Modern Medival Monasteries

Two Modern Dutch Monasteries compared to the Benedictine Ideal

Student report (2023)

Authors

E.S.C. van der Valk Architecture and the Built Environment

Contributors

A.J. Oxenaar History, Form & Aesthetics - Architecture and the Built Environment (supervisor 1)
Faculty
Architecture and the Built Environment
Copyright: © 2023 Els van der Valk
Dutch Monasteries Abbey St. Gall Benedictine Rule
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Published Date

20-04-2023

Language

English

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Faculty

Architecture and the Built Environment

Abstract

In the 19th century the interest in monasteries and monastic life returned, leading to the design of the Abbey of Egmond by architect A.J. Kropholler in 1929 and the design of St. Benedictusberg in Vaals by architect Dom Hans van der Laan.
This research investigates how the architects A.J. Kropholler and Dom Hans van der Laan incorporated the Benedictine Rule into their modern abbeys. Specifically, it examines the historical context of the Dutch abbeys and the development of monastic architecture, drawing on Wolfgang Braunfels’ Monasteries of Western Europe as a foundation for contextualizing the St. Gall Utopia. Additionally, it explores the design principles and philosophies that influenced the layout and construction of the Dutch abbeys under investigation, through an analysis of the floor plans and layouts of the abbeys, as well as interviews with a current monk or an employee at both Dutch abbeys.
The thesis is structured into four chapters, beginning with an examination of the Benedictine Rule and Utopia of St. Gall, followed by separate analyses of St. Adalbert’s Abbey in Egmond by A.J. Kropholler and the St. Benedictusberg Abbey in Vaals by Dom Hans van der Laan. The final chapter compares the two Dutch abbeys with each other and the Utopia of St. Gall. The study is limited by the scope of the two Dutch abbeys chosen for analysis, but it offers insights into how the architects of the abbeys incorporated the Benedictine Rule into their designs, and sheds light on the role of monasteries in modern society.
The spaces for the three main pillars of the Benedictine Rule are integrated in both Dutch Abbeys. However this research shows that the role in society for Monasteries has changed. The essential elements of the St. Gall Utopia can still be recognized in both floor plans, however the size and clustering of several functions changed.
ABSTRACT