Selected Bibliography Architecture - Form Space and Order | Page 257

APPR O ACH

Approach to Notre Dame Du Haut, Ronchamp,
France, 1950–55, Le Corbusier

Prior to actually passing into the interior of a building, we approach its entrance along a path. This is the
first phase of the circulation system, during which we are prepared to see, experience, and use the spaces
within a building.
The approach to a building and its entrance may vary in duration from a few paces through a compressed
space to a lengthy and circuitous route. It may be perpendicular to the primary facade of a building or be
oblique to it. The nature of the approach may contrast with what is confronted at its termination, or it
may be continued on into the building’s interior sequence of spaces, obscuring the distinction between
inside and outside.

242 / A R C H I TE C TU R E : F O R M , S PA C E , & O R D E R