ARCHITECTURE and the ASCETIC: John K

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ARCHITECTURE AND THE ASCETIC: John K. Branner Traveling Fellowship Proposal SPACES OF MINIMAL CONSUMPTION 2012-2013

PREFACE

Humans have an unmistakable propensity for consumption.

It may be true that all over nature, mammals and rodents, insects, sea creatures, even bacteria and mi- crobes and so many things of this sort are virtually at the mercy of these overwhelming appetites and drives, and that all of life is somehow caught up in a stranglehold by the merciless laws of digestion.

But nowhere in this world are the repercussions of a raging, binging, irrepressible urge to consume so embarrassingly visible all around as they are in the vast, sprawling detritus left in the wake of human civilization. But then, perhaps, like any other species, or anything at all for that matter, when one looks close enough these sorts of sweeping statements about the nature of things—what is and is not the case, finally and for all time—these generalizations are seen for what they really are, and one risks washing the shadows of certainty away in a cold light of suspicion.

So, true enough, if one looks again more carefully at our most remarkable species, Homo sapiens, one will no doubt note the behavior of a certain contingent from within our ranks who, in fact, devote their whole lives to the very antithesis of wild consumption.

For thousands of years, most peculiar individuals have been observed in our midst, who for a multitude of reasons have willfully abandoned what would otherwise have been considered to be, by any decent person, perfectly normal lives, and instead chosen to rid themselves of every possession, wander off into isolation, and make desperate attempts to resist their most basic instinct—to consume.

Throughout the centuries, such as these have been referred to as ascetics, or monastics. Though indeed, in this day and age they are scarcely to be beheld.

ASCETICS AND ARCHITECTURE

We might ask: what thoughts do ascetics have for architecture?

Let us start with a consideration: are these ascetics still living within and around what we can safely define as architecture, not just some cave or ditch somewhere, some platform alone in the desert?

But precisely this notion brings up an interesting point. For example, think of the venerable anchorite Saint Simeon Stylites the Elder, who during the 4th century in the year of our Lord, discovered a lone pillar amidst the ruins of an ancient temple, ascended, and upon there lived for 37 years, venturing down only on the rarest occasion, so that he might escape civilization and focus his efforts more en- tirely and devoutly on his severe austerities. In his hagiography, the pillar was said to stand at 15 meters high, and from time to time, only for the necessary sustenance to stay alive, children from the nearby village would hurl small loaves of bread up into the air for him.

We can say that here we have, in distilled form, an architectural strategy devised by an ascetic in order to assist in achieving an increasingly minimal level of consumption.

HYPOTHESIS

We might ask then, what architectural strategies have been developed and deployed by ascetics with the goal of extending their resistance to burdensome appetites and drives. Or, we can hypothesize the following:

A varied and diverse collection of strategies for designing spaces of minimal consumption can be found embedded in the built environments of monasteries.

By the built environments of monasteries, we are plainly speaking of the building or ensemble of buildings in and around which a single ascetic (hermit) or group of ascetics (cenobites) live and work. Each religious tradition, and the different orders, sects and schools therein have their own thoughts for architecture, which often shift over time. Regarding our question then, the complexity and variation of monastic architecture suggests that a wealth of possible answers could exist.

To define consumption, let us think broadly, in the basic meaning of the word: the act of consuming resources. We can distinguish two types of consumption relating to architecture, what we will label direct and indirect. For on one hand, buildings consume resources directly, through processes of construction, performance, and maintenance; on the other hand, they indirectly facilitate our own habits of consumption by staging environments for eating, drinking, buying, manufacturing, transporting, and so on. Architects in the 21st Century have already been attacking, with vigor, the problem of how to minimize direct building consumption. Our aim is not to neglect these so-called ‘green’ strategies and technological solutions; however, more critical to the project at hand are the ways in which indirect modes of consumption can be affected by design. (Of course, we are not assuming that design can program human behavior. This would be absurd. But all actions occur in space, and the manipulation of space may serve to extend or diminish a voluntary action). These indirect modes go widely unacknowledged or perhaps even intentionally ignored by the discipline of architecture today, yet reside at the very heart of asceticism.

By now, it is increasingly clear that our habits of unmitigated consumption have taxed the earth’s resources to such an extent that our very survival as a species is threatened.

