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RitualSpace: An UrbanMonastery by CraigEric Witte

Bachelorof ScienceIn CivilEngineering, SaintMartin's College, Lacey, Washington, 1982.

Submittedto the Departmentof Architecturein partial fulfillment of the requirementsof the degreeMaster of Architectureat the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology,

June1990.

Slanatureof Authon. Craig E.Wite Departmentof Architecture May11, 1990

Certiedbv FernandoDomeyko Lecturer ThesisSupervisor

BillHubbard Jr. AssociateProfessor of Architecture ChairmanDepartmental Committeefor Graduate Students

c CraigE. Witte 1990. All Rights Reserved. S AC-H US E-T1S INSiUTE Theauthor hereby grants to M.I.T.permission to reproduceand to OF-1ECHN"nl fGY distributepublicly copies of this thesisdocument in wholeor in part. JUN0 8 1990

us1RARI aotch RITUALSPACE: AN URBANMONASTERY -here is to design both the monasticspace and its regionsof encounterwith the Urban ByCraig Witte . Thus,in addition to the "cloistered" monasterythere isa smallchurch, aprimary Submitted to the Department of schoolfor gradesK-3, a hosteland a public Architecture on May 11, 1990 in partial swimmingpool. fulfillmentof the requirementsfor the degree of Masterof Architecture. The book is subdividedinto two parts. The firstpart deals brieflywith monasticismand ABSTRACT ritual, the precedent of monasterytypes, and concludes with a commentary on Le Thisthesis addresses the problemof how to Corbusiersmonastery for the Dominicansat design an internally consistentworld of La Tourette. The second part is the design religious contemplation and ritual as project which addressesurban and site insulatedfrom an essentiallysecular, highly issuesin a diagramaticform. Thisis followed urban context. The project is a Christian by cursoryoutline of the program and the monastery in Boston'sSouth End loosely building's collective construction systems. based upon the order of Benedict. The book finisheswith descriptionsof the Monastic life, is by nature a utopian place as five distinct elements. Symbolic condition. Urbanlife, in total, is considered and physical content is conveyed either Anti-utopian,potentially destructive to the througha narrativeframework or as a virtual contemplative religious existence. The listingof the architecturalelements and their Monasteryhas also traditionally existed as a essentialcharacteristics. model community to the larger urban society. To be an effective exemplarand Advisor:Fernando Domeyko a member of the larger community, the Title:Lecturer. monasterymust allow the city accessto its spiritualand physicalresources. The goal 3 I would liketo thankthe many who have helped me In this endeavorof selfand professionaldiscovery:

Elanefor her love, supportand penetratingsense of organization and timing.

Fernandofor the depth and power of hiscriticism.

FatherGeorge, Father Urban and FatherSean and the monksof St MartinsAbbey for their insight into the mystery.

TomChastain and EricDluhosch: teachersof uncommonability.

Peter,Daniel, John, Rich,Laura, Rob, Shira,Rick, and Al,who helped me when I needed it most.

To MIT,I am foreverin itsdebt.

Theentire thesis crew and especially my good friend _oe.

Myfamily. 5 TitlePa g e ...... -.....---... --- 1

Ab stra ct ...... 2

Acknowledgements...... 4

Contents...... 6

Introduction...... 20

Monasticismand MonasteryPrecedent ...... 26

TheProject: ...... 42

UrbanContext: Introductionand Responce Programand Construction TheMonastery TheChurch ThePool TheSchool TheHostel

Bibliography...... -- 142 7 Order is, at one and the same time, that whichis given in thingsas theirinner law, the hidden network that determinesthe way they confrontone another, and also that which has no exsistenceexcept in the grid created by a glance, an examination, a language; and it is only in the blank spacesof thisgrid that ordermanifests itselfin depth as though already there, waiting in silencefor the momentof its expression.

MichelFoucault. 9 The game and the creation of the 10 game must be seen as one phenomenon, and indeed, it is subjectivelyplausible to say that the sequenceis playable only so long as it retains some elements of the creative and unexpected. If the sequence is totally known then it is ritual. If play is the establishmentand exploration of relationship then greeting and ritual are the affirmation of relationship.

GregoryBateson. 11 What the primitive man does has been done before, his life is the ceasless repetition of paradigmatic gesturesinitiated by othersand given meaning,reality, solely to the extent to which those gestures repeat a primordial act. An object or an act becomesreal onlyinsofar as it imitates or repeats an archtype. Not only does ritual reproduce the originalact but in the repetitionand participationit also takes place at the same mythical, primordial moment. All sacrifices, all acts of ritual are thus coincident with the mythicalinstant of the innitialact. Throughthis parodox of rite profane time and duration are suspended. Historyitself is abolished and the celebrant is transportedinto the mythical time and space of the originalevent.

