Built in 1955 on a hilltop at Ronchamp in eastern France, this pilgrimage chapel is one of the most celebrated works of Le Corbusier. It replaced an earlier chapel destroyed in World War II, on a site of worship that reaches back centuries.
Here Le Corbusier turned away from the machine-like modernism he was known for toward something more sculptural and primitive. Thick, curving walls of concrete carry an upturned roof that seems to billow like a sail. Clerestory windows fill the gap between roof and walls, and the walls, in places ten feet thick, are pierced by deep openings set with clear and colored glass. The light inside is soft and indirect.
The chapel is still a working place of worship and welcomes about 80,000 visitors a year. In 2016 it joined the UNESCO World Heritage listing of Le Corbusier's work.
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