One of the highlights of our trip was our stay at Le Corbusier's La Tourette, a Brutalist monastery outside of Lyon. Designed in 1953 and finished in 1960, this is reported to be Corbu's final building for Europe (something I question given that he lived until 1965). The only request of Corbusier was to create "a silent dwelling for one hundred bodies and one hundred hearts."
Corbusier chose the site and hung the building off the hill, using his trademark pilotis to carry the building into the valley. Corbu used his modular for the dimensions of the individual rooms: 5.92 meters in length, 1.83 meters in height, and 1.83 meters in width with father getting 2.26 meters in width.
The approach is abstract and sculptural with an absence of windows barring jutting light cannons and thin, horizontal gaps. The facade is almost geologic with bending beds of concrete and rhythmic seams. The approach offers a gap into between the massive courtyard walls and a human-scaled concrete cubist arch. Once through the arch, you check in at the main office, an organic structure that curves and catches your eye.
Entry code in hand, we entered the residential wing, ascended the stairs, and matched down long creen hallways with long slot windows propped with perpendicular hunks of concrete. We each had out own "cell," which is how the locals refer to them, and for good reason: each cell is made for one person. Inside is a sink, a small closet, and narrow bed, a desk, and a small patio with a box for a patron saint (ours being Sanpellegrino).
Temps were in the high 90s when we arrived, so the place, without air-conditioning, was quite warm, but a cold front was thankfully on the way. We hiked the grounds a wee bit and explored the interior before joining the brothers for a pre-dinner prayer service with hymns resonating off the walls of the enormous chapel. The front passed through at the same time, the thunder also resonating in the space. After dinner (and after the rains), I wandered the grounds a bit to catch the last but of daylight and the orange glow of the bulbs.
The next morning, after breakfast, we wished we had planned to stay for two nights instead of the one. It was truly magical to stay in the structure and savor the architectural moments.
Go here if you would like to stay: https://www.couventdelatourette.fr/book-your-visit.html
