Dom Hans Van Der Laan A House For The Mi

Dom Hans van der Laan
A House for the Mind
A design manual on Roosenberg Abbey

Caroline Voet
Flanders Architecture Institute

1
In 1977, the Benedictine monk and architect Dom Hans van der Laan
(1904-1991) published his manifesto Architectonic Space, Fifteen Lessons
on the Disposition of the Human Habitat. Seeking to capture the essence of
spatial experience as a foundation for architecture, he developed a design
methodology through his own proportional system of the Plastic Number.
Around that same period, Dom van der Laan built Roosenberg Abbey in
Waasmunster for the Marian Sisters of St. Francis. And while his theo-
ries remain fairly abstract, this building demonstrates the concrete use of
proportion, materiality and light in relation to perception and movement
in space. Moreover, this building is designed to guide the inhabitant into
contemplation, intensity and stillness.
This manual is an introduction to Dom van der Laan’s design methodology,

as he applied it to Roosenberg Abbey. Original drawings are combined
with explanatory diagrams. Nine original letters from the architect to
the Sisters are included in full length, as well as a series of photographs
by Friederike von Rauch, offering an in-depth reading of this building on
different levels.
9 789492 567031
2
Dom Hans van der Laan
A House for the Mind
A design manual on Roosenberg Abbey

Caroline Voet
Flanders Architecture Institute

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1 – Composing with the Plastic Number Series . 21

2 – Scale I: Inside and Outside . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3 – Scale II: Solid and Void . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Photography: Friederike von Rauch
4 – Scale III: Open and Closed. . . . . . . . . . . . 121

5 – Scale IV: Furniture and Objects . . . . . . . . 159
6 – Nine Letters from the Architect . . . . . . . . 179
7 – Practising the Plastic Number . . . . . . . . . 209
Bibliography
Drawings by Jos Naalden, for the Course on Church Architecture in Den Bosch,
tutor Dom Hans van der Laan, presumably 1955.
Examples of plans of basilicas with transversal arcades in Syria.
Mosques from the Early and Late Ottoman period in Istanbul, Bursa, Medina,
Bostanci, Edirne (Selimiye Mosque).
Preface
The oeuvre of Dom Hans van der Laan (1904-1991) never ceases to inspire
architects and artists. His designs, both intuitive and meticulously calcu-
lated, seem to touch on the core of architecture. The Flanders Architecture
Institute invited Caroline Voet to reflect on Dom van der Laan’s oeuvre
by means of an exhibition and a book. The project reflects the Flanders
Architecture Institute’s interest in timeless architecture, design methods
and theories, and the importance of knowledge transfers. This book and
the accompanying exhibition, both titled ‘Dom Hans van der Laan. A
House for the Mind’, add to a momentum. The Sisters leaving Roosenberg
Abbey in Waasmunster raises questions about the reuse and valorisation
of Dom van der Laan’s architecture, about protecting his legacy for the
future, and about the importance of mentorship in architectural education.
Dom Hans van der Laan’s influence reaches far beyond the field of reli-
gious architecture, and will continue to impress and inspire present-day
and future architects. With ‘A House for the Mind’, we invite people to
explore the buildings, the drawings and the writings that constitute Dom
van der Laan’s universe. His methods as a designer are absorbing, though
also somewhat enigmatic. While his architectural spaces embody a so-
phisticated simplicity, grasping every detail of the Plastic Number proves
a challenge. Dom van der Laan’s conceptualization of the experience of
space crystallized in the proportion system of the Plastic Number. It was
developed to capture the relationship between man and his environment;
a system through which, in Dom van der Laan’s words, man can ‘regain
his place in the world’.
In this book, Caroline Voet elaborates on how to comprehend Dom van

