William J. R. Curtis Week: The Sequel

The man, the myth, the legend: William J. R. Curtis

This was our last week with William J. R. Curtis, the architectural historian who has officially taught us more about architecture than any other class or lecture to date.  This was a sort of "coming of age" moment for all of us, and a "pilgrimage" of sorts: we visited no less than five examples of modern religious architecture, and we even spent a night sleeping in cells at a monastery.  To say the least, it was the most spiritual and relaxing week of the year.

The week began with a visit to the Chapel of the Deaconesses of Reuilly in Versailles, a lovely little church with sleek glass walls, a floating roof, and a basket-like wood chapel inside.  In the afternoon we visited the Grande Arche at La Défense, the modern business district of Paris, and gladly listened to William's positive and negative critiques of the building.  We briefly popped into the Church of La Défense to see yet another modern take on religious architecture.

A modern chapel in Versailles

La Défense

The next day featured a lecture on Spanish architecture, followed by a trip to St. François de Molitor in Paris.  It was a very pleasant church tucked into the urban Paris landscape that took old ideas (like the use of ovals in Baroque architecture) and modernized them.  We also got to hear a lot about some juicy architectural drama: apparently the architect Steven Holl is building something across the street from Macintosh's School of Art in Glascow (an old classic).  William, who happens to be an expert on Macintosh and who also happens to think Holl's work is overrated, has been causing a scene -- sending letters and publishing articles everywhere -- trying to stop Holl's design from being built.  He's actually making progress.  Stay tuned for an architectural showdown!

We spent Wednesday night packing and arrived at school very early Thursday morning, when the real adventure was about to begin.  After five hours on the bus, we got to stretch our legs at Bibracte.  This old town was the site of the oldest Celtic settlements in France; it was also the temporary home of Julius Caesar, who wrote about Bibracte in his book on the conquest of Gaul.  At the Museum of Celtic Civilization, Alejandro suggested that we explore the building and then eat lunch.  Naturally, we ignored this and sat right down on the hillside and ate while taking in the beautiful scenery.  It was actually a very nice first way to experience the building, which was very modern and fit in perfectly with the landscape.  The inside was really interesting -- it looked like a bunch of stone planes intersecting each other.  But after sketching and talking with William, we set off on the bus yet again.

How very Frank-Lloyd-Wright-esque...  A very horizontal building that
blends in nicely with the landscape

After driving through the beautiful French countryside, after nearly falling into a ditch, and after climbing up some scary steep hills, our bus finally arrived at La Tourette.  We were all incredibly excited: this was the monastery designed by Le Corbusier towards the end of his career, and we were going to sleep there that night.  It was a strange, spooky place: monks in white robes were drifting around, everything was cast in dark shadows, and according to Alex, the ghost of Corbu was still haunting visitors.  We enjoyed the sunset and a great view of the valley during dinner, and after exploring the nearly pitch-black chapel, some of us set out for a walk.  The surrounding farmlands were quiet and eerie, but it was warm and we had a perfect view of the stars.  We got to know two French and Japanese students, who were also visiting that weekend to absorb the awesomeness of Le Corbusier.

Sunset from the hill at La Tourette

Another strange Corbu masterpiece: the Monastery of La Tourette

The individual cells we slept in that night were amazing.  It was cozy and quiet, and I could sit on my balcony and see the stars.  After breakfast the next morning about half of the group went to church with the monks.  It was hard to understand their French chanting, but the music sounded really cool reverberating around Corbu's great concrete chapel.  We toured the building with William, sketched, ate lunch, and then spent the afternoon sunbathing and playing frisbee on the hillside.  It was another beautiful day, and I was sad to leave that strange concrete haven of peace and quiet.

Colorful "light cannons" inside the main chapel

View in the afternoon

On the road once more, we got to the small town of Besançon around dinner time.  Situated halfway between Dijon and Switzerland, it was a pretty town with a central river lined by lots of restaurants and pubs.  I had pizza and went to the Pub de l'Étoile afterwards -- and everyone that we met was super friendly.  (Especially the pub bartender, who was seriously identical to Mike Chang from Glee.)  It was cheap too!  What an escape from Paris!

In the morning we drove a short ways to our last destination: Le Corbusier's most famous church.  Called Notre Dame du Haut (Our Lady on High) at Ronchamp, I could not believe how much I loved this building.  Perched atop a big hill, it looked like a giant concrete boat that was just about to sail off into the sky.  The curved walls and the punched-in windows were very dramatic, and the dark interior was lit by amazing bursts of light.  It was also one of the most "sketch-able" buildings I've ever seen -- I just wanted to draw its fun curvy shapes all day long.

The twisting, intertwining, floating church at Ronchamp by Le Corbusier

The dynamic interior wall

William told us an interesting story while we were there: apparently, he once asked Frank Gehry what his favorite buildings were.  Gehry responded, "It all comes down to Chartres Cathedral and Ronchamp."  Japanese architect Tadao Ando has also drawn lots of inspiration from this church.  It's fascinating how two such completely different designers -- Gehry with his crazy curving structures and Ando with his minimalist buildings -- can both admire the same building like that.  For me, it was sad to leave that dayt.  The weather was perfect once more and we were all enjoying the scenery.  I've seen a lot of architecture this year, at times too much architecture... but I know that I will never forget the awesome feeling of standing in the presence of Le Corbusier at La Tourette and Ronchamp.