Despite many ominous signs on the horizon, we carry on, unfazed, with the systematic appropriation of limited minerals and fossil fuels; we proceed to harvest renewable resources at a rate that has far exceeded the earth’s ability to replenish them. As much as this dismal turn of events is the result of incomprehensible processes, long at work, and completely beyond our control, we are still implicated. We drive around; we eat meat; we have laptops, iPads, iPhones, and so on.

PROJECT

What we are proposing is to act as a sort of travelling librarian, gathering information on spaces of minimal consumption and their design. What strategies have been attempted? By who? For who? Where, and when? With what results?

The intent is that this questioning, this collecting and classifying will evolve into an original catalogue, one that describes design ideas, architectures, mundane events and minor figures from the marginal world of the ascetic.

The catalogue will define and diagram relevant architectural propositions occurring at each level of the monastic environment: from issues of site and landscape, to programmatic arrangements of the collective compound, compositions of the individual cell, to material considerations, tectonic details, ornamentation and so on. Accompanying the architectural description, a narrative element will record an account of the inhabitants of these spaces, how they live, their rhythms and routines, the objects they interact with day to day, their thoughts, ideas and beliefs.

The aim of this catalogue is to formulate a certain design vocabulary with the potential for applications beyond the walls of the monastery, at multiple scales of human society. The flexibility of this vocabulary will be tested through an architectural thesis.

The project of the thesis will be to explore the possibility for an architecture ofdegrowth *.

METHODOLOGY

We will begin pursuing our goals by dividing the task into four categories: preparation, immersion, collection, and catalogue. *Essentially, the idea or the germ of this thesis is that Preparation. The obvious first step prior to departure is to study our subject, asceticism, and among global society must scale back consumption, for if we use other things, its place in world religions, the distinctions between various orders, sects and schools, and basic logic, it is apparent that the earth is finite and its then, in what ways certain architetural styles and spatial compositions are meaningful for an ascetic resources limited and therefore unlimited consumption tradition. of these resources (i.e. growth) is not sustainable. Yet the fundamental and unquestioned ideology of industrial Immersion. This will give asceticism a face. Here our object is to get within the walls of the monastery society and global capitalism is that growth is the basic and observe ascetics in their element. Equally important is to experience the architecture, and as much goal of all human organization, and that more and more as possible, to do so by participating in the routines of ascetic life alongside the monks. growth is inherently good. This mania for growth also pervades the discipline of architecture. Collection. Information gathering will occur throughout preparation and immersion. This will primar- ily involve rigorous documentation and analysis of relevant architectural features through notes, com- Just as we may speak of an architecture of the capitalist mentaries, sketches, orthographic drawings, diagrams, photographs, and so on. era, so-called cathedrals of commerce and so on, perhaps we can conceptualize the opposite—an architecture that reveals the underlying ideologies of our growth society and casts doubt on their legitimacy. Catalogue. The collection of information compiled will be meticulously evaluated based on the following criteria: what is surprising, what is novel, what is far-fetched or otherwise intriguing, and of potential use for inspiring design?

Our intent is not to measure the success or failure of an architectural strategy, or to deal with quantifi- cations of resources consumed or not consumed. In a way, all we are interested in is ideas, in studying how an architectural proposition may materialize in diverse forms, and in observing how these mate- rializations operate in the world. There is a sense in which everything is worthy of remembering, the overlooked even more so. But nevertheless, we intend to distill our information down into something cleanly configured, graphically appealing, expansive, concise, absorbing, potent.

ITINERARY

There are innumerable monasteries in the world. Unfortunately, we can’ not see them all. The following criteria will help us begin selecting:

Density & Diversity. In order to amplify our efforts, we have sought out sites where multiple monastic enviroments exist in relatively close proximity. In some cases, a relatively small area—an island or a city for instance—have an overabundance of monastic architectures. We will gravitate toward these places, and examine as much as possible. Also important is to see a diversity of environments. The itinerary purposely aims at different religions, orders, sects, schools, varying architectural styles and dates of construction, particularly attempting to find the best representatives of a given group; equal eagerness will be directed toward the breathtaking and the banal.

