Art: Chapel in Concrete

At the end of World War II, the villagers of Ronchamp (pop. 1,900), in France's Vosges foothills, faced an old. familiar problem: how to rebuild the chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Haut atop a nearby hill called Haul Lieu. Hallowed since pagan days, Haut Lieu lies near the invasion route through the Belfort Gap, and in war it makes a prime military observation post. Over the centuries the chapel has been repeatedly destroyed; each time it has been faithfully rebuilt by loyal parishioners.

After liberating French troops knocked out the church again in 1944, a local...