Lot Essay
La Chapelle située à Ronchamp en France, lieu de pèlerinage à la sortie d’une forêt, a été construite par l’architecte Le Corbusier entre 1950 et 1955. Icone de l’architecture du XXème siècle, elle a révolutionné l’architecture sacrée et renversée les canons de l’architecture chrétienne. Ce bâtiment est caractérisé par la dysmétrie et par l’usage de matériaux – la pierre, le bois, le fer, l’email et le verre - qui dialoguent entre eux. La lumière joue un rôle fondamental : pénétrant directement des fenêtres, elle coupe et modèle l’espace. En raison de la relation étroite qui s’instaure entre matériaux et lumière, l’essence architecturale de la Chapelle de Notre-Dame-du-Haut s’apparente à l’essence même du medium photographique, qui est, en fin de compte, un édifice de lumière. L’œuvre de Sugimoto parvient à souligner les contradictions de la chapelle, à la fois ronde et carré, à la fois massive et élancée, à la fois lieu de recueillement symbolisé par le noir et lieu d’espoir symbolisé par la blancheur des murs s’élevant vers le ciel.
This chapel, situated in France in Ronchamp, a place of pilgrimage at the edge of a forest, was built by the architect Le Corbusier between 1950 and 1955. An icon of 20th century architecture, it revolutionised sacred style and overturned the canons of Christian design. The building is distinctive for its asymmetry and the use of materials – stone, wood, iron, enamel and glass – that communicate with one another. Light plays a fundamental role: entering directly through the windows, it cuts and shapes the space. By virtue of the close relationship that establishes itself between materials and light, the architectural essence of the Chapelle de Notre-Dame-du-Haut is close to the very essence of the photographic medium which is, ultimately, a construction of light. Sugimoto’s image succeeds in emphasising the contradictions of the chapel, which is both round and square, both sturdy and slender, both a place of contemplation symbolised by the darkness and a place of hope symbolised by the whiteness of the walls rising towards heaven.
This chapel, situated in France in Ronchamp, a place of pilgrimage at the edge of a forest, was built by the architect Le Corbusier between 1950 and 1955. An icon of 20th century architecture, it revolutionised sacred style and overturned the canons of Christian design. The building is distinctive for its asymmetry and the use of materials – stone, wood, iron, enamel and glass – that communicate with one another. Light plays a fundamental role: entering directly through the windows, it cuts and shapes the space. By virtue of the close relationship that establishes itself between materials and light, the architectural essence of the Chapelle de Notre-Dame-du-Haut is close to the very essence of the photographic medium which is, ultimately, a construction of light. Sugimoto’s image succeeds in emphasising the contradictions of the chapel, which is both round and square, both sturdy and slender, both a place of contemplation symbolised by the darkness and a place of hope symbolised by the whiteness of the walls rising towards heaven.