Immersive Opportunity. Monasteries occasionally have guesthouses for visitors. This will be a boon to our research. The great majority of sites included in the itinerary offer room and board, and occasionally there is also opportunity to work alongside the monks. Implicit in this criterion is that the monastery is active, or in other words, that monks still populate it. We may peek around ruins now and then, or see what can be made of a decomissioned monastery, but the bulk of attention will be for the fully functioning monastic environment.

Sustainable Self-sufficiency.This has to do with how a monastery survives, particularly in a financial sense. For consumption is intimately tied to production. We will look for ascetics that work to sustain themselves by growing food or by specializing in a certian product for livelihood. We are particularly interested in monastic business models in which production and profit are regulated, even purpose- fully restrained, and the potential ramifications this could have for the greater human society.

The Itinerary will take us to four continents, ten countries, and potentially close to a hundred monasteries, temples, charterhouses, abbeys, sketes, hermitages, and so on. The total budget is estimated at $34,000. Five months, two weeks, and a few days, give or take, are slated for the road. These are broken up into six stages, or ‘Tours’, the details of which are described over the pages that follow. THE TORMENT OF ST. ANTHONY, by Michelangelo source: Kimball Art Museum

TOUR OF THE MEDITERRANEAN 02/15 - 03/11

Our first excursion, political unrest allowing, will commence in Cairo, to visit some of the oldest monasteries in the world. Around the 3rd Century AD, Christians began venturing off into the desert regions of northern Egypt, seeking solitude. These hermits, today remembered as ‘the Desert Fathers,’ of which St. Anthony the Great is considered the first and most famous, settled in and formed monastic communities, and there are still remnants of the architectural they left behind. The Monastery of St. Anthony the Great and the Monastery of St. Catherine are thought to be the longest continuously inhabited monasteries anywhere, still serving as home for Coptic Orthodox monks. We will begin our own search here at these two monasteries, as well as the Monastery of St. Macarius the Great. Across the Mediterranean, two enclaves of Eastern Orthodox monasticism merit our study as well. In central Greece, a complex of six monasteries perched atop natural sandstone pillars is collectively referred to as Metéora, which may be translated as ‘suspended rocks’ or ‘suspended in the air.’ And then to the west, an island in the Aegean Sea, known as Mount Athos, or ‘Holy Mountain,’ contains twenty active monasteries and twelve sketes, set in a breathtaking landscape. The density of monastic com- MONASTERY OF SAINT CATHERINE munities in these two locations offers a great wealth of research potential. source: Berthold Werner, Wikipeida 1 MONASTERY OF ST MACARIUS THE GREAT WADI EL NATRUN 31°17’47”N 30°28’47” E, elev 0 ft Coptic Orthodox www.stmacariusmonastery.org/eabout.htm 2 MONASTERY OF ST ANTHONY THE GREAT RED SEA MOUNTAINS 28°55’28”N 32°20’55”E, elev 1437 ft Coptic Orthodox www.stantonymonastery.com/ MONASTERY OF ST PAUL THE ANCHORITE 3 THE HOLY MONASTERY OF THE GOD-TRODDEN MOUNT SINAI, MONASTERY OF ST CATHERINE SINAI PENINSULA 28°33’21”N 33°258’44”E, elev 5347 ft Coptic Orthodox www.sinaimonastery.com/ METEORA HOLY MONASTERY OF ROUSANOU 4 source: James Stanfield, National Geographic PLAIN OF THESSALY 39°42’N 21°37’ E, elev 1,027 ft Eastern Orthodox www.meteora-greece.com/ THE HOLY MONASTERY OF GREAT METEORON THE HOLY MONASTERY OF VARLAM THE HOLY MONASTERY OF ROUSANOU THE HOLY MONASTERY OF ST. NICHOLAS ANAPAUSAS THE HOLY MONASTERY OF ST. STEPHEN THE MONASTERY OF THE HOLY TRINITY 5 MOUNT ATHOS MACEDONIA 40°09’26”N 24°19’35”E, elev 6,600 ft Eastern Orthodox www.inathos.gr/ GREAT LAVRA MONASTERY VATOPEDI MONASTERY IVIRON MONASTERY HELANDARIOU MONASTERY DIONYSIOU MONASTERY SIMONOS PETRAS MONASTERY source: Travis Dove, National Geographic KOUTLOUMOUSIOU MONASTERY PANTOKRATOROS MONASTERY XIROPOTAMOU MONASTERY ZOGRAFOU MONASTERY DOCHIARIOU MONASTERY KARAKALOU MONASTERY FILOTHEOU MONASTERY SIMONOS PETRAS MONASTERY AGIOU PAVLOU MONASTERY STAVRONIKITA MONASTERY XENOPHONTOS MONASTERY OSIOU GRIGORIOU MONASTERY ESPHIGMENOU MONASTERY AGIOU PANTELEIMONOS MONASTERY KONSTAMONITOU MONASTERY

