gallery on the low

right. A white altar and wooden pulpit produce multiple sub divisions of spaces horizontally as well

as vertically. This area is not closed nor conceptual at all but open and practical. It is populated by

crowds instead of geometric figures in case of Mass. It is wide open extending outward to embrace

the world of reality.

Image Reference

Le Corbusier. Notre Dame Du Haut. Ronchamp Chapel. p. 1, https://jstor.org/stable/community.14562130.

Le Corbusier. Notre Dame Du Haut. p. 1, https://jstor.org/stable/community.11977877.
Le Corbusier. Ronchamp Chapel. p. 1, https://jstor.org/stable/community.16513241.
Le Corbusier. Ronchamp Chapel. p. 1, https://jstor.org/stable/community.16518777.