Christian monasteries and convents, built throughout Europe for the best part of 1,500 years, are... more Christian monasteries and convents, built throughout Europe for the best part of 1,500 years, are now at a crossroads. This study attempts to understand the sacred architecture of monasteries as a process of the tangible and symbolic organisation of space and time for religious communities. Despite the weight of seemingly immutable monastic tradition, architecture has contributed to developing specific religious identities and played a fundamental part in the reformation of different forms of religious life according to the changing needs of society. The cloister is the focal point of this book because it is both architecture, a physically built reality, and a metaphor for the religious life that takes place within it. “Life inside the Cloister” also addresses the afterlife and heritagisation of monastic architecture in secularised Western society. This book is not only targeted at students and project architects but at all those seeking to understand monastic architecture beyond the beauty of its stones and its richness of styles.
In this time of abandonment of historical religious traditions, the convents, monasteries, and ab... more In this time of abandonment of historical religious traditions, the convents, monasteries, and abbeys that punctuate our rural and urban landscapes are threatened properties. The communities that built them, lived in theme, and have thus far ensured their survival can no longer bear the burden of their heritage value. These remarkable buildings and their gardens are increasingly the object of society's affection, and yet at the same time are more and more coveted by real estate developers. What is to be done with such a rich and weighty legacy? This collective publication brings together contributions that provide ways of thinking about the issues of secularization, adaptive reuse, or the governance of former religious buildings. It also intends to contribute to the debate on financial, legal, urbanistic, and memorial implications of the new destinies of convents and their redevelopment.
FOREWORD
These proceedings document the work of a wide range of researchers, academics and expert... more FOREWORD These proceedings document the work of a wide range of researchers, academics and experts from across the world, each presenting at the Masterplanning the Future international conference held in China on October 18th and 19th 2012. These proceedings of the conference outline a variety of intellectual explorations relating to historical and contemporary situations, discussions and case studies, in China and around the world. As a body of work, and as a contribution to open enquiry, this is less an examination of how direct "conclusions" or "lessons" can be learned from different historical periods and social circumstances, but hopefully helpfully, the exchange of ideas and experiences facilitated by the Masterplanning the Future conference may help to stimulate a better understanding of architecture, contemporary and traditional urbanism; fostering critical awareness and challenging perceptions. Within a rapidly urbanizing world, the contributors look variously at whether advocacy for, criticism of, or rejection of modern design – as well as Modernist idealism - can go some way to help us understand the global urban condition. Let’s take the West, Africa and China as historico-cultural points on the compass. The West: In early 20th century Europe, modernist Charles Jencks considers talk of a zeitgeist to be pernicious the appeal of Modernism was that it caught the zeitgeist of a social liberationist tendency. It divided opinion then, and continues to do so today. Post- and academic Westfall suggests that the impact of Modernist historicism to be tyrannous . But whether in agreement or otherwise, Modernism operated within an era of social transformation: it was widely noted that it reflected an experimental age, in which . In the course of the early years of the new century, risk-taking avant-gardism in the West seems to have been replaced - for better or worse - by risk-aversion. Does this current attitude reflect a maturation from the age of innocence shown by early Modernists contemporary 2011) the self-assurance to try and to fail (Westfall: ; or is it a sign of a loss of nerve in the  period. Africa: As it usurps Asia as the most rapidly urbanising region in the world, many commentators, such as Mike Davis, use the African continent as a cypher for their disillusion with the modern world. The vision of the African city as innocent and about to be ravaged by modernity, recalls the view of Oswald Spengler who linked the decline of Western civilization with the rise of the new. In contemporary critiques, modernism in Africa reflects a cultural colonialism rather than a progressive developmental model (Avermate et al: 2010), with opponents advocating against direct planned improvements in living standards; Koolhaas, for example, celebrates his observation that ” (Koolhaas: 2002). Many in Africa are striving for a new way modernity, but is there just cause to kick against the Eurocentric model of development just because of its colonial past? (Araeen: 2003) When writers problematize "when modernism... transplanted to Africa, being not endogenous, it grafted poorly to existing life structures" (Agwuele: 2012), there is an implicit reverence for the economic and developmental gap. Modern life did not transplant into the relative poverty of Africa, they say, because Africa wasn't sufficiently developed to accept it. So how are we - or they - to square this underdevelopment circle? China: Continuity and change have long been the hallmarks of Chinese development throughout the centuries. As such, a synergy between contemporary and traditional needs is conjured up in the abstract notion of "Modernity with Chinese characteristics" (Esherick: 2000). Conversely, the Masterplanning the Future keynote speaker, Professor Wang Yun, director of Atelier Fronti bemoans Modernism's “erasure” from China’s collective memory. Is there really a harmonious way to balance the needs and desires of the past and the future? Or does China’s current epoch exemplify the somewhat antagonistic rise of progress, sometimes codified as social modernity. These abovementioned vignettes are simply placed here as illustrative models, however, the contributions within these proceedings are much more detailed, specific - and engaging - and are chosen as papers that will stimulate contention, discussion and argument. (Jencks: 2002) designers had “in Lagos there is no choice, but there are countless ways to articulate the condition of no choice 4 We believe that these proceedings, initiated by Masterplanning the Future's "Modernism: East, West & Across The World" conference, are an excellent opportunity to take a lead in a debate that will change the way that architecture and urbanism is understood and discussed in China... and further afield. As the conference convenor, I, together with co-organiser, Theodoros Dounas, are delighted to have published these works which I hope will get the fullest credit and critique. As presenters and contributors to the academic conference, I believe that you have opened a window on the modern condition. Austin Williams XJTLU
When a church closes or is demolished, the entire society suffers a loss of heritage. Should we t... more When a church closes or is demolished, the entire society suffers a loss of heritage. Should we then go on believing that the historic monument status can save all churches or giving the illusion that they are not threatened? A glance at reality however emphasizes the need to think further on that spirit of preservation, its financial mechanisms and social rationale. The Ninth international Young Scholars Conference on Heritage from which this book comes up scrutinized the communal future of churches as well as the underlying transition strategies. The book contains 4 chapters in English and 5 chapter sin French.
