Deep Austerity 1
John Marshall
Introduction In current culture, political, social and architectural thought can be approached with conventional bias, where the ordinary and familiar accepted as given conditions, due to their apparent certainty and security. This narrow and regular path tends to neglect a vast spectrum of potential experiences to be encountered with the world. One theory that has influenced many of the arts and initiated discourse in architecture about such states of mind is the ‘uncanny’, the ‘unhomely’; an unsettling condition of familiarity, whilst equally containing an element of unknown, which results in a feeling of uncomfortable estrangement (Vidler, 1992). Furthermore there are intrinsic links to notions of the ‘sublime’, through insecurity and the feelings of terror in time and space, which ultimately bring to consciousness the mortal fate of human life. This is not to discount the possibility of gaining pleasure from the sublime if a degree of security is felt; in noble (wonder) and splendid (pervaded beauty) (Kant, 1764) “Sublime objects create particular problems for the sensations – by presenting themselves as too powerful or too vast or too obscure or too much deprivation for the senses to process them comfortably.” (Fergson 1992, p.8). This essay will explore these theories by discussing, through reference to the simple monastic lifestyle and its architecture, aspects of and issuing surrounding silence, solitude and darkness, which in present urban reality are so often met with anxiety, impatience and fear. It aims to highlight the hidden phenomenological depth of these conditions, and offer an alternative view to their common preconceptions.
3
Culture In the highly technological cultures of today, through high-speed virtual domains and modes of transport, perceptions of time and space are constantly changing, where duration has been compressed and the world’s scale shifted from vast to accessibly local. Society is in a state of relentless progression, to become better, faster, and even differ. In this state of change, towards improvement, the perceptual world, with its phenomena and conditions, can be forgotten and become background to daily life. Hurried journeys to reach a desired destination may blur and distort our present being and future memories. Materialist and consumerist lifestyles equally accompany this state of mind, where motivated by affluence and a lust to impress, possessions are acquired and later replaced in changing fashions. This typically unnecessary ownership steers life away from simplicity into complexity where conscious appreciation becomes oppressed by greed. Silence, solitude and darkness are rare commodities in these modernised cultures, with its cities and buildings dominated by noise, people and light. The once quieter, technology and vehicle free cities, prior twentieth century modernisations, are far from what we can expect to encounter today. The buildings we enter and private homes we dwell within are not exclusive from this situation, with an ever-increasing influx of noisy devices to make life easier and quicker. Even whilst on the move, sound is at the disposal of desire, to satisfy entertainment needs or simply enter a new world, to shun silence and reality (Foster, 1980). However, when society retreats from this chaotic existence and enter tranquillity, the countryside for example, one can expect to notice
5
and appreciate these environments and experience a connection with nature. Yet why is it noisy domains are continually accepted, unquestioned, unchanged; what if the world was silent? Another culture contradiction arises in the presence or absence of people. Crowds can cause great disturbance, be it aurally or physically, although without others one may begin to feel lonely. “Maybe André Maurois was right when he said, “Men fear silence as they fear solitude, because both give them a glimpse of the terror of life’s nothingness.” (Allegra, n.d.). Fear in the world is maybe most apparent and relative to many in thoughts and experiences of darkness. Even in familiar surroundings, the ambiguity of dark space begins to set the imagination into a world of what might be where one cannot see. Vidler (1992) argues the convention in modern urbanism is to fill space with light and in architecture to open up space to vision, which has resulted in a built environment of transparency where control is sought rather than the unknown in the unseen. On the contrary to contemporary culture, the monastic lifestyle incorporates few developments from the modernised world. The Cistercian order, conceived at the turn of the twelfth century, remains rooted in historical traditions and continues to occupy simplified architectural building models as influenced by Bernard of Clairvaux (Kinder, 2002). Silence and solitude in these secluded communities are abundant due to the austere order of interiority. “A life constructed around simple rituals, repetition and an absence of what is not necessary… Monastic life takes the everyday rituals of
7
life and formalises them, harnessing the potential for gravitas in the simplest of actions.” (Pawson, 2003). The documentary film ‘Into Great Silence’, solely produced by Philip Groning in 2006, is an insight into the Grande Chartreuse monastery, located in the French Alps. More than a mere depiction of the monastery, the documentary embodies the notions of monastic life through its methodology; in its overall duration, long still shots, and near silence, be it not for the sounds of nature, Gregorian chants and resonating bells. It creates a brief meditative immersion into the slow and silent life of monks.
