Minimalissimo1: John Pawson and Modern Cistercian Architecture
Daniel L. Ledford
Yale Divinity SchoolProf. Karla Britton
1 This is a provocative term created by the online editorial platform, Minimalissimo, to describe extreme minimalism in art, architecture, fashion, andother mediums. It is used here as a deliberately loaded term to describe both the architecture of John Pawson and the Cistercians, while also touching on minimalism’s relationship with the arts industry of the 21st century. See Minimalissimo’s description of John Pawson’s Novy Dvur monastery here: http://minimalissimo.com/2010/09/novy-dvur-monastery-by-john-pawson/.
Ledford 2
Religion and Modern ArchitectureMay 8, 2014
At the onset of the modern movement in architecture, the
fashion industry played a major role in how architects approached
their designs. From Le Corbusier, who “identified color with
dress”2 and was influenced by the whitewashed surfaces of
Mediterranean architecture, to John Pawson, who spent several
years in Japan and was influenced by Cistercian abbeys, the
modern and modern revival movements have been intricately imbued
with aesthetic elements of fashion and minimalism. Finding
influence in the same structure, the Abbey of Le Thoronet, Le
Corbusier and Pawson have taken this “architecture of truth,
tranquility and strength” and blended its aesthetic principles of
light, simplicity, and functionalism in their own works of
contemporary sacred architecture.3 The long tradition of
2 Mark Wigley, White Walls, Designer Dresses: The Fashioning of Modern Archicture (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995), 314.
3 Le Corbusier, introduction to Architecture of Truth, Lucien Hervé (London: Phaidon, 2001), 7.
Ledford 3
Cistercian architecture, espoused by the architecture of Le
Thoronet, lends its aesthetic and formal principles to modern
Cistercian structures. For John Pawson, this is seen in his two
commissions for Cistercian abbeys: Novy Dvur and Sept-Fons. John
Pawson’s Cistercian structures reveal that extreme minimalist
architecture has created an inextricable bond between the
function and form of these sacred spaces.
A Brief History and Theology of Cistercian Architecture
In 1125, St. Bernard wrote his Apologia as a response to the
extravagant and grandiose features of the Benedictine abbey at
Cluny. In brief, St. Bernard asks, “What is gold doing in the
holy place?”4 St. Bernard was not averse to art, as many scholars
have interpreted. Rather, St. Bernard was speaking as an abbot of
a Cistercian monastery at Clairvaux, which was founded in 1115 as
a daughter house of Cîteaux and was already establishing its own
daughter houses by 1125.5 As an abbot of a Cistercian monastery,
which was different from its Benedictine ancestors in that a 4 St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Apologia (1125) quoted in Conrad Rudolph, The “Things of Greater Importance”: Bernard of Clairvaux’s Apologia and the Medieval Attitude Toward Art (Philadelphia: UPenn Press, 1990), 10.
5 Kristina Krüger, Monasteries and Monastic Orders (Salenstein, Switzerland: h.f.ullmann, 2010), 165.
Ledford 4
Cistercian abbey was generally more secluded, not connected to a
town, not a pilgrimage site, and not focused on the feeding of
the poor6, St. Bernard was speaking “from the two related and
basic elements of justification and function--claim and
reality.”7 Bernard believed that because of the above reasons,
which were central to the Cistercian Order, superfluous artworks
or embellishments were not needed or useful in the sanctuary.
This is in contrast to the copious inclusion of art and
embellishment by Abbot Suger at St.-Denis. St. Bernard wrote the
Apologia in 1125, which included the two chapters on the use of
art, and Abbot Suger wrote De Administratione in 1144-1145, which
included the expansion, embellishment, and dedications of St.-
Denis. Reading these two texts reveals the opposite opinion on
art in the sanctuary by both abbots. Erwin Panofsky claims:
Nothing, he [Suger] thought, would be a graver sin of omission than to withhold from the service of God and His saints what He had empowered nature to supply and man to perfect: vessels of gold or precious stone adorned with pearls and gems, golden candelabra and altar panels, sculpture and stained glass, mosaic and