Living in Purity. The St. Agnes Beguinage at St. Truiden: The Court, the Church, the Wall Paintin... more Living in Purity. The St. Agnes Beguinage at St. Truiden: The Court, the Church, the Wall Paintings.
Download Pdf of full color book free on: https://oar.onroerenderfgoed.be/publicaties/RELM/2/RELM002-001.pdf
The art of illumination, usually associated with the Middle Ages, experienced a spectacular reviv... more The art of illumination, usually associated with the Middle Ages, experienced a spectacular revival in nineteenth-century Western Europe. The completely different context gave the illuminations another import. The output of the lay and the religious workshops reveals a great artistic, stylistic, technical and typological diversity. The works illuminated go far beyond the world of exceptional and precious manuscripts and include many occasional documents, as well as golden books, devotional images etc.
Richly illustrated with unpublished masterworks, this book offers an overview of the important revival of medieval illumination. The fifteen authors do not limit their approach to the traditional question of art history. Rather, they explore the historical, socio-cultural, ideological and religious components of the revival, which changed according to time and country, in order to understand the evolution and success of the art of illumination in the nineteenth century.
Publications d'Histoire de l'Art et d'Archéologie de l'Université Catholique de Louvain, 72, 1990
This book tells the heritagization of the former abbey of Villers (Belgium) since the dispersion ... more This book tells the heritagization of the former abbey of Villers (Belgium) since the dispersion of the Cistercian monks and the sale of the buildings in 1797. How and why did the abbey became a ruin? Why the ruin attracted artists and tourists, historians and archaeologists? Why did the Belgian State bought the ruins in 1892 and undertook important restoration works from 1893 to 1914? The book stresses the changing heritage perceptions and values each generation is projecting on the ruins.
Archives Générales du Royaume. Fonds conservés hors des archives de l'État, n° 2, 1992
Inventory of an important collection of Belgian monuments restoration plans, consisting in 2730 ... more Inventory of an important collection of Belgian monuments restoration plans, consisting in 2730 documents drawn between 1850 and 1930, concerning 125 civil and religious monuments. The plans are from various origins but were collected by the "Service du Répertoire des Biens Culturels", an office especially created by the Belgian State in 1952 with the aim of realizing an index of cultural property and restoration files. In the context of the "cold war", great programs of protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict were elaborated in the mind of the Unesco's The Hague Convention (1954). The Belgian State stopped the program in 1960. The collection of plans is conserved in the Royal Museum of Art and History in Brussels. See also article: Thomas Coomans " Vlaamse en Brusselse monumenten in het plannenfonds van het Repertotium van het Cultureel Bezit", in "M&L. Monumenten en Landschappen", 11/1, February 1992, p. 46-57.
Christian monasteries and convents, built throughout Europe for the best part of 1,500 years, are... more Christian monasteries and convents, built throughout Europe for the best part of 1,500 years, are now at a crossroads. This study attempts to understand the sacred architecture of monasteries as a process of the tangible and symbolic organisation of space and time for religious communities. Despite the weight of seemingly immutable monastic tradition, architecture has contributed to developing specific religious identities and played a fundamental part in the reformation of different forms of religious life according to the changing needs of society. The cloister is the focal point of this book because it is both architecture, a physically built reality, and a metaphor for the religious life that takes place within it. “Life inside the Cloister” also addresses the afterlife and heritagisation of monastic architecture in secularised Western society. This book is not only targeted at students and project architects but at all those seeking to understand monastic architecture beyond the beauty of its stones and its richness of styles.