Simplicity Bernard’s ‘Apologia’ on spirituality in the Cistercian order was written shortly after the orders conception. Covering food, clothing and buildings, it was significant in communicating a greater importance for simplicity. Bernard strongly believed in the exclusion of objects that would detract from the monastic quest for interior vision and harmony. However, he did not discount beauty, but merely object to instances of beauty that may attract the eye away from thought and images of the world in the mind (Kinder, 2002). “In short, so many and marvellous are the various shapes surrounding us that it is more pleasant to read the marble than the books, and to spend the whole day marvelling over these things rather than meditating.” (Bernard, 1125). Since Bernard’s writings, the Cistercian order has adopted a philosophy of simplicity across all aspects life, even in its architecture; from the monastery layout to the aesthetics of space.
9
Simplicity as a general condition is mentioned in Kant’s examples of the three kinds of sublime. He states that “the sublime must be simple: the beautiful adorned and ornamented”. (Kant, 1785, p.48). The sublime of the simple is noble, ensuing quiet wonder in the experiences of space. Without ornamentation, one bypasses the object and begins to encounter the world of phenomena and thought. Fergson (1992, p.7) argues that “The sublime represents the interest in all the intentional states that are unconcerned with the existence of objects.” Simplified architectural aesthetics can be met with prejudice where minimal inclusions are perceived to lack interest for the eye. But as with silence, is it just provoking the fear of nothingness? Bernard believed beauty was falsely used to merely arouse affection as a result of not being able to do so through spiritual means (Bernard, 1125). Architecturally, visual complexity, through objects and ornamentation, can be are applied to view and occupy the mind, if only to establish interest. However, a number of current architects work in contrast to this and apply a doctrine of visual simplicity to their work, notably John Pawson and Tadao Ando. Far from simplistic as the aesthetic might suggest, beyond what can be seen prevails thorough logic, an order for only the essential, which has been reasoned and measured. Construction requires a high level of finesse to avoid the visibility of mistakes. “Omission and emptiness… draws attention to the buildings internal logic.” (Fuktutake, 2001, p.15). The impact of this methodology begins to invite one into the whole experience and attempts to prevent the loss of time in the need to read symbols. In her account of John Pawson’s home, neighbour Katherine Bucknell (2005, p.67) describes her encounter and feelings within spaces of
11
simplicity “A scene so powerfully that anything placed inside them acquires an aura of being exceptionally meaningful, exceptionally valued. ‘Minimalist’ doesn’t in my view account for the effect; on the contrary, the effect is ‘Maximal’, supercharged, eerie, occasionally mystical.” In addition to aesthetics, simplicity in architectural environments can affect its inhabitants in their occupation of space, through narratives, activity and possessions. Kinder (2002, p.161) identifies: “If one is surrounded with narrative, the narrative invites follow-up with the mind, and the activity stays mental. If one lives in a constant state of excitement, one is constantly abuzz and may have difficulty sitting still. If one lives amid clutter, regardless of who created it, the clutter, too, plays upon the inhabitant.” In the Grande Chartreuse monastery Bernard’s vision of simplicity is widely realised, in the personal bedrooms of necessity, throughout the circulating communal corridors and into the large-scale clarity of the church. Ornamentation is absent in place of space that logical, functional and most of all simple for the eye and mind. One prominent feature of the architectural plan is repetition. The long corridors circulating the cloister, feeding functional rooms, are perforated with a regular pattern. “Without similarity we cannot know difference” (Moryadas, 2005, p.37). It is this simple similarity, where one can become familiar, that dynamic phenomenon of space is noticeable. A clear example of this can be seen in the numerous alterations of light entering the corridors through narrow openings. Here light modulates over the passage of time, changing the space it enters. Here we can say there is change is repetition. Another simple detail
13
of the monastic aesthetic is its furniture, the majority of which is built into the architecture. This further eliminates the perception of objects, disguising them into the background of daily activity. However it is not the furniture of comfort we so often seek in our homes. “We so love comfort the we intricately adapt our living spaces to our physical and emotional needs.” (Moryadas, 2005, p.68). The materials, as found throughout the buildings, are typically natural, in timber and stone. Their design offers little comfort; soft furnishings are seldom, subjecting the monks, in some cases, to a degree of discomfort. This effect prevents relaxation, keeping them on the edge of awareness, constantly shifting to relieve the discomfort.
