Sainte Marie de La Tourette (La Tourette)

La Tourette

Located in Lyon, France, Sainte Marie de La Tourette (La Tourette) is a Dominican order priory and is a well developed example of brutalist architecture, modern architecture, and the international style. Completed in 1957, La Tourette is the last building that Le Corbusier designed in Europe. The building was designed to be a “self-contained world” for a large community of silent monks. This contained world had a hundred individual living cells for the monks, a communal library, a refectory, a rooftop cloister, a church, and classrooms. All five of Le Corbusier’s self identifiable key elements of architecture (the five points of architecture) are present in the modernist styling of the convent of La Tourette. The ground pilots are the most apparent to the buildings viewer since La Tourette has a very internally developed program. The building site was picked by Le Corbusier, he placed the building on a very downward sloped site to take advantage of the magnificent scenery. This made the load bearing structure very important to the overall design of the building, the building is supported by the ground pilotis and then they are further incorporated into the buildings facade on long strip windows. Le Corbusier used reinforced concrete to strengthen these elements in order to keep the convent looking practically weightless. Each aspect of the buildings internal program was designed to give the monks the peace and quiet they needed. Their cells contain the bare minimum of necessities. Every cell featured an outward facing balcony with communal areas below and the cloister running above. This rooftop exterior space is another of Le Corbusier’s identifiable characteristics. The classic green roof space creates “an architectural promenade” that relates back to the surrounding site and the context of Villa Savoye (another of Le Corbusier’s designs). Obviously when designing a building for monks, their place of worship becomes a very important aspect. Le Corbusier designs a long concrete corridor, promenade to the church entrance. Much like the buildings overall concept, the church is very internally based. The long corridor reveals a concrete box that has a very strong spiritual essence, that is given through selectively placed “light cannons” around the church that create five different kinds of openings to allow natural daylight into the church. What I find interesting in not only this design but all of Le Corbusier’s work is the contrast that he creates with material and landscape and yet is able to tie them back together through very thought out design strategy. For example, Le Corbusier really like to use reinforced concrete that gave his buildings a very masonry heavy type feeling. However he uses it in a way that he can directly relate programatic elements to the natural surrounding landscape; he uses concrete pilotis to utilize the views in La Tourette. The concrete allows him to terrace balconies so that residents are always just footsteps away from an outdoor area. He also takes strategic slits out of the concrete to take advantage of natural lighting. Le Corbusier is able to create different kinds of lighting with different kinds of design ideas. In La Tourette he is able to create natural lighting for communal and private living spaces by puncturing holes in his facade designs which is created by a combination of his freedom of facade concept and the incorporation of ground pilotis. He is also capable to using the slits in the concrete to give spaces a more sacred and spiritual feeling by studying sun patterns and limiting its presence through interior spaces. Using material and specific design strategies to intertwine man made and natural elements together and relate buildings back to its surrounding natural context, is something that should most definitely be used today. 

“AD Classics: Convent of La Tourette / Le Corbuiser.” ArchDaily, 15 Dec. 2010, www.archdaily.com/96824/ad-classics-convent-of-la-tourette-le-corbuiser.