In this time of abandonment of historical religious traditions, the convents, monasteries, and ab... more In this time of abandonment of historical religious traditions, the convents, monasteries, and abbeys that punctuate our rural and urban landscapes are threatened properties. The communities that built them, lived in theme, and have thus far ensured their survival can no longer bear the burden of their heritage value. These remarkable buildings and their gardens are increasingly the object of society's affection, and yet at the same time are more and more coveted by real estate developers. What is to be done with such a rich and weighty legacy? This collective publication brings together contributions that provide ways of thinking about the issues of secularization, adaptive reuse, or the governance of former religious buildings. It also intends to contribute to the debate on financial, legal, urbanistic, and memorial implications of the new destinies of convents and their redevelopment.
FOREWORD
These proceedings document the work of a wide range of researchers, academics and expert... more FOREWORD These proceedings document the work of a wide range of researchers, academics and experts from across the world, each presenting at the Masterplanning the Future international conference held in China on October 18th and 19th 2012. These proceedings of the conference outline a variety of intellectual explorations relating to historical and contemporary situations, discussions and case studies, in China and around the world. As a body of work, and as a contribution to open enquiry, this is less an examination of how direct "conclusions" or "lessons" can be learned from different historical periods and social circumstances, but hopefully helpfully, the exchange of ideas and experiences facilitated by the Masterplanning the Future conference may help to stimulate a better understanding of architecture, contemporary and traditional urbanism; fostering critical awareness and challenging perceptions. Within a rapidly urbanizing world, the contributors look variously at whether advocacy for, criticism of, or rejection of modern design – as well as Modernist idealism - can go some way to help us understand the global urban condition. Let’s take the West, Africa and China as historico-cultural points on the compass. The West: In early 20th century Europe, modernist Charles Jencks considers talk of a zeitgeist to be pernicious the appeal of Modernism was that it caught the zeitgeist of a social liberationist tendency. It divided opinion then, and continues to do so today. Post- and academic Westfall suggests that the impact of Modernist historicism to be tyrannous . But whether in agreement or otherwise, Modernism operated within an era of social transformation: it was widely noted that it reflected an experimental age, in which . In the course of the early years of the new century, risk-taking avant-gardism in the West seems to have been replaced - for better or worse - by risk-aversion. Does this current attitude reflect a maturation from the age of innocence shown by early Modernists contemporary 2011) the self-assurance to try and to fail (Westfall: ; or is it a sign of a loss of nerve in the  period. Africa: As it usurps Asia as the most rapidly urbanising region in the world, many commentators, such as Mike Davis, use the African continent as a cypher for their disillusion with the modern world. The vision of the African city as innocent and about to be ravaged by modernity, recalls the view of Oswald Spengler who linked the decline of Western civilization with the rise of the new. In contemporary critiques, modernism in Africa reflects a cultural colonialism rather than a progressive developmental model (Avermate et al: 2010), with opponents advocating against direct planned improvements in living standards; Koolhaas, for example, celebrates his observation that ” (Koolhaas: 2002). Many in Africa are striving for a new way modernity, but is there just cause to kick against the Eurocentric model of development just because of its colonial past? (Araeen: 2003) When writers problematize "when modernism... transplanted to Africa, being not endogenous, it grafted poorly to existing life structures" (Agwuele: 2012), there is an implicit reverence for the economic and developmental gap. Modern life did not transplant into the relative poverty of Africa, they say, because Africa wasn't sufficiently developed to accept it. So how are we - or they - to square this underdevelopment circle? China: Continuity and change have long been the hallmarks of Chinese development throughout the centuries. As such, a synergy between contemporary and traditional needs is conjured up in the abstract notion of "Modernity with Chinese characteristics" (Esherick: 2000). Conversely, the Masterplanning the Future keynote speaker, Professor Wang Yun, director of Atelier Fronti bemoans Modernism's “erasure” from China’s collective memory. Is there really a harmonious way to balance the needs and desires of the past and the future? Or does China’s current epoch exemplify the somewhat antagonistic rise of progress, sometimes codified as social modernity. These abovementioned vignettes are simply placed here as illustrative models, however, the contributions within these proceedings are much more detailed, specific - and engaging - and are chosen as papers that will stimulate contention, discussion and argument. (Jencks: 2002) designers had “in Lagos there is no choice, but there are countless ways to articulate the condition of no choice 4 We believe that these proceedings, initiated by Masterplanning the Future's "Modernism: East, West & Across The World" conference, are an excellent opportunity to take a lead in a debate that will change the way that architecture and urbanism is understood and discussed in China... and further afield. As the conference convenor, I, together with co-organiser, Theodoros Dounas, are delighted to have published these works which I hope will get the fullest credit and critique. As presenters and contributors to the academic conference, I believe that you have opened a window on the modern condition. Austin Williams XJTLU
When a church closes or is demolished, the entire society suffers a loss of heritage. Should we t... more When a church closes or is demolished, the entire society suffers a loss of heritage. Should we then go on believing that the historic monument status can save all churches or giving the illusion that they are not threatened? A glance at reality however emphasizes the need to think further on that spirit of preservation, its financial mechanisms and social rationale. The Ninth international Young Scholars Conference on Heritage from which this book comes up scrutinized the communal future of churches as well as the underlying transition strategies. The book contains 4 chapters in English and 5 chapter sin French.