LOGISTICS SFO to CAI = $1,300 EGYPT GREECE CAI to ATH = $300 February 15-25 February 25- March 11 ATH to SKG gen. expns = $1,200 gen. expns = $2,000 SKG to ATH = $200 add’l trnsp = $200 add’l trnsp = $100 ATH to SFO = $1,200 IKONE PANTOKRATER source: Irmgard, Wikipedia $1,400 $2,100 $3,000 total = $6,500 DREPUNG, monks in the Great Assembly Hall source: Dennis Jarvis, Wikipedia

DREPUNG MONASTERY source: Philipp Roelli, Wikipedia

source: velorution, http://www.velorution.biz/shop/champions-of-lalpe-dhuez/

TOUR OF TIBET 04/01 - 04/10

Drepung, Ganden Namgyal Ling, and Sera are known as “the Great Three” monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism, each belonging to the Gelug sect. They are located in the mountains outside of Lhasa and have been in existence since early in the 13th Century. Drepung, the largest of the three, was said to have housed 10,000 monks at the height of its operation; today, it houses 300 active monks. In the case of all three monastic complexes, many ancient structures are still intact, though many more suffered destruction upon arrival of the Chinese in 1951. The Great Three, which also serve as monastic univer- sities now operate under the watchful eye Chinese security services. Innumerable hermitages, in varying degree of upkeep or ruin, populate remote areas of the surrounding hills and mountains. Here it is also the density of monastic environments that attracts us. And at the same time the remoteness of this location and culture, the high altitude, the mountanous terrain, all give the architecture a unique flavor. YUMBU LAKHANG The guesthouses at Sera monastery will serve as a base from which to make investigative excursions. source: Fanghong, Wikipedia 1 DREPUNG GAMBO UTSE MOUNTAIN 29°40’35”N 91°2’51”E, elev 18,441 ft Gelug Sect 2 SERA LHASA 29°41’53”N 91°08’00”E, elev 12,194 ft Gelug Sect http://www.serajeymonastery.org/home.aspx PABONGKHA HERMITAGE DRAKRI HERMITAGE JOKPO HERMITAGE KEUTSANG HERMITAGE KEUTSANG EAST HERMITAGE KEUTSANG WEST HERMITAGE KHARDO HERMITAGE SERA MONASTERY PANGLUNG HERMITAGE source: Antoine Taveneaux, Wikipedia PURBUCHOK HERMITAGE RAKHADRAK HERMITAGE SERA CHÖDING HERMITAGE SERA GÖNPASAR HERMITAGE SERA UTSÉ HERMITAGE TAKTEN HERMITAGE TRASHI CHÖLING HERMITAGE 3 GANDEN NAMGYELING WANGBUR MOUNTAIN 29°45’28”N 91°28’31”E, elev 13,407 ft Gelug Sect

YUMBU LAKHANG PURBUCHOK HERMITAGE 4 source: Jan Reurink, Flickr YARLANG VALLEY 29°08’32”N 91°48’09”E, elev 12,560 ft Gelukpa Sect

RAKHADRAK HERMITAGE source: Jan Reurink, Flickr

GANDEN MONASTERY source: Philipp Roelli, Wikipedia TOUR OF JAPAN 04/10 - 04/25

Buddhist temples do not function in the same manner as a church in Christianity, where the primary purpose is to serve as a gathering place for worshippers. Rather, the Buddhist temple complex first serves as a house for preserving sacred objects. Often, worshippers are not permitted to enter the most important buildings, where statues and relics are guarded, or they are only permitted on special occa- KIYOMIZU-DERA, Monk sions. If there are large gatherings, like those seen in Christianity, they typically take place in outdoor source: oildstreet, Wikipedia courts interspersed between the many buildings of the temple complex, one of which is very often a residence for monks. Essentially, the term ‘temple’ is synonomous with ‘monastery’ in Buddhism.