6 Ibid., 169; Leroux-Dhuys, Cistercian Abbeys (Salenstein, Switzerland: h.f.ullmann, 1998), 46-48.
7 Conrad Rudolph, The “Things of Greater Importance,” 9.
Ledford 5
enamel work, lustrous vestments and tapestries.8
And although it is not explicit, Conrad Rudolph claims that Abbot
Suger was indirectly addressing St. Bernard’s Apologia in his De
Administratione.9 For the Cistercians, “No figural painting or
sculpture, except for wooden crucifixes, was tolerated; gems,
pearls, gold and silk were forbidden; the vestments had to be of
linen of fustian, the candlesticks and censers of iron; only the
chalices were permitted to be of silver or silver-gilt.”10
The strict observance of the Rule of St. Benedict is the
founding principle of Cistercian morality and this had to be
“translated into spatial terms.”11 The Cistercians did this by
“[eliminating] all ostentation and the superfluous, to choose
always the simplest solution, to strip bare as far as possible
any kind of artificial language of construction that was no more
than a concession to architectural fashion.”12 Thus, the 8 Erwin Panofsky, introduction to Abbot Suger on the Abbey church of St.-Denis and its Art Treasures (Princeton: Princeton U Press, 1946), 13.
9 Rudolph, The “Things of Greater of Importance,” 30-31.
10 Panofsky, introduction to Abbot Suger, 14.
11 Ibid. 25.
12 Ibid.
Ledford 6
architecture of the Cistercians in the 12th century was simple,
functional, and permanent. Meredith P. Lillich claims that
Cistercian architecture, as outlined by the plan of St. Bernard,
was not about the minimalist aesthetic first, but about ratios
and orthogonal function (Fig. 1). She notes, “But the emphasis is
on the permanence--I should prefer to say, the adequacy--of the
materials. The buildings are not grandiose but they are never
jerry-built and their functionalism expands our usual
understanding of that term.”13 This permanence of stone
structures of ideal proportions explains the functional aesthetic
of 12th century Cistercian architecture.
After the Bernardine period and the 12th century, Cistercian
architecture does not adhere to the strict building rules of St.
Bernard. During the prohibitions on art in the 12th century,
architectural features were the artistic expressions for
Cistercian abbeys. After the 12th century, regulations on art
decoration and visual enhancements in abbeys were relaxed and
13 Meredith P. Lillich, foreword (“The Common Thread”) to Studies in Cistercian Art and Architecture, vol. 1, ed. Meredith P. Lillich (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1982), xi.
Ledford 7
almost non-existent after the end of the 13th century.14 This
does not mean that Cistercian architecture lost its essence.
Meredith Lillich claims:
After the Bernardine period Cistercian art changes in several chartable ways. It transforms the concept of ‘sufficient materials’ (that is, material sufficient unto the use thereof) into rather easier-to-apply aesthetic dictum of simplicity and puritanism of approach; and it softens the rigidity of, though it does not abandon, the early symbolic ratios.15
In the post-Bernardine period, Cistercian architecture
changes along with the periods of architectural history
(Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, etc.), but in each case, remnants
of the plan of St. Bernardine plan can be found and the essence
of Cistercian architecture remains the same. Because of this,
Jean-François Leroux-Dhuys claims that Cistercian architecture
carries two inherent qualities, “freedom in architecture” and
“functional architecture,” which make Cistercian architectural
forms useful in modernity, i.e. the architecture of Le
Corbusier.16 On Le Corbusier’s design of the La Tourette
14 Krüger, Monasteries and Monastic Orders, 179-180.
15 Lillich, foreword to Studies in Cistercian Art and Architecture, xiii.
16 Ibid., 116-117.
Ledford 8
monastery, Leroux-Dhuys claims, “This continuation of the image
of the Cistercian abbey, a symbol of extraordinary human
adventure, reveals the unchanging cultural posterity of the
Cistercians and that of the abbeys that they set up throughout
Europe.”17 Furthermore, the founding symbolic ratios of
Cistercian architecture are found in the works of Le Corbusier
and John Pawson as features of modernism and minimalism, such as
the use of ‘pure white,’ straight lines, and right angles.
Le Thoronet: From Le Corbusier to John Pawson
It is a striking coincidence that both Le Corbusier and John
Pawson were led to Le Thoronet by the suggestion of another
person. Before designing the monastery at La Tourette, Le
Corbusier visited Le Thoronet upon the suggestion of Marie-Alain
Cotourier. John Pawson visited Le Thoronet upon the suggestion of
the author Bruce Chatwin. In both cases, Le Corbusier and
Pawson’s architectural outlook was heavily influenced by the
forms extant in the Abbey of Le Thoronet. Furthermore, a great
corpus of religious buildings resulted from both architects’
visits to Le Thoronet. But what is each architect extracting from17 Ibid., 137.
Ledford 9
Le Thoronet?