Living in Purity. The St. Agnes Beguinage at St. Truiden: The Court, the Church, the Wall Paintin... more Living in Purity. The St. Agnes Beguinage at St. Truiden: The Court, the Church, the Wall Paintings.
Download Pdf of full color book free on: https://oar.onroerenderfgoed.be/publicaties/RELM/2/RELM002-001.pdf
The art of illumination, usually associated with the Middle Ages, experienced a spectacular reviv... more The art of illumination, usually associated with the Middle Ages, experienced a spectacular revival in nineteenth-century Western Europe. The completely different context gave the illuminations another import. The output of the lay and the religious workshops reveals a great artistic, stylistic, technical and typological diversity. The works illuminated go far beyond the world of exceptional and precious manuscripts and include many occasional documents, as well as golden books, devotional images etc.
Richly illustrated with unpublished masterworks, this book offers an overview of the important revival of medieval illumination. The fifteen authors do not limit their approach to the traditional question of art history. Rather, they explore the historical, socio-cultural, ideological and religious components of the revival, which changed according to time and country, in order to understand the evolution and success of the art of illumination in the nineteenth century.
Publications d'Histoire de l'Art et d'Archéologie de l'Université Catholique de Louvain, 72, 1990
This book tells the heritagization of the former abbey of Villers (Belgium) since the dispersion ... more This book tells the heritagization of the former abbey of Villers (Belgium) since the dispersion of the Cistercian monks and the sale of the buildings in 1797. How and why did the abbey became a ruin? Why the ruin attracted artists and tourists, historians and archaeologists? Why did the Belgian State bought the ruins in 1892 and undertook important restoration works from 1893 to 1914? The book stresses the changing heritage perceptions and values each generation is projecting on the ruins.
Archives Générales du Royaume. Fonds conservés hors des archives de l'État, n° 2, 1992
Inventory of an important collection of Belgian monuments restoration plans, consisting in 2730 ... more Inventory of an important collection of Belgian monuments restoration plans, consisting in 2730 documents drawn between 1850 and 1930, concerning 125 civil and religious monuments. The plans are from various origins but were collected by the "Service du Répertoire des Biens Culturels", an office especially created by the Belgian State in 1952 with the aim of realizing an index of cultural property and restoration files. In the context of the "cold war", great programs of protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict were elaborated in the mind of the Unesco's The Hague Convention (1954). The Belgian State stopped the program in 1960. The collection of plans is conserved in the Royal Museum of Art and History in Brussels. See also article: Thomas Coomans " Vlaamse en Brusselse monumenten in het plannenfonds van het Repertotium van het Cultureel Bezit", in "M&L. Monumenten en Landschappen", 11/1, February 1992, p. 46-57.
The Creation of the Sino-Christian Style: The Work of Adelbert Gresnigt, Benedictine Monk and Art... more The Creation of the Sino-Christian Style: The Work of Adelbert Gresnigt, Benedictine Monk and Artist (1927-1932)
Between France and Empire : The Architecture in the Duchy of Brabant at the Time of Jeanne of Bra... more Between France and Empire : The Architecture in the Duchy of Brabant at the Time of Jeanne of Brabant and Wenceslas of Luxembourg (1355-1406)
The eldest roof structure in Leuven: building archaeological research in the 13th-century Dominic... more The eldest roof structure in Leuven: building archaeological research in the 13th-century Dominican church
Bulletin monumental, 171-2, 2013, p. 117-139 [ISSN: 0007-4730], 2013
Near Arlon in Belgium (province of Luxembourg), the site of Clairefontaine, the ancient abbey of... more Near Arlon in Belgium (province of Luxembourg), the site of Clairefontaine, the ancient abbey of the Cistercian nuns, has been under excavation for ten years. Combining archaeological evidence and historical sources, the article presents an architectural synthesis of the monastic complex, rebuilt four times: Clairefontaine I (ca. 1247), Clairefontaine II (first half of the 14th century.), Clairefontaine III (first half of the 16th century), Clairefontaine IV (late 17th-early 18th century), and finally its total destruction following the suppression of monasteries by the French in 1796. Such a stratigraphy is rare for a nuns' church, but is exceptional for the buildings around a cloister, because few feminine abbeys have been the object of programmed excavations on the scale of Clairefontaine. Each change is related to particular historical context, linked with the successive princes who reigned in Luxembourg: the countess Ermesinde, Henri le Blondel, John the Blind, Christophe de Bade, Pierre-Ernest de Mansfeld, as well as the archdukes Albert and Isabelle who were great patrons and powerful protectors of this dynastic abbey inhabited by a small community of Cistercian noble women.
