| | Asceticism and monasticism form an innate coupling in most minds: we equate sparseness with the solitude and silence of deep meditation. Purity, serenity, austerity and severity are the hallmarks of Peter Kulka’s Haus der Stille (House of Silence) for the Benedictine Order in Meschede, Germany, a structure monolithically dedicated to mindful introspection.
Where the intention with many religious buildings is to facilitate communal worship, the House of Silence is instead designed to foster a solitary, self-contained communing with God. Kulka’s ‘Minimalism and Sensuality’ exhibition catalogue features telling words from German writer Max Picard: “Silence penetrates the noise of today’s world like something primordial. It lurks there like an ancient beast. We can still see the broad back of silence, but the body of the beast sinks ever deeper into the general undergrowth of today’s noise”. The House of Silence is a temporary retreat from the noise and disorder of modern living, where visitors can stay in quiet contemplation, away from the pressures of work, urbanity and materialism.
The two buildings of the House of Silence serve very different purposes. The narrower block encases the staircase in raw white concrete, and the broader – the Seinshaus or House of Being – houses the guest cells and meditation area.
The outdoor gravel-floored rift between the two blocks is spanned by various enclosed, glazed walkways – a structure intended to connote passing into (and out of) the world of meditation.
Like the inner struggle between a free and a restrained soul, the House of Silence also represents a dichotomous relationship with nature; a conflict between raw materials and strictly controlled environment. Blonde oak, exposed concrete and clay floors co-exist with unfurnished rooms, unglazed metal window frames, and fixed glass panels. Despite this modern interpretative design, however, the interior is actually quite typical of classical monastic architecture, with the traditional elements of pathway, chapel, refectory and cells.
The chapel, at the rear of the stairwell in the narrower of the two buildings, is devoid of windows and furnishings. No light enters but for a tiny skylight, and an austere stainless steel crucifix is the sole earthly focus of meditation. The meditation area spans two storeys on the lower level, created by the gentle slope into which the building is set.
The twenty sparse guest rooms are located on the upper two floors. Kulka, perhaps aware that too much austerity is not always a good thing, countered the severe heaviness of the structure with the glazed panels of the guest accommodation cells. Unwilling to extend too far into the world of comfort, these glass panels cannot be opened, and ventilation is instead achieved through unglazed stainless steel window doors - no doubt very refreshing on crisp winter mornings. Intended as a temporary retreat into quiet solitude, each room is as minimal as minimalism gets: unfinished concrete walls and ceiling, wooden floor, glazed outward aspect, and ‘integrated’ bed, shelf, bathroom, desk and chair, all in simple, plain white materials.
Peter Kulka’s real into the architecture world was in the Herzog, Köpke, Kulka, Töpper and Siepmann partnership and their design of the University of Bielefeld. Establishing his own firm in 1979, he expanded operations in 1991 to an office in his home town of Dresden, and his career entered its minimalist phase, epitomised by this House of Silence.
It is Kulka’s second project for the Benedictines, the first being his extension of the same Abtei Königmünster monastery in the 1980s. Set among apple trees in the gentle hills of Meschede in the Ruhr Valley, the House of Silence has been described by one of its abbots, Father Abraham, as lying in the orchard “like a primordial beast; monumental in its existence and yet utterly immersed in itself”. Picard’s silence it is: a physical representation of solitude and silence, as austere in its architecture as it is in its spiritual significance. + Previous. The structure is built into the gentle slope of the hillside, emphasising its sturdy permanence. Top. The split body of the House of Silence sits among the apple trees of Meschede: the larger House of Being, and the narrow stairwell block. Second. The only light entering the chapel, at the rear of the narrower block, is from this dark skylight: there are no windows or furnishings. Natural light and serene picture-window gardens also play an essential design role in the church. Floor-level window apertures create a natural halo around the walls and ceiling. Third. Communal meeting spaces and natural vistas counteract the solitary austerity of the accommodation and meditation areas. Bottom. The rift between the two buildings is bridged by a series of glazed passageways, via which guests can enter and depart the meditative space.
Images courtesy of Peter Kulka
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