Mircea Eliade. 13 The brain has special mechanismsfor coding space in terms of time. For children the present is highly subjective, they cannot coordinate the dual natureof the present,which is both an objective reference point for the past and the future and a category of experience in its own right. They tend to confuse the boundaries between past, present and future. Throughplay they learn to mark these boundariesand seperate their idea of the present from experience of the present. This is called decenteringand it colls for on ability to understand various time relationshipsfrom different points of viewIn time and space.

Jeremy Cambell. 15 All really inhabited space bears the notion of home.

A house constitutesa body of images that give mankindproofs or illusionsof stability....To bring order to these images I believe we must consider two principal themes, !) A house is imagined as a vertical being. It rises upward and descendsdownward. It appeals to our consciousness of verticallity.2) A houseis imaginedas a concentrated being. It appeals to our consciousnessof centrolity.

GastonBachelard. 17 The monasteries gave the human 18 enterprisethe regular collective beat and rythm of the machine; for the clock is not merely a means of keeping track of the cannonicalhours, but of synchronizingthe acts of men.

LewisMumford. 19 I20

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-AL; ROt. -T Scy~i 21 How to address an issue as profane timethrough the creation complex and mysteriousas ritual of play, then a seeks to and then design a space to abolishprofane time andprogress effectively support Its practice? towardsmythical time throughthe Hereinis, at least,on articulationof repetitionof ritual. the problemand an attempt at a solution. Thisdesign is an attempt The knowledge and experience to explore the field of human of our mortality, that is, our experience, call on its essence developmentin the physicalworld and house it in physical form. A of common experience, marks modest goal, no less.Guided by the perceptual boundaries of the thoughts of Bateson, Eliade profane and mythicaltime. There and the others adumbrated is a vague awareness of this above, I choose the dualities of boundarythat eludesinvestigative ritual and play, the known and understanding. And yet, this unknown,and time and mortality awareness informs, perhaps as the designs generating directs, the apprehension of metaphysic. meaning. It is strange.Arising from the mist the question hovers,can Theoccurance of rite and play in and how do we knowthat which is the every day servesto maintain unknowable: God, ourselves or an understandingof the unknown our place in the schemeof things? and unknown as complimentary How is meaning and place states of mind. Those states of restored to the body of the mind are accompanied by individual and collective soul? comparablestates of time space. One answermay lie in the abilityto If a young child livesin a mythical unaskthe questionsthat choke the time and progresses towards faith. Withoutfaith thereis no living rite or play, no creation or positon In space and time. establishmentof the potentially Throughthe secureinhabitation of stable new. Perhapsrite and play thiscenter, the individualis able to are the agentsto bond the known focus on the reference bef re and the unknownas a singleunit him. The reference is a "moble and unask the question of thresholdbetween innerond ou er Oedipus. experience allowing the contemplatorto transferhis be g My project needsto recognizethis through exstension"to anot er presence and discern its state of mind. The fra e componentsin order to designits embodies the physical realization. I will conclude that to boundariesof the place. It se es make a space conducive to ritual to Isolatethe contemplativefo m it must approximateas closely as external intrusions and offers a possible the continual multidimensionalplace of pea e maintenance of the known and serenity. The notion of Interspersedand balanced with threshold is crucial for the unknown. Here there are understandingthis project concernswith the actual qualities of contemplativeand ritualspace. A threshold is a bound ry between , physi al Julie Meservyhas observedthree conditionsor statesof mind. In t e essentialelements in the successful threshold, for the moment of formation of contemplative transition, two conditions e ist space. There is the center, the simultaneously.If the known i a reference and the frame. The world or state experienc d center Is the physicalplace from beforetransition, then in transitionto whichthe contemplativeknows his anotherworld there is passageto the relatively unknown. The and types of access. The threshold cradles opposites encounter with the city In the together and In the shiftingnature is differentfrom that in the of Its time and space offers the hostel,school or swimmingpool. sight, choice and the possible recognition and merging of multipleworlds. It Is a place that Is at leasttwo places. It is a place of controland potential. Considering the design problem,the threshold is more than a physicalopening, It Is the quality and scale of the social and spatial interaction between worlds.

The monastery interactswith the secularworld throughits supporting functions of the church, hostel, school and swiming pool. These functions physically and socially surroundthe cloisteredlife acting as thresholds.

Each threshold offers a different quality and scale of societyto the cloistered life. Each function admitsthe city to the physicaland spiritualspace in differentdegrees 24 25 Monasticismand Monastery 26 27 For the Benedictinesand indeed for all western christianmonasticism the essential collective ritual is in the Eucharistand theOffices of the Rule.