For Le Corbusier, permanence of the stone and the effects of
light and shadow in the abbey were key in his design of the
monastery at La Tourette.18 John Pawson was similarly influenced
by the play of light and shadow in the abbey, even creating an
installation at the abbey in 2006 entitled Leçons du Thoronet. This
installation was, in essence, a look at the the Abbey of Le
Thoronet through the curatorial eyes of John Pawson. Setting up
fourteen benches to frame iconic views of the abbey, the
installation focused on fourteen ‘core themes,’ not in the
‘details’ of the abbey, but of ‘the bigger truths of
architecture’ found in the abbey.19 The fourteen themes were
context, mass, junction, surface, repetition, rhythm, geometry,
vista, scale, and proportion. In thinking about John Pawson’s
design of the Abbey of Our Lady of Novy Dvur in Bohemia, we can
see several of these fourteen themes from Le Thoronet as being
present at Novy Dvur.
John Pawson and Cistercian Architecture: Case Studies
18 Karla Britton, “Sacred Modern Architecture and the Abbey of Le Thoronet,” A+U 4 (2008): 32.
19 Alison Morris, John Pawson: Plain Space (London: Phaidon, 2010), 191.
Ledford 10
The message of the nascent Cistercian Order was thelove of
solitude, simplicity, poverty, and asceticism. Eloquentmasters
of words, as Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, have enrichedus with
the experiences of the monk’s work, prayer, andmeditation. But
the immediacy of Cistercian art remains indispensablefor the full
appreciation of what activated the minds and hearts ofthose who
built Fontenay…20
Abbey of Our Lady of Nový Dvůr (Fig. 5)
This abbey is a daughter house of the Abbey of Sept-Fons,
thus its lineage can be easily traced back to the first
Cistercian abbey at Cîteaux.21 Built on a 247-acre estate in
Touzim, Czech Republic, the abbey church and adjoining corridors
were designed by John Pawson, and the restoration of the baroque
manor and outlying buildings was completed by the Czech Atelier
Soukup. John Pawson was commissioned to complete the design for
the abbey when the abbot of Sept-Fons saw photographs of Pawson’s
20 Louis J. Lekai, O.Cist., preface to Studies in Cistercian Art and Architecture, vol. 1,ed. Meredith P. Lillich (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1982), x.
21 Cîteaux (1098) → Clairvaux (1115) → Fontenay (1119) → Sept-Fons (1132) → Novy Dvur (2002).
Ledford 11
Calvin Klein store in New York City. Pawson claims that the monks
saw a photo of the Calvin Klein store from the second floor,
looking down into the first floor where two tables looked like
they could be altars.22
The three wings and the abbey church create a 60,000 square-
foot site plan with a central cloister. Because of the sloping
topography of the site and the harsh Czech winters, the cloister
is not on the ground level and is enclosed with large glass
panels. In plan, the cloister of the western wing of the abbey
does not follow the interior wall of the structure because it
houses rooms that look out into the cloister garden and also
gives ground level access to the garden. The primary materials
used were white plaster, concrete, wood, and glass. The abbey can
house up to 34 monks and contains all the rooms that are
essential to sustaining a monastery, such as a refectory,
scriptorium, church, and dormitory. The church measures 47.1 x
10.5 x 13.6 meters (154.5 x 34.5 x 44.6 feet), which is a very
long and tall structure to connect the “square plan” and enclose
22 Matt Tyrnauer, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” Vanity Fair, August 2006, http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2006/08/minimalist-monastery-200608.
Ledford 12
the cloister (Fig. 6).
The cantilevered barrel vaults used in the structure, most
notably in the cloister corridor, recall the barrel vaults of the
Cistercian Abbey of Le Thoronet.23 Before designing the
monastery, Pawson was invited to Sept-Fons in Burgundy to live
for a few days and take in the daily life of the monks.24 When
asked about the minimalist features of the Novy Dvur (meaning
“New Yard”) monastery, he responded, “An absence of visual and
functional distraction supports the goal of monastic life:
concentration on God.”25 The description of the project on the
architect’s website claims, “The design draws on St. Bernard of
Clairvaux’s twelfth-century blueprint for Cistercian
architecture, with its emphasis on light, simplicity of
proportion and clarity of space.”26
23 Rudolf Stegers, Sacred Buildings: A Design Manual (Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag AG, 2008), 187.
24 Rob Gregory, Key Contemporary Buildings: Plans, Sections, and Elevations (New York: Norton, 2008), 148.
25 Joann Gonchar, “Monastery of Our Lady of Novy Dvur,” Architectural Record, September 2007, http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/interiors/archives/07_Monastery/.