Silence and Solitude “The architecture of silence in introspective. The mood created by the simplicity exudes an atmosphere of harmony and an appeal for silence, necessary for experience the beauty of emptiness.” (Fuktutake, 2001, p.19). The ideas of simplicity extend beyond sight to the aural perception of sound. The distractions of vision can, if required, be ignored by omission and ignorance of directional sight, whereas the omnidirectional nature of sound creates problems for escape. Therefore to concentrate and enter the interiority of thought, the order demands silence. Pallasmaa (2009, p.52) states: “Silence focuses our attention on our very existence. ...matter, space and time fuse into one singular elemental experience, the sense of being”. Silence enables us to become aware of dynamic changes happening rather than be affected by the disturbance from noise. Not only does this focus the self but it also opens up a new level of perception
15
in space. More than vocal omission for the mind to speak, silence in architecture can begin to reveal the phenomenological qualities of space. In urban settings “Less trafficked cities are the ones that have the most sonic personality” (Manaugh, 2002, p.149). It is these personalities of architectural space in silence that contribute to our experience and memories. There are occasions however when monks are required to expel sound. Few occasions, such as the once weekly communal external walks allow speech. Although it is in its main occurrence, church prayer, that sound takes on a whole new quantity than mere communicative and disturbing noise. The acoustics, from the hard stone surfaces of the church, manipulate and affect the sound of Gregorian chants, creating a need for discipline to ensure harmony in their songs. The reverberation of sound continues to add a new dimension to sound by making a far greater impression of volume, amplifying the songs in the vast space. In this instance, sound of such quality can cause one to enter a trance where time and being merge into one. Solitude is inherently linked to silence, for when one is in solitude, one is often silent and in the cognitive dimension. In the silence and stillness of solitude, time can slow to a crawl, altering perceptions of duration, extending its length. “Burke and Kant… both link the beautiful with society and the sublime with individuals isolated” (Fergson, 1992, p.3). Kant (1785) extends his ideas of sublime isolation to the identification of loneliness and long duration. Isolation he considered as a terrifying sublime whereas long duration he proposed depends on the approach of thought. Long duration, be it forward or backward in time can be noble or terrifying, be they optimistic thoughts of wonder in endless possibilities or pessimistic
17
thoughts of terror in an endless eternity. It is this vast scale of time found in silence that brings to mind mortality and the realisation of the impossibility of access to the infinite future. The nocturnal sound of a resting city can bring to mind ones solitude where the emptiness and magnitude of time become evident and human mortality a reality. Furthermore Vidler (1992) notes interiority as the true site of the uncanny, the final place of resistance against progression. In solitude we leave the homely comfort of reality into the dream world of an infinite dimension. Details and images fade causing time to unconsciously pass by (Bachelard, 1994). Monastic architecture begins to deal with accommodating this need for silence and solitude in its secluded rooms, long walkways and inward focus. Furthermore clothing, the hooded gown, in itself is a local isolation for the individual where once inside the surroundings are further ignored for self-interiority. The warping of time within many of these spaces is clearly evident; where isolation or physical length begins to slow down and extend duration where temporality collapses and consciousness of our very existence in the present becomes apparent.
Darkness Out of the light where its beams and refractions do not reach, behind the objects it hits, enters shadow and darkness. Light has become quantitative rather than qualitative, where expansive openings inject excessive light into space. Whether it is the lack of clarity or haunting imagination allowed to roam, darkness continues to disturb the mind, and as a result the modernised world has become dominated by luminous light. Even at night, in the veil of natural darkness, its presence is fought away, preventing qualities of mystery and tactility.
