SACRED MONASTERY OF SAINT SUNNIVA

Proposal for new construction at Selja

September 2014

SACRED MONASTERY OF SAINT SUNNIVA

What can be a monastery?

The monastery is a community, and a combination of manual labor and prayer.

The Orthodox monastery is a place to live in peace, but it is also a welcoming center for Chris-tian life as well as renewal and specialization in faith.

SACRED MONASTERY OF SAINT SUNNIVA

THE LIGHT FROM SELJAThis document is a proposal for how the Orthodox Church’s Sacred Monastery of Saint Sunniva might look like. The drawings are based on the monastery lying on the northeastern part of the island between the pilgrim rou-te and the sea that divides it from Selje.

A vibrant monastery is wanted on Selja, and is already established the summer of 2014. When the monastery now are planned ahead, it is important that the buil-dings is fitted to the landscape it is situated.

A location adjacent to the existing path between Bø and the monastery will be ideal both to be accessible, vi-sible and open. It gives a good visual contact with the community at Selje, and from the center we can again see the light from Selja.

SACRED MONASTERY OF SAINT SUNNIVA

The organization

The traditional Orthodox monastery consists of three main parts- Opus Dei (the worship), Labor manuum (Work with your hands) and Lectio divina that is the reading of religious litera-ture.

The construction is therefore organized as wings around a central courtyard. There are openings to the surroundings in all four corners to show the monastery as an open institution, and invite visitors from all corners of the world. The sheltered courtyard allows for growing vegetables as well as healing herbs and medicines, and is surrounded by a colonnade. The various buildings are separated from each other in the ground floor, but linked through the embracing roof.

SACRED MONASTERY OF SAINT SUNNIVA

East Facade North Facade

West Facade South Facade

The Facades

The different facades all have their different identity that says something about the program inside the building, but still manages to provide a coherent expression through the use of materials. The building is set up as a wooden structure on a sole built of local stones, with a dominant weather-wall to the northwest. The idea behind the choice of material is to give the building a low-key and traditional look with local importance. Four houses with gable roof and tarred cladding surrounds the yard, and the belltower in the center of the farm can be seen from all four sides.

SACRED MONASTERY OF SAINT SUNNIVA

The monastery in the landscape

The monastery is proposed by Lyngnesvika, along the pilgrim route to Selja Monastery which is located just over 800 meters further west. Situated here, the institution the will be able to maintain a good contact with both locals and tourists, while the building is oriented in a way that makes the ”silent” areas of the building turn away from the path and rather face the sea. It has also been accomodated for a small shop to be placed in the entrance corner towards the throughfare.

Opposite page: Floorplan of the various parts of the buildings and their program.

SACRED MONASTERY OF SAINT SUNNIVA

HERBAL GARDEN

KITCHEN

CHURCH

WORKSPACE

SHOP

BEDROOMS

DINING ROOM

VEGETABLE GARDEN

GUEST ROOMS

BATH AND LAUNDRY ROOM

BELLTOWER

READING ROOM

SACRED MONASTERY OF SAINT SUNNIVA

The different zones:

Top left: It is prioritized open sightlines throughout the building and a clear ”main street” from the-southwestern entrance to the church and out the opposite side. When coming out of the iconosta-sis the sight is clear towards the Selja Monastery.

Top right: Entrances: Material Use and width indicates which paths / roads that have a public or private role. The illustration shows the main street as well as the paved area that surrounds the central garden.

Bottom left: The social and productive departments of the monastery is facing the pilegrim path and opens up for visits, discussion and participation.

Bottom right: The quiet parts of the monastery, the church and bedrooms, are all facing the sea, away from business and interaction. In the southeastern corner of the bedwing, the viewpoint over to Selje church is found a step down from the common level of the garden. This room is built in a human scale to be a place for silence and contemplation.

Opposite page: Selja with Mehuken and Kråkenes in the background.

SACRED MONASTERY OF SAINT SUNNIVA

East wing:

the sleeping wing should be facing east to decrease heating during the day, but also to utili-ze the morning sun. This wing will have the most private character, and therefore lie farthest from the path past the monastery. The large window in centre of the wall is a small room which is open from the garden side, where you can both look out to sea, towards Selje Chur-ch, but also to turn on the light and show from a far distance that the building is inhabited.

SACRED MONASTERY OF SAINT SUNNIVA

North Wing:

The Church has got to be the highest wing of the building. With the longest side facing to the north, as a Weatherwall to protect the building from the storm. It must also be oriented east-west in the same direction as the procession. There are few but strategically placed lightopenings in the stone wall, positioned vertically with respect to both the structure and the sa-cral atmostphere inside the church.

SACRED MONASTERY OF SAINT SUNNIVA

West Wing:

To the west lies the working section with workshops for production, overlooking the sea and the existing monastery. This is the most open and social part of the building programmatical-ly, and should therefore face the throughfare towards the monastery. This creates good visual contact between the monastery and the visitors of the island. From the church door to the left on the picture you can see over to the Selja Monastery and the ocean when exiting the church.

SACRED MONASTERY OF SAINT SUNNIVA

South Wing:

Kitchen and dining room should be located to the south, opposite the church with the cour-tyard inbetween. It must be the lowest wing to let sunlight into the courtyard where the herb garden is sheltered from storms and wind. Through the kitchen wing, one can walk directly out to the south side where sunlight is optimal for an ideal area to grow vegetables or have an orchard. Next to the stairs to the right in the picture is the airy room for drying clothes, added adjacent to the laundry room. The three doors leading to smaller and semi-conditioned basement storage rooms are ideal for storing garden tools and perhaps have a potato cellar. If needed, one of the cellars also be made into a husbandry.

SACRED MONASTERY OF SAINT SUNNIVA

Key Themes in the process:

Location: -soil conditions -antiquarian issues -accesibiliy / visual contact with local community and visitors -weather conditions - Possibility of agriculture

The Building: -materials -rules for orientation in monasteries -connection with program and activity -possible to build / maintain

Economy: -promotional financing / grant / loan schemes

To minimize the financial challenges one has to look at what resources the monastery and the local community can appoint. For example, the Orthodox monastery can po-sess many men to construct, and it should therefore be em-phasized a main construction that can be constructed in a simple manner, by local materials such as stone and wood.

SACRED MONASTERY OF SAINT SUNNIVA

Both of antiquarian and economic reasons, one should emphasize a building process with the le-ast amount of deep and drastic intervention in the terrain / ground.

One suggestion is to let the building rest on a natural stone masonry sole, where phrases or movements in the mire should not affect the buil-dings directly.

The process should be divided into stages where one starts with the church and a place to sleep, as well as sanitary facilities. Furthermore, work rooms and dining room will be developed over time with the associated storage rooms and guest rooms.

Aksel Stave ErvikBlaauwsvei 11, 5022 Bergen