Found on a Beach on Long Island, 1946

The topic of the presentation at the library was: “Architecture in France”.

At one point during the presentation, the speaker told the audience how he felt about his decision, while on vacation in France, to drive to Ronchamp near the Swiss border.  The drive took many hours.  He is a fan of architecture, and he began to wonder if it was worth spending all this time on French highways just to see one building.

When he finally reached his destination, and saw Notre-Dame-du-Haut, he realized it really was worth driving all those hours.

The chapel, designed by Le Corbusier, was built in 1954, on a hilltop that has been sacred ever since the days of pagan sun worship.

The speaker then showed the audience a slide of the chapel, which caught my eye.  I remember seeing a photo of the chapel in Life Magazine when I was a kid.

Then the speaker said something that caught my ear: “The inspiration for the roof is said to be a crab shell that Le Corbusier found on a beach when he was visiting Long Island in 1946.  Le Corbusier liked the crab shell so much he kept it on his desk.”

Long Island!  I grew up there!!  Our family went to the beach about four times a week during the summer.

Now I was intrigued.  This shell was found three years after I was born. What kind of crab could have inspired that roof?  The crabs I knew from my Long Island childhood were horseshoe crabs --- definitely not an inspiring kind of crab.

When I got home after the library presentation, I enlisted the help of the Internet.  I found the email address of the archivist at Fondation Le Corbusier in Paris.  Her name was Isabelle, and I asked if she could email me a photo of the crab shell.

Isabelle did:

The photo pleased me. 

This crab shell was found on a Long Island beach.  I spent many happy childhood hours on Long Island beaches.  The photo has personally connected me to one of the finest works of twentieth century French architecture: Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp, in France, somewhere near the Swiss border.

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NOTE: Doug's best stories have been collected into a book: Puppy Out Of Breath.  Price = $11.  You can purchase a copy at  http://www.puppyoutofbreath.com