The Eucharistis one of the sevenrites of the historical christian church consideredto have been institutedor observedby Jesusas a testamentto inner grace or as a channel that mediates grace. Here the last supperis daily commemoratedin the act of eating andthe celebrationof the Mass. The body and blood of Christ Is physically embodied in the bread and wine of every meal.

The Rule of Saint Benedict guides every individualand collective act of monastic life towards the embodiment of a perfect society. It is a complete prescriptionfor living. Eating washing and working areall investedwith symbolicimportance in the divineorder of things. If the rule is the construct for establishingand maintaining this "perfect" society, the office of the rule representsthe ritual act of collective devotion engaged at precisetimes during each day. This originallyoccurred seven times a day in responseto the biblical caveat "seven timesof day I have rendered praiseto you'. Thus,gathering occurs to recite psalms.responsories and prayersthrough , , , ,, and The offices were rendered so absolutelythat a clockwas invented to maintainthe necessarysynchron- Ized precision. The monastery becomes the optimal physical frameworkfor the accomplishmentof these rituals. Efficiency in the organizationof the place is essential and this perhaps mostapparent in the monasteriesof the . For many, the Cistercian plan representthe archtypal solution to monasticliving. The Cistercianswere a reform movement founded in the 12thcentury on a rigerousasceticism and an ideal complete withdrawal from the world. The monasterywas alwaysbuilt on a remote,rural site with a flowingstream or river. Thecloister was used as an organizingelement off of which different symbolic and nonsymbolic activity would be accessed.The church, the refrectory, the house,the fountain and otherfunctions opened directlyoff this courtyard. The sleeping arrange- ments were always a communal above a monkscommon room on the . Exceptfor the apartment, there was no private space and almost all space had two aspects:one to the cloister and one to the countryside. The rural settingwill probably always 30 remain the ideal condition for a monastery. Foran urban setting one has to look to the architecture of a differentorder. Sucha setting,in the at least, is found in the friariesof the :the Franscicans and the Dominicans. Unlikethe Cistercians,the case here was not withdrawalfrom the world but a missionoutwards to it. The spiritual unit Included not just the cloisterbut the surroundingtown and countryside as well.

At the level of the groundthe cloister organization remains the same as that of the Cistercians. Communal and symbolic space opening off of the central cloister. The major difference being the replacementof I the dormitory sleeping arraingment byindividual cells for the . 31 Because of the need for more space the cells are positionedon a second level above the cloisterand accessed by a centrally loaded corridor. The corridordescribes three sidesof the cloister square.The fourth side is ocuppled by the church. The cell now has only one aspect, either to the greaterinsulation of the cloister or to the lesserinsulation of the street. The privacy of the cell displacesthe communal center of the cloister as -P JJ L the most important monasticspace. r---.1...... From here the monk must prepare himselffor hismission into the world as an Individual.

The cell has remained an identifying feature of monastic life. One problem withits application is found in the double loaded corridor situation. First,when cellsare stackedin multiple floors no light reaches the corridor. Second, in anurb context on row of cewls must always fact the outside. Thecontemplative life is harderto meet on the street face, the inward 32 lookingcells have an advantage. A contemporary,albeit rural,solution to thisdilemna, is found in the monastery of La Touretteby Le Corbusier. 33 At La Tourette, Le Corbusierhas taken the traditional cloister and transformedit. Theoriginal closed form has been opened through the displacement of the church fromthe other functions.Built on a steep hill, a traditionalform would not haveworked here. The entire structureis raised off the ground and the landscape moves underneath.At the entrylevel is the monasticcollege which includesa library and classrooms. Beloware the communal and symbolic spaces: the refrectory and and the entry into the church. Above the entry level are two levelsof cells. The cells look out into the countryside and are fed by a corridor that runs aroundthe cloister. He hassolved the problemof light in the corridor but the outward 1 -- looking nature of the cells would . I be less desirable in an urban context. In any case the single loaded corridor is form worth i repeating. The monk moves out from his private space into a one which is immediately *.fectfloo understandable as a collective space. There are other things going on hereof great interest.

The efficiency of ritual movement has been taken very seriously here. Ratherthan the expected circumambulatory form there is an MI. articulation of the routes to and 0 from an atrium adjacent to the Entrancefloor and chapter house. Ritual movement is given a form for itself. 35 Profanemovement, as the public access might be called, is given unimpeded visual access to the heart of the cloister. Fromthe entry platformthe activityof the college level, is perceivable beyond the partially transparent windowscreens across the cloister. The atrium space although articulated is opaque to the eye. Thisperception holdsfor the paths that lead to the atrium as well. Fromthe atrium to the church the path becomes transparent from both lookingin and lookingout. Thismakes sense, In that the church is were the monasterymeets the public. The path becomes a prelude to the intersection of worlds, made congenial in the churchby a sharedfaith and ritual. The knownof the Impendingritual is deliberately invaded by the potential unknownof the profane observer on the entry platform above.

