LINEAR SYSTEM: a Monastery as

a ritualistic procession defined in an open landscape

 

 

 

Design Studio

Arch. Valerio OLGIATI

MSc 1 SEM 1, Academy of Architecture, USI

A.Y. 2013/2014

 

 

 

Concept:

 

My Answer to the topic “Linear System” is a motion, a flow into spaces defined by one continuous wall. The project is an enclosed space in which the monastic life becomes a system, a linear repetition of the same functions and spaces. The site is a desert: a location where you freely move with no direction, in contrast with my microcosm, in which you move in a specific direction as a form of ritual. The juxtaposition of these two spatial conditions —free movement and pathway —intensifies the experience of both, imbuing each with a ritualistic character.

 

 

 

Project:

 

The underground floor (3 meters below ground level) is the “seclusion area” where the 12 heremits’ cells, provided with their service and a private courtyard, are located. This architectural idea follows the Lavra as a typology of monastery for hermits built since the 4th century, where solitary living and community life were combined within a microcosm. In the center, there is a dew well where drinkable water is collected through condensation that occurs due to the temperature difference between daytime and nighttime. The core, the inner space, the end of the spiral, becomes the most open, inaccessible space where a dew pond is placed. There is also a storage that connects the ground floor with a ramp. The ground floor is where the community life takes place. The continuous wall that defines the spaces outside produces two niches that provide shade and a place where monks can sit on the ground and look out at the horizon. The light comes from above, from openings that remind one of the stitching of fabric. The continuous wall runs to the end of the system. From the outside, it appears to be an enigmatic object, almost impenetrable due to the lack of openings. This creates a visual break between the desert and the monastery.