26 “Abbey of Our Lady of Novy Dvur,” John Pawson: Works, accessed March 22, 2014,http://www.johnpawson.com/works/abbey-of-our-lady-of-novy-dvur/.
Ledford 13
In the Novy Dvur abbey, minimalist architect was matched
with a minimalist-minded clientele. This example of modern
Cistercian architecture seamlessly connects St. Bernard’s plan of
the 12th century with the minimalist contemporary design of the
21st century, to which Phaidon Atlas notes, “This twenty-first
century monastery seems an effortlessly respectful manifestation
of medieval values.”27
Abbey of Our Lady of Sept-Fons
After the first phase of construction was complete and the
abbey church at Novy Dvur was consecrated in 2004, the monks of
Sept-Fons commissioned Pawson to update and consolidate the 18th-
20th century buildings at Sept-Fons. The large expanse of these
buildings did not lend to the functionality of the monastery for
everyday use. Therefore, Pawson was invited to build new
structures while also renovated and redesigning the layout of
existing structures to improve the functionality of the site.
One of the main redesigns of the site involves the church,
sacristy, and chapels of the cloister (Fig. 7). In this instance,
27 “Abbey of Our Lady of Nový Dvůr,” Phaidon Atlas, accessed February 20, 2014,
http://phaidonatlas.com/building/abbey-our-lady-novy-dvur/1043.
Ledford 14
a cloister was not necessary for the plan because only three
wings existed; in fact, the cloister created an unnecessary
circulation space that disjoined the wings of the church and
other buildings. Pawson decided to create one corridor on the
interior of the central wing that would connect the sacristy,
side chapels, and the other two wings from one central space
(Fig. 8). This was also more functional because it allowed an
entry point for the public when entering the church from the
courtyard. Upon entering from the courtyard, the visitors find
themselves in an austere space with only a central plinth and
stoup, with a linear sliver of light leading them to the central
corridor and further into the church.28 It is in this Cistercian
work by John Pawson that the functionality of the space
superseded tradition, thus allowing its new ‘lateral’ form to
reinforce its function.
In this second example of John Pawson’s minimalist design
for Cistercian sacred spaces, we see an alternative approach at
minimalism: reduction. At Novy Dvur, Pawson was able to design
from the ground up since a church did not exist on the grounds,
28 Morris, Plain Space, 98-107.
Ledford 15
whereas at Sept-Fons, Pawson was presented with the challenge of
structurally reorganizing an established community and their
habits of movement. However, Alison Morris claims that this is an
alternate way to look at architecture and minimalism: “…the
unfolding narrative of revelation through reduction might be seen
to uncover wider truths about architecture of this type – about
what it is that you make space for, when you embark on the
process of clearing away.”29
The Case for Form and Function: Fashion, Modernity, and Minimalism
What is left of built work, a sort ofinevitable and insuppressible limit,also of an ontological nature, has thesole purpose of exalting the miracle ofexistence, nature, objects, and phenomena.30
In the 1995 monograph White Walls, Designer Dresses: The Fashioning of
Modern Architecture, Mark Wigley attempts to place the emergence of
the modern architectural era and the fashion industry in a single
scope. What interests us most here is the discussion of
‘whitewash’ as it pertains to Le Corbusier and to John Pawson’s
29 Ibid., 74.
30 Franco Bertoni, Minimalist Architecture, trans. Lucinda Byatt (Basel: Birkhäuser,2002), 58.
Ledford 16
minimalist Cistercian architecture. Going against Le Corbusier’s
idea of architectural “dress,” Wigley claims, “No matter how many
surfaces of particular buildings are white, and how many appear
to faithfully exhibit the materials of construction, the fragile
coat of white that dissimulates its material prop continues to
act as the device for exposing which materials are covered and
which are not.”31 Wigley argues that the idea of architectural
‘dress’ of modern architecture cannot be upheld since it goes
against the forms of ‘modern technology’ and ‘functional
rationalization.’ What is important from Wigley’s book is the
connection of Le Corbusier and this language of fashion: “For Le
Corbusier, it is not the fit that counts but the space defined by
the shape of the clothing.”32 Le Corbusier rejected fashion, as
did many other architects of the modern period, but Le Corbusier
still espoused a ‘fashionable’ theory – that design is the
essence of architecture.
As we have seen above, John Pawson’s built Cistercian
structures are owed in part to Calvin Klein, a premier minimalist31 Wigley, White Walls, 362.
