Architecture and Art: La Ronchamp’s symbiosis as a ‘total work of art’

Abstract

Abstract: Le Corbusier developed his own unique poetics of architecture, perceived and understood as an art. In La Ronchamp, due to his complete creative freedom, he found a space to express his most poetic and artistic views. The research paper thus analysis the Chapel as a case study, in order to clarify Corbusier’s artistic and architectural vision, ideals and driving principles: drawing firstly from the architectural characteristics that define the space, secondly defining an integrated set of principles that conceptualize the architecture as an art, and lastly, an analysis of the particularities that compose the chapel as a ‘total work of art’, analyzing the union of the arts, both in concept, form and meaning, and in the overall context of Corbusier’s unqiue theory. Thus, the research paper aims to understand and uncover how the poetics and emotional condition lives through Ronchamp: the meaning it encases, the artistic values is sustains and the timeless ways it recreates. The overall study has both practical and theoretical applications and implications for architects and artists with an interest in the integration of art and architecture, as well as the conceptual connections between the arts; a vital issue in the contemporary world for the definition of a more meaningful and sustainable environment.  Keywords: Art, Architecture, Le Corbusier, Principles, Poetry, Emotion. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/LC2015.2015.612