Kyoto is notorious for it’s temples. One of the only cities to have evaded both firebombing and atomic attack during World War II, in Kyoto, several centuries of historic architecture are now still intact, including a multitude of Buddhist Temples. Here we will explore built environments from, among others, the Zen school, the Jodo Shinshu school, the Shingon school, the Tendai school, the Omuru school, the Myoshinji, school and so on.

HŌKOKU-JI (BAMBOO TEMPLE) source: oildstreet, Wikipedia 1 KYOTO KYOTO PREFECTURE, CENTRAL HONSHU 35°0’42”N 135°46’6”E, elev 18,441 ft KYŌŌGOKOKU-JI KIYOMIZU-DERA ENRYAKU-JI DAIGO-JI NINNA-JI BYŌDŌ-IN KŌZAN-JI SAIHŌ-JI (MOSS TEMPLE) TENRYŪ-JI ROKUON-JI (TEMPLE OF THE GOLDEN PAVILION) JISHŌ-JI (TEMPLE OF THE SILVER PAVILION) KIYOMIZU-DERA RYŌAN-JI (TEMPLE OF THE PEACEFUL DRAGON) source: oildstreet, Wikipedia NISHI HONGAN-JI 2 TOKYO TOKYO PREFECTURE, SOUTHEAST HONSHU 35°41’40”N 139°41’20”E, elev 0 ft KAN’EI-JI SENGAKU-JI SENSŌ-JI SHŌFUKU-JI HŌKOKU-JI

ENRYAKU-JI, Konpon Chū-dō source: 663highland, Wikipedia

NINNA-JI, Golden Hall source: 663highland, Wikipedia

RYŌAN-JI, Zen Garden source: Cquest, Wikipedia

LOGISTICS SFO to TYO TIBET JAPAN TYO to SFO = $1,200 April 1-10 April 10-25 TYO to PEK gen. expns = $1,200 gen. expns = $2,100 PEK to TYO = $800 add’l trnsp = $200 add’l trnsp = $500 PEK to LXA SAIHŌ-JI (MOSS TEMPLE) LXA to PEK = $1,000 source: Ivanoff, Wikipedia $1,400 $2,600 $3,000 total = $7,000 MONTECASSINO source: Radomil Binek, Wikipedia

CARTHUSIAN MONASTERY, typical plan source: Viollet le Duc (1856). Dictionnaire raisonné de l’architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle

TOUR OF THE CONTINENT 06/01 - 08/15

This phase of our research will focus on monastic architectures from Catholicism. Beginning in Italy, the first stop will be the Abbey of Monte Cassino, home of St. Benedict of Nursia who founded the Benedictine Order. From here we will begin our trek northward, stopping at the Abbey of Vallombrosa, motherhouse of the Vallombrosan Order, and then to the Florence Charterhouse, an inspiration to a young Le Corbusier. SANTA CATERINA DEL SASSO source: Idéfix, Wikipedia Next, into France, stops will include La Grande Chartreuse, home of the Carthusian Order, and Sainte Marie de La Tourette of the Dominican order, famously designed by Le Corbusier. Then we will survey several monasteries dating from the Middle Ages constructed by the Cistercians, an order renowned for their technological inventiveness and their simple, rational architectural constructions of stone and light, devoid of superfluous ornamentation. Examples include Citeaux, Fontenay, Clairvaux, and Pontigny.

The course will continue northward, into Belgium. Here, monasteries of the Trappists, a sect of the Cistercian Order, will be carefully examined, including La Grande Trappe, Abbaye Notre-Dame de Scourmont, Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy de Rochefort, and Abbaye de Saint Sixtus.