32 Ibid., 316.
Ledford 17
fashion designer. It was the Calvin Klein store on Madison Avenue
in New York City that the monks at Sept-Fons discovered through
Pawson’s book, Minimum, resulting in their decision to
commission him for designing Novy Dvur, and later the renovation
of Sept-Fons. The Calvin Klein store resembles an art gallery
because it is meant to showcase the design ideologies of Calvin
Klein, not to act solely as a retail store (Fig. 9). The store
was designed so that “…the visitor is invited to stroll through a
space in which personal ideas about elegance and luxury are
expressed.”33 So, John Pawson’s design for the Calvin Klein store
was more of a museum-type than simply a retail store, even though
this design cannot be fully separated from the issues of
architecture of retail and capitalism. Furthermore, John Pawson
designed an apartment for Calvin Klein and worked closely with
him on the New York High Line pavilion, so these connections are
not superfluous.
Just like the work of Le Corbusier, John Pawson’s work as a
whole, including his Cistercian buildings, has been scrutinized
and related to the fashion industry. For Pawson, this is more of
33 Francisco Asensio Cerver, Architecture of Minimalism (New York: Arco, 1997), 170.
Ledford 18
a direct relation because he has designed spaces for fashion and
for the fashionable elite; however, we must not let this view of
Pawson’s minimalist architecture define the essence of his
architecture. The design, according to Le Corbusier, is the
essence of architecture, and for Pawson, the design of his
Cistercian buildings might espouse a ‘fashionable’ form but its
formal relationship to its function inextricably ties these two
elements of his architecture together. To better understand this
relationship, let us look at an example by Luis Barragan.
Barragan designed a white wall as a component of the Drinking
Trough Fountain in Las Arboledas (Fig. 10). The form of the wall
is simple – a plain white surface. The function of the wall is
also simple, yet metaphysically complex – a screen to display the
changing light and shadows of the surrounding trees.34 This
simple white wall by Barragan has simple formal qualities but
functions as a deeper understanding of the locus – a reflection
of the non-manmade landscape.
We find a similar form-function relationship in John
Pawson’s Cistercian buildings. The cloister at Novy Dvur is the
34 Bertoni, Minimalist Architecture, 31-32.
Ledford 19
clearest example. The cloister carries an inherent history and
tradition that includes not only Cistercian architecture as a
whole, but also Le Thoronet’s barrel vaults. Furthermore, the
cloister design at Novy Dvur resists the criticisms of breaking
tradition in its enclosed, glass form because of practical and
functional concerns – weather and topography. Yet, in the design,
Pawson takes the liberty to introduce a metaphysical quality in
the cloister like Barragan does in Las Arboledas. Influenced by
the minimalist light installations of James Turrell, the end of
the corridors at Novy Dvur recall a Turrell-like deceptive
quality (Fig. 11). This is due to the ‘whitewashed’ walls, the
barrel vault, and the natural and manipulated light sources,
common qualities of Pawson’s minimalist design. The result is an
inextricable relationship between form and function. The cloister
form is necessary for the monastery and the ambulation of its
monks, and it functions as such, but the architectural detail in
design by Pawson raises the symbolism of light and space. This
follows the necessary unorthodox form of an enclosed cloister,
thus realizing that form and function are necessary benefactors
of each other in this case and throughout the design of the
Ledford 20
monastery.
The minimalist design of John Pawson and other architects of
minimalism regularly include spaces like Barragan’s ‘white wall.’
These are spaces that have been stripped to their bare minimum
and allow for reflection. What is reflected in each case is
different, but for Pawson’s Cistercian buildings, we can estimate
the reflections going on in these spaces. For in minimalist
architecture, “Physicality and spirituality, concreteness and
abstraction blend in minimal simplicity through the acquisition
of few, elemental, basic principles that, before being translated
into stone, were assimilated through an emotional, philosophical,
or religious route.”35 For the Cistercians, this minimalism was
established in stone in the 12th century and has been continued
today in the works of John Pawson. An anecdote from Pawson
concerning the design of Novy Dvur is relevant here: “I tried to
hide the cemetery at first, but when the monks noticed that, they
were unhappy and asked to have it put where they could see it
from the cloister. For them, that is the best part: they get to
35 Ibid., 58.
Ledford 21
go to heaven.”36
The theological functions of these Cistercian sacred spaces
have been included into the design of the space itself. Similarly
at Sept-Fons, the entrance room from the courtyard subtly guides
the visitor from a transitory space into the heart of the
building, the ‘lateral’ corridor leading into the church. In both
reduction, renovation, addition, and complete construction,
minimalist architecture has proved successful for both of these
Cistercian communities. This was not easy, as Pawson has said in
interviews. He had to change many things, like the cemetery view
above, to follow the theological functions of the space, but this
does not necessarily conclude that form follows function. In
these Cistercian abbeys, form and function are both ingrained
with theological and sacred details, working together in one
common space to house monks and allow for interaction with the
divine on a daily, routine basis, whether in the cloister,
refectory, scriptorium, or sanctuary.
