UHLIŠTĚ MONASTERY

A diploma project in which architecture becomes a response to both sustainability and spiritual values. The monastic complex, with its farm, orchards and pathways, symbolizes strength, tranquility and life lived in deep harmony with the landscape.

Project year: 2016 (Diploma thesis by Zuzana)

Principal architect Zuzana Kurz

Completion year: –

Project year: 2016 (Diploma thesis by Zuzana)
Principal architect Zuzana Kurz
Completion year: –

 The monastery became an answer to the question of sustainable building and land stewardship, not only in terms of production, cultivation and self-sufficiency, but above all through the embedding of spiritual values into the landscape, creating a firm and lasting point of reference. We sought a theme that would embody the virtues of hospitality, independence, purity, love and steadfastness. We reflected on the life of an individual, on its cycles, its transience and its eternity. We longed for living architecture rather than an empty hotel placed in the borderlands. There was no other path than to create a farm, a homestead, a tavern, a marketplace, pastures, beehives, orchards, fields and a school. Thus we created a monastery – a symbol of strength, permanence, truth, learning, peace and love.

We approached the entire monastic complex as a single composition, designing not only buildings but also roads, alleys, paths, meadows, water channels and garden plots. The cultivated landscape naturally flowed into the wild terrain of streams, fields and forests. We perceive the monastery itself as a closed world, with a unique inner life, which is slow-paced and deeply connected to God in every moment. It is a place of utmost concentration and prayer, yet also one that unites, welcomes and breathes at once quiet and lively. So, what makes a monastery a monastery? It is its own world and the story that lives within it.

Materials

Wood  •  Concrete  •  Glass

Materials

• Wood
• Concrete
• Glass

All work © KURZ architects