La Tourette, convent by Le Corbusier

[By Mário Linhares in La Tourette, France]

One of the best things about being teacher is the opportunity to travel with our students to places where we think they, and we, can improve ourselves as persons and sketchers.

Leaving from Lisbon, it’s very easy to go. Direct flight to Lyon, then a 30 min. travel in bus.

La Tourette convent was designed by Le Corbusier, the father of the Modern architecture. Once there, I was in the mood to sketch the most I can. Speed sketches during a walk through the building understanding the facades, the scale, the land…

In the next day, at 8:00 am, I participated in the morning prayers with the dominican community. What a beautiful way to start the day!

The convent has a huge impact in the landscape, that’s true, but once we stay there for a while we start to understand better the relationship with the nature and the man scale.

More sketches coming next…