Thereare other interestingrelated featureshere. The corridor to the cells runs adjacent to the cloister allowing perception of the common space. The openings are rendered as a continuous, verynarrow strip of transparency. Thereis view out but not downto the cloister. Similarlythere is from the profane viewingplatform no access to that behind the same stripwindow.

Another interestingfeature occurs in the vertical circulation usually given In a conventional scissor arrangement.There Is no suchstair entering the symbolic level. He deploys a spiral stair to make the connection between levels directly to the atrium. Thisstair is entirely dark except for small translucentlights at the steps. --I

Movement serves not only to 38 shield the passage to the ritual space from profane eyes but in its dark spiralingform it disassociates the sequence of spatial experiences. Arrival is severed from departure. Thespace of the college or the cell corridor is thus strongly distinguished from the atrium.

An additional supporting observationis seen in the strange light devices positioned at the ends of all the corridorswere Le Corbusier restrictsforward vision with a tilting panel. Thesupporting web has a circular hole in it that allowsa perfectly framed view to one side. Except for climatic changes, that view always remainsknown. 39 In this control and separation of viewer from the viewed, Le Corbusierserves to distinguishthe known and the unknown in the perception of ritual space. Thus, he strengthens for both the monasteryas a place where the mystery is discovered and unveiled. 40 41 The Project 42

FatherGeorge: "Make it a fortress'

FatherUrban: 'Theymust feel the wind, the rain and and the cold.'

FatherSean: 'They need to step out of the cell and into the light.' 'The work must be separated from the monastery.'

Urban Context: Introduction 46 and Responce 47 Thesite is in Boston'sSouth End. One edge faces TremontStreet. Another edge frontsWest Brookline Street.The two other edges face onto Paseo Aquidillo, a streetthat was formed when the housing development Victoriawas organizedand built in the 1970s.

VillaVictoria which wrapsaround the site on three sides is a thriving neighborhood of over 500 predominantly Hispanic residents. They care for their neighborhood enough to police the streets for garbage. It is important to respond to this conditiongracefully, at least in the designprogram if not itsform. IZDLGJ

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00 The area around the site has a high concentrationof churchesand other public buildings. The form of these athemetic elements are variations on the theme imposed by the row house building type that dominates the SouthEnd and much of Boston.

As mentioned earlier there are numerouschurches in this portion of Bostonand a majority of them are Catholic. The location of the shouldunderscore that the South End was where the newly immigratedIrish first settled in the mid 19thcentury. Thereare alsoa number of schoolsand a few religiousorders in thisarea.

TremontStreet is a majorlink between the Bostoncentral business district and the once southernsuburbs. Tremont and W. Brookline Streethave each become a Bus route for the MBTA transportationsystem. 6rr 51 The site itself holds the ruin of a CongregationalChurch built in 1865.It burneddown in 1972.All that remains are four heavy brick wallsand a bell tower. Thelong sideof 142feet faces Tremontand the main entryof 78 feet faces onto West Dedham. The walls and the tower are 20 and 100feet highrespectively. Some but not all of this ruin will remain to articulate the presenceof the new. The site is organized into five areas. 52 The monastery is at the center, the churchis to the north, the hostelis to the west,the pool is to the east, and the schoolis to the south.

Entries into the enclosure occurs through any one of the four corner functions which consequentlyact as programatic and physical thresholds fromwhich to meet the city at large. Relationof buildingmass to the street.

A diagonal element, "The Threshold", connectschurch to cloisterhorizontally and groundto skyvertically. In dealing with the site there were a 54 numberof basic moves. Theneccesity of protecting this place from the city resultedin raisingthe cloister,hostel and churchfunctions an entirestory above the street.

Asadditional responseto thisend, the direction of the church and cloister were shifted 45 degrees to the prevailingcity grid. Thisshift also servesa cosmological purpose. It alignsthe ritual spaces of the church and cloisterwith souththus tracing the path of the sun and the sLMYt cyclesof the day.