19
Aesthetically Tanizaki (2001) argues that the quality of shadows is in its mystery and depth, which is superior to ornamentation. It is simple in its discreet ability to hide a mass of information at any one time. What materials are still available to be seen, those still picking up faint glimmers of light, are mysterious, unconfirmed and seduce interest through the desire to obtain clarity. Pallasmaa (2009) considers deep shadows and darkness to be essential in the qualities of space. He identifies their ability to dim sharp vision, and thus diminish our visual perception of space through the ambiguity of distance. This lack of visual clarity brings to awareness an uncanny new perspective and alters our senses to those typically suppressed (sound, touch, smell) by the immediacy of sight. It creates a depersonalised account of experience where one becomes wholly absorbed in new experiences of space than those lived on a day-to-day basis. In many of the scenes shown in the documentary darkness prevails. The monastic life and its architecture accentuate darkness to further remove distractive objects from he meditative mind. Movement through the dark corridors that surround the cloister bring to mind ideas of a world out of reality, for the monks something of purgatory where they may feel closer to their final quest. Darkness is most prevalent in the midnight church service where, but for dim lighting to illuminate hymnbooks, the vast empty space is extended by a boundless black sheet. It is in this condition of dark space that the sublime is strongly felt, where terror and wonder live in their abundance. The immensity of space within the Grand Chartreuse extends beyond the illusion of metaphysical darkness into the enormity of nature in the surrounding environment. The film regularly cuts to images of
21
the dwarfing landscape. Located in a valley, as with many Cistercian monasteries, the buildings are surrounded by steep mountain peaks and vast expanses of forest. Further still, its deep isolation away from urban development, opens up the clear sky to infinite deep space. “Kant restricts the sublime to human pleasure in nature.� (Fergson, 1994, p.4). It is this sublime juxtaposing scale that highlights our size in the enormity of infinity. We are but just a small part of an incomprehensible universe.
23
Conclusion It is clearly evident that many aspects of the monastic lifestyle and its architecture are different to that contemporary culture is accustomed to. However it is interesting to consider how this contrast, if transferred, might change our existence and perceptions. Bachelard (1994, p.206) suggests: “Each new contact with the cosmos renews our inner being, and that every new cosmos is open to us when we have freed ourselves from the ties of a former sensitivity.” It is the final words of this statement that I believe most relevant and important to the lessons in monastic life. For many people are tied to their preconceptions and traditions of thought. If we were able to approach each experience, be it previously in scepticism or fear, then we might encounter something revitalising. If not to propose something less extreme, if we were to slow down and take heed of the changes around us, we may be able to seek satisfaction in whatever surroundings we find ourselves in and appreciate even the most mundane of tasks. “Why not bring to our ordinary daily rituals our most sacramental attitude? We need not renounce the world, as monks do, but… we might, in a more focused setting achieve a richer experience of our necessary and familiar private pursuits.” (Moryadas, 2005, p.69).
25
Bibliography Books: • Bachelard, G. (1994). The Poetics of Space. Boston: Beacon Press. • Bucknell, K. (2005). How it Seems to a Neighbour. in Moryadas, A. & Morris, A. eds. John Pawson: Themes and Projects. New York: Phaidon Press Inc. pp.67-69 • Fergson, F. (1992). Solitude and the Sublime. New York: Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc. • Foster, R.J. (1980). Celebration of Discipline: The Path To Spiritual Growth. London: Hodder & Stoughton • Fuktutake, S. (2001). Tadao Ando: Architecture of Silence: Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum. Translated by Elizabeth Schwaiger. Basel: Birkhäuser • Holl, S. Pallasmaa, J. & Perez-Gomes A. (2006). Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture. Tokyo: A+U Publishing Co., Ltd • Kant, I. (1764). Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime. Translated by: John T. Goldthwait, 2003. California: University of California Press • Kinder, T.N. (2002). Cistercian Europe: Architecture of Contemplation. Grand Rapids, Michigan.: William B. Eerdmans; Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications • Manaugh, G. (2009). The BLDG BLOG Book. San Francisco: Chronicle Books LLC. • Moryadas, A. & Morris, A. eds. (2005). John Pawson: Themes and Projects. New York: Phaidon Press Inc. • Pallasmaa, J. (2009). The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. • Tanizaki, J. (2001). In Praise of Shadows. Translated by: Jonathan Cape. 1991. London: Vintage Books. • Vidler, A. (1992). The Architectural Uncanny: Essays In The Modern Unhomely. Cambridge, Massachusetts: M.I.T. Press. Websites: • Allegra, A. (n.d). Silence Is Golden. [Online] Available at: http://www.spiritfilledliving.com [Accessed 2 April 2010] • Bernard, of Clairvaux (1125). Building Apologia. Translated by: David Burr [Online] Available at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/bernard1.html [Accessed 27 April 2010] • Pawson, J. (2003). Essays: Monastery. [Online] Available at: http://www. johnpawson.com/essays/monastery [Accessed 27 April 2010] Films and Images: • Into Great Silence. 2006 [DVD] New York: Zeitgeist Films