Saint John's Abbey

Abstract

This abbey is organised in two main zones, one to the south east, consisting of the monastic and ecclesiastical buildings, and another to the north west, comprising the school. The church, the library and the offices are located at the convergence of the two zones. The abbey church is the outstanding feature of the whole project, and it can accommodate 1580 people as well as 360 monks in the choir. The church has been designed around the axis baptistery-altar, the latter occupying a central, separate position, and constituting the focal point of the design. The sacristy forms a link between the monastery and the church. Below the main church there is a small parish crypt with 150 seats, and a chapel for the brethren, seating 104 people, as well as a series of 34 private chapels for the monks to celebrate Mass. The construction of the project features the use of folded reinforced concrete shells for walls and roofs. The types of materials mainly adopted, bare concrete, brick, granite and oak, express the austerity of monastic life. The campanile —a thin slab resting on parabolic supports— is a symbol of our gase towards the world beyond. The church building seeks to identify closely form and function, and is noteworthy also in the choice of spatial and structural Rythm as well as for the wealth of subtle details which it incorporates.