As an additionalinsulative measure the cloister is housed inside a cylindrical enclosurethat opensto the south. The civic memoryof the old church is preservedin the entire height of the towerand fragmentsof the wall. 2 LA'

I,I . 57 58 Progr amnd Construction 59 Thereare five distinct aspectsto this 60 project. There is the monastery proper, It will be called the cloister, which occupiesthe centerof the site. The other four usesare distributedto the cornersof the block. Thereare the monasteryguest houseor hostel and administration.There is the place of work, in this case a primary school/day care for children from kindergartento third grade. Thereis a small church for the monastic community. Finally there is an overtureto the neighborhoodin the form of a public swimming pool. which would be scheduled to allow the monastic community and villa victoriacommunity separateuse. 61 Below Ground Level 1. Crypt 2. Chapel A Ground Level 1. Park/BusStop 2. Rentalspace 3. Entryto guesthouse 4. Commonroom 5. Entryto crypt 6. Bathroom 7. Churchentry 8. Swimmingpool 9. Lockerroom 10. Mechanical 11. Garage 12.Office 13. Lounge 14. Storage 15. Classroom 16. Library/Artspace 17. Pool 18. Reception 19. Kitchen 20. Schoolentry 64

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2 1. Narthex 2. Nave 3. Chapel 4. Organ 5. Alter 6. 7. Bathroom 8. Receptionist 9. Parlour 10. Interviewroom 11.Office 12.Catwalk 13. 14. Refrectory 15. Chapterhouse 16. Archive/Ubrary 17. RecreationRoom 18. Classroom 19. Fountain 20. Stairto crypt 21. Stairto clock 66 67 Second Level

1. Cells 2. Abbotsapt. 3. Infirmary 4. Nursesstation 5. Stairsto clock 6. Bathroom 7. Rooms 8. Publicspace 68

*~ 40 69 ThirdLevel

1. Cells 2. Stairsto clock 3. Bathroom 4. Rooms 5. Lounge 70 71 FourthLevel

1. Roofgarden 2. Arcade 3. Skylens 72 73 FifthLevel

1. Clock observationplatform 2. Bellstation I The primary structural systemfor the monastery is poured-in-place columns and one way ribbed concrete slabs with the rib/column combination becoming a frame to supportthe cylinder. An exceptionto this ruleis found in the area underthe raised cloister floor where the large oak tree restsin a six foot deep soil tray. Here,the slab becomes a two way system to both handle the increased load and to provide additionalspanning capability for the garage below.

On the TremontStreet side and part of the PaseoAquiduilla side the cylinder restsupon a concrete cylindricalwall base 12 feet high, the height of the cloisterfloor. Separatingthe concrete and Kalwallis a 3 foot high band of transparency. Thisis enough to give the wall the apearence of floating and the offering of constricted but constant perception through this barrierfrom from one sideto the other. The same one way system holds for 76 the hostel, the swimming pool, the school,the crypt and the street levels of the church. At the churchsanctuary level the primarystructure becomes a steel column and beam systemwhich is clad with finished plywood sheets. Thewalls of the church at the level of the streetand the narthexare poured- in-place concrete. Thiswall with its pronounced crenellation continues around Paseo Aquidilla stopping at the church entry. The swimmingpool entry and the school are clad out of concrete block with a large metal and glasswindow wall definingthe school'satrium enclosure. The hostel streetfacade is a steel and glassstick system.

3.44 'Stick' systemfor attachingcurtain wall claddingwith verticalmovement joints at 'stick' connections. 77 The Monasteryproper existsprimarily withinthe protectiveenclosure of a 40 foot highcylinder.

Exceptfor the occasional transparent window this cylinder is made entirely from the product KalWall.Made as a insulatedsandwich panel with faces out of a milkywhite fiberglass,this stuff transmitsa translucent light, insulates thermally and acoustically and provides a very durable protective enclosure. The wall is set into and supported on a treated wood frame. Thisis an independentsystem which is diagonally braced and attached to the verticalsof the site cast concrete columns.

Becauseof its translucentnature the wall itself contains light. The wall is physically and metaphorically understoodas a container for the holy spirit. 78 79 80 TheMonaster

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9 -u 81 The monastery proper is, as mentioned before, enclosed inside an insulativecylinder and raised 12 feet above the street level. At the center of the cylinderIs the cloister. Unlikethe traditionalCistercian cloister all functionsare not organizedoff of thisspace.

The collectivefunctions of the place: the library,refrectory, chapter house and novitiateoccur off of the cloister. Thekitchen Ison the firstfloor serving the refrectorythrough a spiralstair and serviceelevator. The cloisterspaces are given ceilingheights of 15feet. All open onto the cloister but the chapter house and refrectory have special anteroomentries at the base of the circularstairs and adjacent to the wall that separates the cloister from the church. A recreation room moves outside the cylinder on the Paseo Aquidilla side and faces the housesof VillaVictoria. I.. ii82 \~) 83 On the second and third levelsthere are 23 cells and the 's apartment. To approximate their own view, the cells and apartment face the cloisterand the boughsof a large oak tree. Thisrequires that the cells are entered from the cylinder side. The entry is defined by the closetjutting out intothe corridor.

