Neu-Feudalism

Urban Monastery - Chicago, IL

Group of 3 under John Ronan

Render by Myles Emmons

In this project, we explored how something ordinary can become extraordinary. Our relationship to the earth is primordial; we grow our food from it, we use it for shelter and we return to it after passing.

“By the sweat of your face

you shall eat bread,

till you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

for you are dust,

and to dust you shall return.”

Genesis 3:19

English Standard Version

Clay is of the earth and in its current state is almost imperceptible human awareness because it is mostly layered underneath the earth’s surface. When this raw material is taken out of the ground, processed and crafted does it become explicitly meaningful. The idea was to create a place of dwelling, work and worship for 100 monks. The monks are paradoxically the same yet different, so our crafted earth blocks are similarly identical yet subtly unique.

Our spatial concept is inspired by caves; caves appear to be carved into the earth and the earliest monks used caves for their meditations and rituals. We therefore chose to subtract earth from the site so that the spaces are embedded into the ground, thereafter using the excavated material to construct different shell structures to cap each space. The shell structures are made of tapered masonry units, varying in size, some of which are hollow, so that daylight may enter.

Building Blocks:

1) notched + dry fit

2) cast glass infill of masonry

(1)

Aerial Section perspective displaying underground monk’s cells with connecting stairs to the cloister. The cloister has an arcade facing the exterior courtyard. The thick earth layer above the cells serves as a public garden also used for water retention (long term water storage). The courtyard floor serves as a water detention layer (short term storage) that floods and dries out with the rhythmic rainfall an weather patterns.