MArch | Fifth Year | Material Practices (Individual + Group)

Couvent Sainte Marie de La Tourette was designed by Le Corbusier in collaboration with composer Iannis Xenakis and completed in 1961. Corbusier was entrusted to design the convent for the education and residence of the monks from the Dominican Order. Iannis Xenakis found significant influence from Le Corbusier’s mathematical formulae ‘Le Modulor’, and interrogated this in a musical composition. Xenakis’ composition is apparent within the inherent architectural language of the building, with his notation being incorporated as a motif into areas of spiritual and processional promenance. His modernist design features typically linear, open-plan elements constructed using in-situ concrete that are contrasted by organic forms that highlight spaces of spiritual importance. One such space identified as the focus of this case study was the Crypt, located within the main Chapel. As a group, the Crypt was modelled as a key interior space, using an existing photograph.