Theunit interioris 13feet wide and 21'- 6"long with an additional2' balcony. The bathroom helps define the entry into an almostsquare living space. A large screen, adjustable for light, provides privacy for one side of the room.

The infirmary is to the south of the cloister on the second floor. This allows the infirmary's two rooms and the nursesstation to face the sun. 84 85 Walking is an essential aspect of contemplativelife. Herethe patterns of bodily movement are synchronizedwith the recitationof the prayer, the advancement of the ,the intonationof conversation and the rhythm of breathing. In a contained place like thisthe freedom and ability to move is essentialnot only to ones spiritualconditioning but also their sanity. Movementis given numerouspossibilities in four distinct regimes. Firstthere is the cloisterwalk Itself. Entirelyoutdoors, this covered walk circumambulates in the traditionalfashion around the central open space. 86 87 The space is formed by an elevated tray of earthwhich holdsthe tree. the top edge of the tray is at hip height and on the northernborder there is a fountain.

The cloister floor continues underneaththe Infirmaryfloor above. It slopes at twenty degrees and becomes the roof of the school public space below. Covered with grass this Inclined plane aids in blending the view out of the cloister with that of the sky. Thebig tree offers a filterfor sunand sound.

89 A second regime of movementis the stairswhich move along the cylinder from the cells.This space is insideand has a large sky light above. It is protected and enclosed from the elementsbut it would notbe heated. In contrast to the independent lightweight nature of the Kalwall system the stairs are heavy and made from the concrete of the floors and supportingstructure. It ishere that the nature of the circular enclosureis felt. Onlythe cylinderis controlled by the imaginarygenerating point at the center. 90

V Neither the stairsnor the supporting structureenforce the radial nature of the Kalwall. Theseother elementsare generated by the 45 degree site shift to the sun. Only the curvingnature of the wall itself suggeststhe center. A distinctionis thus made between the containerand the contained.

The movement from the individual worlds of the cells to the collective world of society is crucial. Here, itis Importantto make a subtletransition from the eremetic tendency of complete withdrawal that is partially provided by the cell to the cenobitic presenceof the communallife on the cloisterfloor. Movementfrom the cell to the ground thus suggests the recognizable geometry and direction of the cell but also through the cylinderthe physicalpresence of a center in the cloister which is markedin memoryby the tree. - M- - - m Thewall hoversin a diffuseand even light. The mufflingof externalsounds. Concrete, fiberglassand wood: the alchemy of materials. Light draws you up, gravity pulls you down. Movementfeels this container of the spiritand all itsqualities of protection, definitionand transformation.

The third regimeof movement is on the roofs of the cells where an enclosed arcade is available as are uninterruptedviews of the city to the south. 94 95 The fourth movement regime connects all the other movement regimes together. This regime is given a distinct physicalform as the paired concrete walls which cut diagonally acrossthe site separating the churchfrom the cloister.Although covered this space Isnot enclosed.It is open to the weather. At the upper floors the movement between cell blocksoccurs here. I /

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II Ii R - g - 97 Thisspace of concrete wallsfunctions as a major threshold. It contains movementinto the church, down to the crypt, horizontally between the cell blocks, and finally gives form to the transition from the cloister floor upward to the bell station and the analog clock. The clock juts out towards Tremont St. and over the entry into the hostel. Here, the transparentface of the clock is 12feet high.

A platform restsinside this chamber and a smallframed view at eye level is offered straight ahead along the diagonal axisof the threshold.

Through the timepiece the view is expanded northand southto the city. Fromhere it is apparentthat whilethe diagonal shift defies the city grid it parallelsthe direction of the Charles River.The monastery can be seen and knownas part of a largernatural order. hA

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4 99 The passage into the church occurs within The threshold. Stepping out fromthe refrectoryanteroom Into this space, a small window looks out through the Kalwallto TremontStreet presenting a brief exposureto the unknown. A ramp leadsdown from the cloister level at 12 feet to the churchlevel at 10feet. Onesteps out of the diagonal and back into the Kalwallcylinder. Here is the sacristy and the entryinto the sanctuary. 100 101 To the left was the church. Straight ahead, through the gate, and down the stepsto belowground isthe crypt. Herea bridgeleads acrossa pool of a water (the River Styx?).One side is circular and describesthe radiusof the cylinder above ground. The burialchambers lie outsidethis circle

It is thus apparent that the concrete space of this threshold is both a physicaland metaphysicalplace. It embodies the physical passage -D between worlds, an act which 4 4 happens in time. Time. The secular 2~ time of the clock and the viewout the -'k-- ~ small window; the ritual time of the bellsand the collective movementto the office; the passageto the crypt and the mortality of the flesh; the transitionfrom one cell block to the

other the experienceof the weather I I and the cycle of the seasons. ib( 'J~" 102 103 The thresholdsto the other corner functionsare lessarticulated formally. The passageto the hostel begins as a ramp which risesto 15 feet along the cylinder before leaving its protection.