"Domestic granges, home farms and abbey farms: a typological and architectural evolution in Belgi... more "Domestic granges, home farms and abbey farms: a typological and architectural evolution in Belgium"
The agricultural area inside the abbey enclosure is an indispensable —yet often poorly understood— aspect of an abbey. Its typological evolution from the Middle Ages to the early 21st century, as well as its material and symbolic significance, are examined here from examples documented or preserved in Belgium: Cistercian abbeys of both men and women, as well as Premonstratensian and Benedictine abbeys. Questions about the spatial organisation of domestic agricultural areas and their architecture can be defined in four main phases; each having a different economic context: 1. the medieval "domestic grange" and ts relationship to the rest of the domain; 2. from the end of the Middle Ages, a "home farm" with all the aspects of a lordly manor; 3. a new type of "abbey farm" dating from the mid-18th century onward; 4. farms belonging to abbeys that were re-established or founded in the 19th or 20th centuries without the immense agricultural domains of earlier times.
L'église des Dominicains à Louvain (Leuven, Belgique), le plus ancien édifice gothiq... more L'église des Dominicains à Louvain (Leuven, Belgique), le plus ancien édifice gothique de la capitale du Brabant, fut bâtie dans le courant de la seconde moitié du XIII e siècle comme église funéraire d'Henri III, duc de Brabant, et de son épouse Alix de Bourgogne. Grâce à l'appui ...
Close Document Image Close Document Printer Image Print This Document! Conservation Information N... more Close Document Image Close Document Printer Image Print This Document! Conservation Information Network (BCIN). Author: Coomans, Thomas Title Article/Chapter: "Op weg naar bescherming van 19de-eeuwse kerkgebouwen ...
Mette BIRKEDAL BRUUN (ed.), Cambridge Companion to the Cistercian Order, p. 151-169., 2013
Architecture is, without a doubt, the most tangible witness to the medieval Cistercian legacy. No... more Architecture is, without a doubt, the most tangible witness to the medieval Cistercian legacy. Not only standing churches and cloisters, but abbey ruins and rural granges also attract several million visitors yearly; special routes and networks of Cistercian abbeys may be found across Europe, and no less than five abbeys have been inscribed on the Unesco World Heritage list. Cistercian architecture is a popular subject.
This chapter contains four complementary approaches to the subject: 1. the main historiographical steps of past and present research; 2. the central issue of the architectural specificity or identity of medieval Cistercian abbeys; 3. the abbey buildings as a material source for monastic life; 4. the definition of major research perspectives.
Wolfgang SCHENKLUHN & Andreas WASCHBÜSCH (eds.), Der Magdeburger Dom im europäischen Kontext (More Romano. Schriften des Europäischen Romanik Zentrums, 2), p. 129-140 , 2011
Uta Maria BRÄUER, Emanuel S. KLINKENBERG & Jeroen WESTERMAN (eds.), Kunst & Region. Architektur und Kunst im Mittelalter / Art & Region. Architecture and Art in the Middle Ages (Clavis Kunsthistorische Monografieën, 20), p. 96-117., 2005
Pascale FRAITURE (ed.), Tree Rings, Art, Archaeology. Proceedings of the Conference, Brussels, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, 10-12 February 2010 (Scientia Artis, 7), p. 173-186, 2011
Jacques TOUSSAINT (ed.), "Pierres-Papiers-Ciseaux". Architecture et sculpture romanes (Meuse-Escaut), (Monographies du Musée provincial des Arts anciens du Namurois, 53), p. 25-41 , 2012
Thomas COOMANS, Herman DE DIJN, Jan DE MAEYER, Rajesh HEYNICKX & Bart VERSCHAFFEL (eds.), Loci Sacri. Understanding Sacred Places (KADOC Studies on Religion, Culture and Society, 9), p. 221-241 , 2012
Yves GALLET (ed.), Ex quadris lapidibus. La Pierre et sa mise en œuvre dans l’art médiéval. Mélanges d’histoire de l’art offerts à Éliane Vergnolle, p. 221-232, 2011
Dirk CALLEBAUT, Jan MAŘÍK & Jana MAŘÍKOVÁ-KUBKOVÁ (eds.), Heritage Reinvents Europe. Proceedings of the International Conference, Ename 17-19 March 2011 (EAC Occasional Paper, 7), p. 93-100 [ISBN: 978-963-9911-41-3]. , 2013
Christian HECK (ed.), L’art flamand et hollandais. Le siècle des Primitifs, 1380-1520 (collection L’art et les grandes cités), p. 7-120 & 541-591, 2003
Krista DE JONGE & Koen VAN BALEN (eds.), The Role of Preparatory Architectural Investigation in the Restauration of Historical Buildings, p. 143-162, 2002
Le site de l'abbaye cistercienne du Val-Saint-Lambert à Seraing, le long de la Meuse à u... more Le site de l'abbaye cistercienne du Val-Saint-Lambert à Seraing, le long de la Meuse à une quinzaine de kilomètres en amont de Liège, possède encore une de ses composantes médiévales. Il s' agit d'un long corps de bâtiment qui formait, dès le XIIIe siècle, l'aile ...
