How Do You Prepare For The Villa Savoy?
La Chaux-de-Fonds was nice to see but quaint. It's easy to see in Villa Schwob* an embryo of Le Corbusier's career: his ideas are already powerful and fresh. Leaving the comfort of the Jura mountains for a trip to Ronchamp was a bit of a shock, then. Not only is the journey a hefty endeavor, but the weather and general unreliability of French trains put further constraints on the visit. It took thirty minutes to walk up an icy hill to find the chapel. Even when reaching the top it was hard to make it out-- in the distance the mountain continues in built form... an expression of the site itself... a true inevitability.
That the afternoon granted a thick fog only served to enhance the distortion of the experience. There were no dramatic shots of the stained glass windows, no sharp shadows highlighting the striking forms. The Ronchamp that I saw was a soft blur somewhere between snow and sky and yet its presence so strong that the building never lets you forget that it's a masterpiece. This is why I'm at a bit of a loss when thinking about the prospect of seeing Villa Savoye tomorrow without the benefit of ethereal weather conditions. If these works are as stunning under the lens of jetlag and alpine fog, I can only wonder at what they'll be like when I'm fully awake.
*Andree Putnam's recent renovation was respectful as well. Nice to see such a building being treated with respect.
--Posted 01/22/04 02:20PM