One entersa catwalk with the hostel to the right and the playground below and to the left. A view to the hostelIs limitedto a full height narrow window while to the playground views are through a full height and length transparent screen. A 180 degree turn is made and a ramp returns to 12 feet at the waiting platformof the hostel.

The entry to the pool occurs across the cloister through a similar recognitionof the cylinderin a curving stair that terminatesin a half circular Kalwallenclosure. In both of these areasthe form of the 104 passage associatesdirectly with the enclosure. The spatial sequence is thusmore continuousfrom one place to the next and the experience of transition more gradual. This movementstands in contrastwith the transitionto and from the place of work. Whichis designedto disruptthe continuity between spaces. More about that in the descriptionof the school.

The Church, 106

* it> 107 Theentry to the church is off of Paseo Aquidillo and into a square space with a small fountainthat disappears througha rectangularhole in the wall adjacent to a large, heavy, wooden door.

Thedoor opensto a ramp which rises gently towards Tremont St. The fountain becomes a channel which leads to a larger pool the same size as the entry space off the street. The ramp risespast a small garden and glass screen adjacent to the pool and alonga glassenclosed stair to a platform where a view down to TremontSt. Is offered. 0

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I, 109 This is the entry forecourt to the narthex. Theentry is all glassthrough which the opaque barrier of the sanctuary looms. Aligned with the doorsis the font and behindthe font is the curving wall of the sanctuary which is raised three feet off of the floor. Thesupporting steel structure is seen only in this gap. Thiscurve is a displacement of the monasteries cylindrical enclosure.It is displaced again to create entry into the sanctuary. 110 111 Elsewhereit is hidden on both sides by a cladding of 8 by 4 sheets of finished plywood. Within the sanctuarythe ceiling risesto 50 feet. Plainlight streams in fromthe eastand the west and colored light filters throughthe stainedglass inset into the concrete wall to the south. Thiswall, the same one that holds the clock, anchorsthe exposed steel beams of the roof. Thereis room in this space for about 120 celebrants to sit comfortably. Thespace is full of light and thewalls are so lightthat they do not touch the ground. They seem inflated with an ethereal breath. This contraststo the huge concrete wall which is so heavy and yet it too is penetrated by a wonderouscolored light.

This is perhaps a space where the known and the unknowncan merge in a transcendentalgrasp of the One, the Good, the Beautifuland the True. 112

AI(t 113 The Pool, 114 115. In the other corner of the site is the swimmingpool. Thismay seemlike a strange idea, but there is a precedent. The Silesians of Don Bosco Technical High School have one. The traditional means of monastic exercise are no longer available.There are no forestor fields to work in thisurban context.Without substantiveand vigorouscare of the mind, body and the spirit, the spirit itself can wither or become Isolated. Furthermore,swimming is an excellent meditativeexperience.

The monasterymust reach out to the city even if it can not completelylet It in. Likethe other corner functionsthe pool works as such a device. This facility can be scheduled for public use so that it does not conflict with monasticneeds. 116 117 Entry to this space occurs off of a smallreception space into the light of a largeatrium that allowsfor the extra heightof the divingboard. Theceiling is lower underneaththe cloisterand it is dark and relativelyunknown. One swims towards this dark and back again. Backand forth the diminishing and increasingintensity of light and the expansionof space recordsthe progressof the lap. Illuminationis a well understood metaphor for knowledge. Here, the known and the unknownare encounteredonce again. .- WOW 'APb "TI lok 119 120

Laboreest ore-towork is to pray 122 - -N

123 In Monasticlife work is essentialand prescribed by the rule. For the purposesof this design,work is given form in a school/day carecenter for children between from kindergarten to thirdgrade.

Education is a common role for the Benedictine. In the primary school play is the primarymode of learning. The school provides an effective thresholdto the monasteryand to the neighborhood. The neighborhood educational needs are addressed and the contemplative religious world meets the secular world throughthe active mediumof play.