Martine PLOUVIER & Alain SAINT-DENIS (eds.), Pour une histoire monumentale de Cîteaux, 1098-1998 (Cîteaux, Commentarii cistercienses. Studia et documenta, 8), p. 154-164 [ISBN: 90-800413-9-4] , 1998
Welcoming the Cistercian General Chapter at the Abbey of Cîteaux in the Middle Ages
Terryl N. KINDER (ed.), Perspectives for an Artchitecture of Solitude. Essays on Cistercians, Art and Architecture in Honour of Peter Fergusson, p. 235-252, 2004
Lucie K. MORISSET, Luc NOPPEN & Thomas COOMANS (eds.), Quel avenir pour quelles églises ? / What Future for Which Churches (Patrimoine urbain, 3), p. 41-72 [ISBN: 2-7605-1431-5], 2006
Churches in Belgium: Architectural Aspects, Juridical Challenges and Heritage Approach
Johan DECAVELE, Jan DE MAEYER, Patricia QUAGHEBEUR & Paul TRIO (eds.), De Oude Abdij van Drongen: elf eeuwen geschiedenis, Drongen-Leuven, p. 399-421 [ISBN: 9078192046]., 2006
Architectural history of the abbey of Drongen, near Ghent in the Middle Ages: from a small canoni... more Architectural history of the abbey of Drongen, near Ghent in the Middle Ages: from a small canonial church to a Norbertine abbey
SHEILA BONDE and CLARK MAINES, eds., Saint-Jean-des-Vignes in Soissons: Approaches to Its Archite... more SHEILA BONDE and CLARK MAINES, eds., Saint-Jean-des-Vignes in Soissons: Approaches to Its Architecture, Archaeology and History. (Bibliotheca Victorina, 15.) Turnhout: Bre-pols, 2003. Pp. 569 plus 85 black-and-white and color figures; 2 tables and 5 charts. 120. ...
Thomas Coomans and Reinout Klaarenbeek, The urban spatial metamorphosis after the secularisation ... more Thomas Coomans and Reinout Klaarenbeek, The urban spatial metamorphosis after the secularisation of religious houses in Belgium from 1773 to 1860
This article presents an ongoing research on the secularization of public space and urban redevelopment after the demolition and reuse of religious houses and churches at the turn of the nineteenth century. The first aim concerns the actors and the mechanisms transformation of the convents, whether they were demolished or recycled. The second aim concerns the heritagisation of reused religious houses, which was fed from the 1830s by new national identity narratives that included historic monuments as well as Catholic Revival. Brussels, Bruges and Antwerp are the three study cases. The article defines seven scenarios of urban metamorphosis resulting of the transformation of former convents. The data are implemented in a historical gis that allows analysing the transformations on the level of buildings, neighbourhoods, and town.
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This book is not only targeted at students and project architects but at all those seeking to understand monastic architecture beyond the beauty of its stones and its richness of styles.
These proceedings document the work of a wide range of researchers, academics and experts from across the world, each presenting at the Masterplanning the Future international conference held in China on October 18th and 19th 2012.
These proceedings of the conference outline a variety of intellectual explorations relating to historical and contemporary situations, discussions and case studies, in China and around the world. As a body of work, and as a contribution to open enquiry, this is less an examination of how direct "conclusions" or "lessons" can be learned from different historical periods and social circumstances, but hopefully helpfully, the exchange of ideas and experiences facilitated by the Masterplanning the Future conference may help to stimulate a better understanding of architecture, contemporary and traditional urbanism; fostering critical awareness and challenging perceptions. Within a rapidly urbanizing world, the contributors look variously at whether advocacy for, criticism of, or rejection of modern design – as well as Modernist idealism - can go some way to help us understand the global urban condition.
Let’s take the West, Africa and China as historico-cultural points on the compass. The West: In early 20th century Europe,
modernist Charles Jencks considers talk of a zeitgeist to be pernicious
the appeal of Modernism was that it caught the zeitgeist of
a social liberationist tendency. It divided opinion then, and continues to do so today. Post-
and academic Westfall suggests that the impact of Modernist historicism to be tyrannous
. But whether in agreement or otherwise, Modernism operated within an era of social
transformation: it was widely noted that it reflected an experimental age, in which
. In the course of the early years of the new century, risk-taking
avant-gardism in the West seems to have been replaced - for better or worse - by risk-aversion.