Conclusion
36 Tyrnauer, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2006/08/minimalist-monastery-200608.
Ledford 22
Set up by St. Bernard in the 12th century, the schema for
building Cistercian monasteries has evolved and been reformed by
the modern era. However, the changes to typical Cistercian
architectural norms are for practical reasons, whether
manipulating form for function or function for form. As we have
seen, the Cistercian buildings of John Pawson have been designed
in the minimalist style, resulting partly from his influential
visits and installation at Le Thoronet. From Pawson’s much
publicized relationship to commercialism and Calvin Klein we were
able to extract the meaning of such a relationship as it relates
to Novy Dvur and Sept Fons through the work of Mark Wigley and
‘fashionable’ modernism; however, it was Le Corbusier’s opinion
that design is the essence of architecture that led us to analyze
the form-function relationship in the cloister at Novy Dvur and
to argue for their inextricability. Thus, through Barragan’s
‘white wall’ we are able to reflect on minimalissimo and
contemporary sacred architecture.
Ledford 23
Bibliography
Bertoni, Franco. Minimalist Architecture. Translated by Lucinda Byatt.Basel: Birkhäuser, 2002.
Britton, Karla. “Sacred Modern Architecture and the Abbey of Le Thoronet.” A+U 4 (2008): 31
36.
Cerver, Francisco Asensio. Architecture of Minimalism. New York: Arco, 1997.
Gonchar, Joann. “Monastery of Our Lady of Novy Dvur.” Architectural Record. September 2007.
Ledford 24
http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/interiors/archives/07_Monastery/.
Gregory, Rob. Key Contemporary Buildings: Plans, Sections, and Elevations. New York: Norton,
2008.
Krüger, Kristina. Monasteries and Monastic Orders. Salenstein, Switzerland: h.f.ullmann, 2010.
Le Corbusier. Introduction to Architecture of Truth, Lucien Hervé. London: Phaidon, 2001.
Lekai, Louis J., O.Cist. Preface to Studies in Cistercian Art and Architecture, Volume 1, Edited
by Meredith P. Lillich. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1982.
Leroux-Dhuys, Jean-François. Cistercian Abbeys: History and Architecture. Salenstein,
Switzerland: h.f.ullmann, 1998.
Lillich, Meredith P. Foreword (“The Common Thread”) to Studies in Cistercian Art and
Architecture, Volume 1, Edited by Meredith P. Lillich. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1982.
Morris, Alison. John Pawson: Plain Space. London: Phaidon, 2010.
Panofsky, Erwin. Introduction to Abbot Suger on the Abbey church of St.-Denis and its Art
Treasures, Edited by Erwin Panofsky. Princeton: Princeton U Press, 1946.
Pawson, John. Afterword to Architecture of Truth, Lucien Hervé. London: Phaidon, 2001.
Rudolph, Conrad. The “Things of Greater Importance”: Bernard of Clairvaux’s Apologia and
Ledford 25
the Medieval Attitude Toward Art. Philadelphia: UPenn Press, 1990.
Stegers, Rudolf. Sacred Buildings: A Design Manual. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag AG, 2008.
Stiegman, Emero. “Saint Bernard: The Aesthetics of Authenticity.”In Studies in Cistercian Art
and Architecture, Volume 2, Edited by Meredith P. Lillich. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1984.
Tyrnauer, Matt. “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Vanity Fair. August 2006.
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2006/08/minimalist-monastery-200608.
Wigley, Mark. White Walls, Designer Dresses: The Fashioning of Modern Archicture.
Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995.
-------“Abbey of Our Lady of Novy Dvur.” John Pawson: Works. Accessed March 22, 2014.
http://www.johnpawson.com/works/abbey-of-our-lady-of-novy-dvur/.
-------“Abbey of Our Lady of Nový Dvůr.” Phaidon Atlas. Accessed February 20, 2014.
http://phaidonatlas.com/building/abbey-our-lady-novy-dvur/1043.
Top Related