Notre-Dame du Haut

A 1955 pilgrimage chapel at Ronchamp where a sculptural roof and light openings in thick walls create a sacred atmosphere.

Curves, mass, and shadow opened an expressive direction in work often described only as rationalist.

Small colored apertures punctuate the dark interior, making structure and form feel inseparable.

Often compared with postwar sacred architecture and Brutalism, its essential quality is the wall thickness best understood on site.

Expressive modernism

Architect Le Corbusier