Does this current attitude reflect a maturation from the age of innocence shown by early
Modernists
contemporary
2011)
the self-assurance to try and to fail
(Westfall:
; or is it a sign of a loss of nerve in the  period.
Africa: As it usurps Asia as the most rapidly urbanising region in the world, many commentators, such as Mike Davis, use the African continent as a cypher for their disillusion with the modern world. The vision of the African city as innocent and about to be ravaged by modernity, recalls the view of Oswald Spengler who linked the decline of Western civilization with the rise of the new. In contemporary critiques, modernism in Africa reflects a cultural colonialism rather than a progressive developmental model (Avermate et al: 2010), with opponents advocating against direct planned improvements in living standards; Koolhaas, for example, celebrates his observation that
” (Koolhaas: 2002). Many in Africa are striving for a new way modernity, but is there just cause to kick against the Eurocentric model of development just because of its colonial past? (Araeen: 2003) When writers problematize "when modernism... transplanted to Africa, being not endogenous, it grafted poorly to existing life structures" (Agwuele: 2012), there is an implicit reverence for the economic and developmental gap. Modern life did not transplant into the relative poverty of Africa, they say, because Africa wasn't sufficiently developed to accept it. So how are we - or they - to square this underdevelopment circle?
China: Continuity and change have long been the hallmarks of Chinese development throughout the centuries. As such, a synergy between contemporary and traditional needs is conjured up in the abstract notion of "Modernity with Chinese characteristics" (Esherick: 2000). Conversely, the Masterplanning the Future keynote speaker, Professor Wang Yun, director of Atelier Fronti bemoans Modernism's “erasure” from China’s collective memory. Is there really a harmonious way to balance the needs and desires of the past and the future? Or does China’s current epoch exemplify the somewhat antagonistic rise of progress, sometimes codified as social modernity.
These abovementioned vignettes are simply placed here as illustrative models, however, the contributions within these proceedings are much more detailed, specific - and engaging - and are chosen as papers that will stimulate contention, discussion and argument.
(Jencks: 2002) designers had
“in Lagos there is no choice, but there are countless ways to articulate the condition of no
choice
4
We believe that these proceedings, initiated by Masterplanning the Future's "Modernism: East,
West & Across The World" conference, are an excellent opportunity to take a lead in a debate that will change the way that architecture and urbanism is understood and discussed in China... and further afield.
As the conference convenor, I, together with co-organiser, Theodoros Dounas, are delighted to have published these works which I hope will get the fullest credit and critique. As presenters and contributors to the academic conference, I believe that you have opened a window on the modern condition.
Austin Williams
XJTLU
Download Pdf of full color book free on: https://oar.onroerenderfgoed.be/publicaties/RELM/2/RELM002-001.pdf
Richly illustrated with unpublished masterworks, this book offers an overview of the important revival of medieval illumination. The fifteen authors do not limit their approach to the traditional question of art history. Rather, they explore the historical, socio-cultural, ideological and religious components of the revival, which changed according to time and country, in order to understand the evolution and success of the art of illumination in the nineteenth century.
This book is not only targeted at students and project architects but at all those seeking to understand monastic architecture beyond the beauty of its stones and its richness of styles.
These proceedings document the work of a wide range of researchers, academics and experts from across the world, each presenting at the Masterplanning the Future international conference held in China on October 18th and 19th 2012.
These proceedings of the conference outline a variety of intellectual explorations relating to historical and contemporary situations, discussions and case studies, in China and around the world. As a body of work, and as a contribution to open enquiry, this is less an examination of how direct "conclusions" or "lessons" can be learned from different historical periods and social circumstances, but hopefully helpfully, the exchange of ideas and experiences facilitated by the Masterplanning the Future conference may help to stimulate a better understanding of architecture, contemporary and traditional urbanism; fostering critical awareness and challenging perceptions. Within a rapidly urbanizing world, the contributors look variously at whether advocacy for, criticism of, or rejection of modern design – as well as Modernist idealism - can go some way to help us understand the global urban condition.
Let’s take the West, Africa and China as historico-cultural points on the compass. The West: In early 20th century Europe,
modernist Charles Jencks considers talk of a zeitgeist to be pernicious
the appeal of Modernism was that it caught the zeitgeist of
a social liberationist tendency. It divided opinion then, and continues to do so today. Post-
and academic Westfall suggests that the impact of Modernist historicism to be tyrannous
. But whether in agreement or otherwise, Modernism operated within an era of social
transformation: it was widely noted that it reflected an experimental age, in which
. In the course of the early years of the new century, risk-taking
avant-gardism in the West seems to have been replaced - for better or worse - by risk-aversion.