Many of these monastic orders, particularly the Cistercians and Trappists, have a high value for work. The monastery therefore will often double as a farm, factory, brewery or some other site of production. The goods produced are often quite famous worldwide, as in the case of Trappist ales. Particular LA GRANDE CHARTREUSE attention will be given to patterns of production and how they relate to consumption both inside and source: Floriel, Wikipedia outsite the monastery. 1 MONTECASSINO SOUTHERN LAZIO 41°29’24”N 13°48’50”E, elev 1,600 ft Benedictine Order www.montecassino.it/ 2 ABBAZIA DI SANT’ANTIMO SIENA 43°59’58”N 11°30’56”E, elev 1,048 ft Benedictine Order www.antimo.it/ 3 ABBAZIA DI VALLOMBROSA REGELLO 43°43’55”N 11°33’28”E, elev 3,179 ft Vallumbrosan Order (secularized) www.monaci.org/ 4 CERTOSA DI VAL D’EMA GALLUZO 43°43’53”N 11°13’17”E, elev 336 ft LA TOURETTE, Cell Carthusian Order www.cistercensi.info/certosadifirenze/ source: Peter Buchanan, m.architectural-review.com 5 EREMO DI SANTA CATERINA DEL SASSO LAKE MAGGIORE 45°52’31”N 8°35’57”E, elev 830 ft Dominican Order www.santacaterinadelsasso.com/en 6 LA GRANDE CHARTREUSE SAINT-PIERE-DE-CHARTREUSE 45°21’48”N 5°47’37”E, elev 2,355 ft Carthusian Order www.chartreux.org/ 7 SAINTE MARIE DE LA TOURETTE EVEAUX 45°49’10”N 04°37’21”E, elev 1,600 ft Dominican Order www.couventdelatourette.fr/ 8 ABBAYE D’ACEY VITEUX 47°15’42”N 05°39’25”E, elev 680 ft Cistercian Order acey.eglisejura.com/ ABBAYE D’ACEY source: Arnaud25, Wikipedia 9 ABBAYE DE FONTENAY MARMAGNE 47°38’22”N 04°23’20”E, elev 789 ft Cistercian Order (secularized) www.citeaux-abbaye.com/ 10 ABBAYE DE PONTIGNY SENS 47°54’34”N 3°42’52”E, elev 350 ft Cistercian Order www.abbayedefontenay.com/ 11 ABBAYE DE CLAIRVAUX DIJON 47°07’31”N 05°05’36”E, elev 698 ft Cistercian Order abbayedeclairvaux.com/ 12 LA GRANDE TRAPPE ORN 48°38’14”N 00°34’24”E, elev 704 ft Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, Trappists www.latrappe.fr/ MONT-SAINT-MICHEL 13 ABBAYE DU MONT-SAINT-MICHEL source: David Iliff, Wikipedia NORMANDY 48°38’10”N 01°30’41”E, elev 0 ft Benedictine Order www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/ 14 ABBAYE NOTRE-DAME DU BEC NORMANDY 49°13’38”N 00°43’28”E, elev 1662 ft Benedictine Order www.abbayedubec.com/ 15 ABBAYE NOTRE-DAME D’ORVAL GAUME 49°38’23”N 05°20’56”E, elev 711 ft Cistercian Order www.orval.be/ 16 ABBAYE NOTRE-DAME DE SCOURMONT CHIMAY 48°58’56”N 4°20’10”E, elev 100 ft ROCHEFORT ABBEY, Monk brewing Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, Trappists www.scourmont.be/ source: Peter Cooper, the Guardian 17 ABBAYE NOTRE-DAME DE SAINT-REMY DE ROCHE- FORT WALLONIA 50°10’41”N 5°13’13”E, elev 728 ft Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, Trappists www.abbaye-rochefort.be/ 18 ABBAYE DE SAINT-SIXTUS WESTVLETEREN 50°53’45”N 2°43’17”E, elev 53 ft Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, Trappists www.sintsixtus.be/

WESTVLETEREN ABBEY LOGISTICS (see below) source: Westvleteren Abbey, Wikipedia OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE source: Our Lady of Guadalupe, www.trappistabbey.org