The school is decentered, shifted F -' away from the radial control of the monasteryenclosure and taking the form of the larger street grid. The playground is sunk five feet below street level: to the passerby, the sunken play space is seen as the foreground to the elevated ritual space of the cloister. 124 125 The ruin of the old church structurally supportsand providesclosure for the combined library and art space and defines the boundary between the learning of this interior 'knowledge space' and the exterior "experience space'. Collective gathering recognizes the monastic center throughthe form of the amphitheater and in the circular movement between floors.

The school functions as a threshold between the distinctlydifferent worlds of the monasteryand the city. The intersectionof one distinct world with another becomes, among other things, a problem of language and the filtering and interpretation of information. The language of play and the universallydisarming form of childhood innocence would seem to be excellent,although cacophonous filter. Connection of the school to the Monasteryis provided through two means, an elevator to the garage and an outdoorcircular stair from the cloisterlevel. Both routes incisively separate of departure from arrival. The stair In its spiralingform has no relationshipto any space other than itself.It disassociatesthe before and after elementsof a spatialsequence fromeach other.

Asa contrastthe circularstair leading from the cells to the cloister is associative with the cylindrical enclosure and thus feels the communitywithin the wall. Thestairs of the Thresholdare also associativein that the entire length of thisconcrete slot is generated and understoodin the processof the climb. 127 Threebuilding massesfront on Tremont Street.On the easterncorner the hostel is transparentand matches the street geometry. A tall brick tower, the remainsof a church?, is setback off the corner. Threeshops are at the ground floor. The steel and glasscurtain wall elevation above strangely evokes

associationswith a cross. T-A 128

F

*:s; 7L 131 At the center of the block is an additional building mass. This is apparently cylindrical and made from somematerial that ismilky white in color and striated withevenly spaced black lines. It seemsto have light insideit. It is supported by a one story high concrete wall of the same cylinder. Between this concrete wall and the milky wall above is a thin band of transparent glass through which one can barely detect movement. Above, probablya storyhigher than the roofsof the other buildings on the street, a horizontalform projectsbeyond the top of the milky cylinder and hovers over the sidewalk. It appears to be made of concrete. Inset into its surface Is a large analog clock with a transparent face. Thiswhole thingseems to move away fromthe streetat a diagonal. 132 133 Thethird buildingmass here restagainst this diagonal. Thisbuilding although a different material seemsto be part a cylinder and part a rectangle. It is set on a story high concrete base which continuesup to supporta roof. Thereis a platform at this higher leveland a glass and wood entry beyond. The roof extendsbeyond the concrete and is supported by a steel column and beam that together evoke the shape of a cross.The roof sheltersa broad step up and with the cross marks a gateway. A stair leads up along both the street and the cylinder. It begins narrowbut widenswith movement. The stepsvary, startingsteep but becoming more gentle towardsthe top. Theclock hovers above and the ruin looms behind the hostel. Passingunderneath, there is a constant view through the narrow transparentring to the insideof the milkycylinder. Movementis towards a transparent,projecting stair enclosure of the hostel. The entry is to the left, along the cylinder. Just before arrival and at eye level a small transparent window in the cylinder is peripherially apparent on the left. The transparent ringis now at yourfeet. 1I 135 Insidethe ceiling is low. Straightahead the brick of the ruin reappears protracted and enclosing aroom. To the left, adjacent to the cylindera large square platform risesunder a skylight. Full height windows define a surface beyond which a bridge is seen disappea ringInto the cylinder. It is higher t -an this podium and is supported by a portion of the ruin. A body sizewidth of window occurs at the meeting of bridge and cylinderthe restof the bridge is opaque to the eye. Through this opening is a tantalizing glimpse into the monastic enclosure. Lookingbelow and beyond the bridge and towardthe sunis a play ground. It is partiallydefined by additional shorter segmentsof the ruin. ______136

I I I I I I

p ~l -____

'7 L~ ~ 137 Movement to the rooms above and finally to the roof occurs in the transparentstair along TremontSt.. The rooms view out along the cylinder towards the playground and the southernsun. Theruin is three feet thick and its bulk definesthe shared public space of these floors. From here one can look across the skylight of the podium below towards the mysterious serenityof the milky, curving monastic enclosure.

At the roof the ruin reemergesrising a full 50 feet above. Thismassive U shaped tower is closed on the fourth side by a 20 foot highwooden batten wall. From a reclining bench a view is framed againstthe ruin to a narrow section of the sky. Aspiringto heaven, weighted to the earth, Permanence, decay, regeneration,this space is intended as a lensto mortality. 138 139 He comprehended that the effort to 140 mold the vertiginousmatter dreams are made of was the most arduous task a man could undertake, though he might penetrate all the enigmasof the upper and lower orders: much more arduous than weaving a rope of sandor coiningthe facelesswind.

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