Does this current attitude reflect a maturation from the age of innocence shown by early
Modernists
contemporary
2011)
the self-assurance to try and to fail
(Westfall:
; or is it a sign of a loss of nerve in the  period.
Africa: As it usurps Asia as the most rapidly urbanising region in the world, many commentators, such as Mike Davis, use the African continent as a cypher for their disillusion with the modern world. The vision of the African city as innocent and about to be ravaged by modernity, recalls the view of Oswald Spengler who linked the decline of Western civilization with the rise of the new. In contemporary critiques, modernism in Africa reflects a cultural colonialism rather than a progressive developmental model (Avermate et al: 2010), with opponents advocating against direct planned improvements in living standards; Koolhaas, for example, celebrates his observation that
” (Koolhaas: 2002). Many in Africa are striving for a new way modernity, but is there just cause to kick against the Eurocentric model of development just because of its colonial past? (Araeen: 2003) When writers problematize "when modernism... transplanted to Africa, being not endogenous, it grafted poorly to existing life structures" (Agwuele: 2012), there is an implicit reverence for the economic and developmental gap. Modern life did not transplant into the relative poverty of Africa, they say, because Africa wasn't sufficiently developed to accept it. So how are we - or they - to square this underdevelopment circle?
China: Continuity and change have long been the hallmarks of Chinese development throughout the centuries. As such, a synergy between contemporary and traditional needs is conjured up in the abstract notion of "Modernity with Chinese characteristics" (Esherick: 2000). Conversely, the Masterplanning the Future keynote speaker, Professor Wang Yun, director of Atelier Fronti bemoans Modernism's “erasure” from China’s collective memory. Is there really a harmonious way to balance the needs and desires of the past and the future? Or does China’s current epoch exemplify the somewhat antagonistic rise of progress, sometimes codified as social modernity.
These abovementioned vignettes are simply placed here as illustrative models, however, the contributions within these proceedings are much more detailed, specific - and engaging - and are chosen as papers that will stimulate contention, discussion and argument.
(Jencks: 2002) designers had
“in Lagos there is no choice, but there are countless ways to articulate the condition of no
choice
4
We believe that these proceedings, initiated by Masterplanning the Future's "Modernism: East,
West & Across The World" conference, are an excellent opportunity to take a lead in a debate that will change the way that architecture and urbanism is understood and discussed in China... and further afield.
As the conference convenor, I, together with co-organiser, Theodoros Dounas, are delighted to have published these works which I hope will get the fullest credit and critique. As presenters and contributors to the academic conference, I believe that you have opened a window on the modern condition.
Austin Williams
XJTLU
Download Pdf of full color book free on: https://oar.onroerenderfgoed.be/publicaties/RELM/2/RELM002-001.pdf
Richly illustrated with unpublished masterworks, this book offers an overview of the important revival of medieval illumination. The fifteen authors do not limit their approach to the traditional question of art history. Rather, they explore the historical, socio-cultural, ideological and religious components of the revival, which changed according to time and country, in order to understand the evolution and success of the art of illumination in the nineteenth century.
The agricultural area inside the abbey enclosure is an indispensable —yet often poorly understood— aspect of an abbey. Its typological evolution from the Middle Ages to the early 21st century, as well as its material and symbolic significance, are examined here from examples documented or preserved in Belgium: Cistercian abbeys of both men and women, as well as Premonstratensian and Benedictine abbeys. Questions about the spatial organisation of domestic agricultural areas and their architecture can be defined in four main phases; each having a different economic context: 1. the medieval "domestic grange" and ts relationship to the rest of the domain; 2. from the end of the Middle Ages, a "home farm" with all the aspects of a lordly manor; 3. a new type of "abbey farm" dating from the mid-18th century onward; 4. farms belonging to abbeys that were re-established or founded in the 19th or 20th centuries without the immense agricultural domains of earlier times.
This chapter contains four complementary approaches to the subject: 1. the main historiographical steps of past and present research; 2. the central issue of the architectural specificity or identity of medieval Cistercian abbeys; 3. the abbey buildings as a material source for monastic life; 4. the definition of major research perspectives.
This article presents an ongoing research on the secularization of public space and urban redevelopment after the demolition and reuse of religious houses and churches at the turn of the nineteenth century. The first aim concerns the actors and the mechanisms transformation of the convents, whether they were demolished or recycled. The second aim concerns the heritagisation of reused religious houses, which was fed from the 1830s by new national identity narratives that included historic monuments as well as Catholic Revival. Brussels, Bruges and Antwerp are the three study cases. The article defines seven scenarios of urban metamorphosis resulting of the transformation of former convents. The data are implemented in a historical gis that allows analysing the transformations on the level of buildings, neighbourhoods, and town.