building

In 1999 the abbot of the Cistercian abbey of Sept-Fons in Burgundy commissioned John Pawson to design a monastery for a new community of forty Trappist monks in Bohemia, a remote 100-acre site in woodland and incorporating a dilapidated baroque manor house and derelict farm buildings framing a courtyard.

John Pawson had the challenging task of combining elements retained from the original baroque complex with entirely new architecture. He used a material palette of plaster, concrete, timber and glass predominantly and a strong building programme blueprint drawn up in the twelfth century.

The result is a very special building. You can go to www.johnpawson.com and read more about his design approach and the construction process.

All images are the property of the Monastery of Novy Dvur, and are sourced from their website.

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