Rediscovering Le Corbusier’s Radical Vision at La Tourette

by Sean Hill on May 27, 2024

As an architect passionate about innovative and sustainable design, visiting Le Corbusier’s iconic Couvent de La Tourette in Eveux-sur-Arbresle, France was a true pilgrimage. Completed in 1960, this Dominican Order priory is considered one of the most important works of modernist architecture, embodying Le Corbusier’s radical approach to light, form, and the relationship between the built environment and nature.

RISE-Design-Studio-La-Tourette-Sustainable-Architecture-01 — _{Guest room with views towards the courtyard, concrete panels painted primary colours inspired by Piet Mondrian}

Walking through the concrete corridors and communal spaces of La Tourette is a sensory experience like no other. Le Corbusier masterfully sculpts light, casting dramatic shadows and framing views of the surrounding landscape through carefully placed windows of varying sizes and configurations. The rough-hewn béton brut concrete, left exposed inside and out, lends the building a raw, brutalist quality while also honestly expressing its primary construction material.

Rediscovering Le Corbusier's Radical Vision at La Tourette seen from the outside — _{Pilgrimage with fellow Le Corbusier enthusiasts} _{from Manchester School of Architecture}

Yet for all its austerity, La Tourette also achieves moments of profound beauty and spirituality. The undulating light cannons that pierce the chapel’s roof create an ethereal play of light that evolves over the course of the day. Brightly coloured panels and playfully asymmetric windows punctuate the monastic regularity of the residential cells. And everywhere, there is a powerful connection to nature, with rooms oriented to offer unique views of the sky and landscape.

Rediscovering Le Corbusier's Radical Vision at La Tourette with a view of the loggia (balconies) — _{Loggias crowning the building provide passive cooling and solar control, acting as brise-soleil}

In some ways, La Tourette was ahead of its time in terms of sustainable design strategies. The brise-soleil – designed as loggias topping the building, one for each monk’s cell – provide passive cooling and solar control, reducing energy loads. Operable vertical slot windows, covered by metal mosquito netting and furnished with a pivoting shutter, and the building’s east-west orientation maximise natural ventilation. The utilisation of locally sourced and inexpensive construction materials, such as concrete and wood, helps maintain the simplicity, cleanliness, and reflective nature of the monastic lifestyle within the spaces.

Rediscovering Le Corbusier's Radical Vision at La Tourette view of the internal light on the stairs — _{Lighting on the threads of the stair}

However, by today’s standards, the building’s heavy use of concrete – one of the most energy-intensive and polluting building materials – would likely be minimised in favour of greener alternatives. Large single glazed openings create significant heat losses. And the lack of insulation would not meet contemporary energy efficiency standards. La Tourette is very much a product of its era, designed before climate change and energy conservation became urgent global priorities.

Rediscovering Le Corbusier's Radical Vision at La Tourette view of the Chapter Room — _{The Chapter Room with views towards the rolling hills and neighbouring forests}

Imagining if Le Corbusier had designed this today, with advanced technologies and a greater understanding of each material’s embodied carbon and how to keep the heat in in the winter and the solar gains out in the summer. Concrete was chosen out of necessity because it was the lowest cost material at the time and could have been partially replaced with locally sourced Limestone. When utilised in its raw, massive form, stone serves as a load-bearing material with excellent thermal mass properties, absorbing and releasing surplus humidity, without degrading, contributing to the creation of timeless architecture. This opens up the debate about how adding another material to the building’s palette would significantly reduce its visual coherence and simplicity.

Rediscovering Le Corbusier's Radical Vision at La Tourette view of the refectory — _{Le Corbusier designed strip lighting in the Refectory that illuminates the ceiling with no direct view of the light source}

Yet there is still so much to learn from Le Corbusier’s vision. La Tourette reminds us that even the humblest materials can be elevated through thoughtful, artful design. It teaches us to be intentional about how we shape light and create visual connections to nature. Most of all, it challenges us to question conventions and imagine new ways of building and living.

Rediscovering Le Corbusier's Radical Vision at La Tourette internal view of the Church — _{Le Corbusier deploys a whole range of devices to control natural light, sculpting space and volumes}

Reflecting on my visit, very inspired to carry forward Le Corbusier’s spirit of innovation in our work at RISE, continually seeking opportunities to design in harmony with nature and push the boundaries of what sustainable architecture can be. For as La Tourette so powerfully demonstrates, the role of the architect is not just to build, but to craft environments that enlighten the mind, uplift the spirit, and point the way to a better future.