OUR LADY OF CONSOLATION source: Our Lady of Consolation, www.brigittine.org/

TOUR OF CALIFORNIA 09/01 - 09/25

This leg of our research will give a glance at monasticism of a local variety. The architecture is far less old than most of the structures to be studied in the preceding research. Many of the orders here have roots in Europe and mimic styles to be found there. But they are generally far more modest and ordi- nary buildings. This is part pf what draws us to them. Also, they may offer an even greater degree of immersive opportunity, as there will be no language barriers, and the culture will be somewhat more familiar. Here, we hope to discuss in detail our previous travels and the ideas generated there. And perhaps the ascetics of California will offer still more strategies for the designing spaces of minimal MOUNT ANGEL ABBEY, Alvar Aalto’s addition consumption. source: Matt Niebuhr. Flickr 1 OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE TRAPPIST ABBEY CARLTON 45°16’58”N 123°05’27”E, elev 262 ft Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, Trappists www.trappistabbey.org/ 2 PRIORY OF OUR LADY OF CONSOLATION AMITY 45°05’24”N 123°16’04”E, elev 166 ft Brigittine Order www.brigittine.org/ 3 MOUNT ANGEL ABBEY ST. BENEDICT 45°03’27”N 122°46’28”E, elev 482 ft Benedictine Order www.mountangelabbey.org/ SHASTA ABBEY 4 SHASTA ABBEY MOUNT SHASTA 41°21’01”N 122°21’13”E, elev 3,932 ft source: Shasta Abbey, www.shastaabbey.org/ Soto Zen Tradition www.shastaabbey.org/ 5 MONASTERY OF SAINT JOHN OF SAN FRANCISCO MANTON 40°25’58”N 121°48’39”E, elev 3,078 ft Orthodox Church in America (OCA) www.monasteryofstjohn.org/ 6 ABBEY OF NEW CLAIRVAUX VINA 39°56’17”N 122°03’48”E, elev 207 ft Cistercian Order www.newclairvaux.org/ 7 NEW CAMALDOLI HERMITAGE BIG SUR 36°16’07”N 121°48’14”E, elev 306 ft Camaldolese Order www.contemplation.com/ 8 SAINT ANDREW’S ABBEY VALYERMO 34°27’24”N 117°52’07”E, elev 3,613 ft Benedictine Order www.saintandrewsabbey.com/ 9 MISSION SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO ORANGE COUNTY 33°30’08”N 117°39’44”E, elev 124 ft Franciscan Order http://www.missionsjc.com/ MONASTERY OF SAINT JOHN 10PRINCE OF PEACE ABBEY source: Monastery of St. John, www.monasteryofstjohn.org/ OCEANSIDE 33°13’13”N 117°21’50”E, elev 258 ft Benedictine Order princeofpeaceabbey.org/

MONASTERY OF NEW CLAIRVAUX source: Monastery of New Clairvaux, www.newclairvaux.org/

LOGISTICS SFO to LON THE CONTINENT LON to SFO = $1,700 June 1-August 15 LON to ROM = $300 gen. expns = $11,000 add’l trnsp = $1,000 SAINT ANDREW’S ABBEY source: Saint Andrew’s Abbey, www.saintandrewsabbey.com/ $12,000 $2,000 total = $14,000

SFO to PDX = $300 CALIFORNIA SAN to SFO = $200 September 1-25 gen. expns = $3,450 add’l trnsp = $50

$3,500 $500 total = $4,000 ABBAYE VAL NOTRE-DAME source: Abbaye Val Notre-Dame, www.abbayevalnotredame.ca/

ABBAYE VAL NOTRE-DAME source: Abbaye Val Notre-Dame, www.abbayevalnotredame.ca/

TOUR OF MONTRÉAL 11/01 - 11/15

The final stage of travel will visit two Cistercian monasteries in Canada. Abbaye Val Notre-Dame De will give us a chance to study a more contemporary monastic construction. The thought is that it will also serve as a quiet atmosphere in which to gather the accumulated research and make steps toward producing the catalogue of monastic spaces of minimal consumption.

1 ABBAYE VAL NOTRE-DAME DE SAINT-JEAN-DE-MATHA QUEBEC 46°11’27”N 73°30’49”W, elev 504 ft Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, Trappists www.abbayevalnotredame.ca/ 2 PRIORY OF OUR LADY OF CONSOLATION QUEBEC 45°27’15”N 73°02’58”E, elev 415 ft Cistercian www.abbayederougemont.org/

LOGISTICS SFO to YUL MONTRÉAL YUL to SFO = $1,000 November 1-15 gen. expns = $1,400 ABBAYE VAL NOTRE-DAME add’l trnsp = $100 source: Abbaye Val Notre-Dame, www.abbayevalnotredame.ca/ $1,500 $1,000 total = $2,500