der Laan’s Plastic Number through an analysis of Roosenberg Abbey in
Waasmunster. Roosenberg Abbey (1975) constitutes a decisive moment in
Dom van der Laan’s oeuvre. In this Gesamtkunstwerk, which was also his
first newly built freestanding project, the outdoor spaces, the interiors as
well as the furniture are based on the Plastic Number. This book reflects
on the ever-present correlation between the intuitive use of space and its
mathematical design. It guides the reader through the spaces of the abbey
by means of an almost sensory experience. A unique collection of letters
from Dom van der Laan to the Sisters of Roosenberg Abbey reveals the
design and building process. In her photographs, Friederike von Rauch
makes the spaces, the materials and even the incoming light nearly tangible.
Bart Tritsmans, Flanders Architecture Institute, 2017
7
Introduction: A House for the Mind
The Dutch Benedictine monk and architect Dom Hans van der
Laan (1904-1991) sought for more than 60 years to establish archi-
tectural fundamentals, to ‘restore, in all their objectivity, the funda-
mental and intrinsic architectural rules’ based on the perception of
space and its sizes. This manual is an introduction to Dom van der
Laan’s design methodology, as he developed it through his propor-
tional system of the Plastic Number, approximately 3:4. In 1977,
he published his manifesto Architectonic Space, which embedded
this Plastic Number within a larger philosophy of perception and
space. Around that same period, he built Roosenberg Abbey in
Waasmunster for the Marian Sisters of St.-Francis. And while his
theories remain fairly abstract, this building demonstrates, as an
Dom van der Laan explaining the Stonehenge study, presumably around 1972 ideal specimen, Dom van der Laan’s use of proportion, shaping
Photograph: Dom Botte
materiality and light in relation to perception and movement in
space. Moreover, this building is designed to guide the inhabitant
into contemplation and stillness.
In each chapter, this book starts from Dom van der Laan’s
theoretical concepts, linking the Plastic Number and Architectonic
Space (AS). The first chapter explains the role of the Plastic Number
when we order, measure and count through perception. This is
accompanied by practical examples of concrete design principles
at Roosenberg Abbey. In the next three chapters, we zoom in on
three different abstract concepts from AS and relate them to three
different building scales: inside / outside to the urban scale, mass /
space to the scale of the building and open / closed to the scale of the
wall. We move from the large scale of the site to the smallest build-
ing stone, as well as the objects, furniture and clothes of the Sisters.
8 9
As such, this manual offers a straightforward step-by-step analysis
of how the Plastic Number works as a practical tool. It starts from
the abstract concepts of AS and links them to the genealogy of Dom This manual deals with an architecture of series and rhythms. Dom van
der Laan’s buildings were designed with his own systematic proportional
van der Laan’s own elementary architecture. Within his complex series of the Plastic Number, through which he aims to create an order
and analogue communication, a new overarching framework is that can directly communicate with our abstract rational understanding
of space. Alongside this goal to adhere to the rational process, he places
created through shortcuts and the detection of important key con- spatial experience in a central position, focusing on the human habitat
cepts. Bringing them back to Roosenberg Abbey, demonstrating in general, apart from place and time. It is this double approach toward
the process of cognition that characterizes Dom van der Laan’s quest: to
how the spaces work, offers an in-depth reading of this building formulate a deep-level structure that on the one hand unravels the process
on different levels. This would not have been possible without of abstraction, while on the other it is rooted in spatial experience. The
Plastic Number is the means to bond these two, a motivation that grew
the insights of his two cousins, who, each in his own way, carry out of his Benedictine background. In Catholic tradition, God is placed
on the legacy. Rik van der Laan showed exactly how the abstract outside men. He is identified as ‘the Other’, the Mysterium Tremendum,
or seen through analogy: the Nature that surrounds us, the outside that
concepts of inside / outside, mass / space, and open / closed can be can barely be grasped. Dom van der Laan asks himself:
deducted into three basic architectural scales, while Hans van der
How do we Know?
Laan explained counting and measuring. Both proved to be essen- How can we know the absolute objective Truth, the Things as they are?
tial to open the way towards an understanding of the conceptual
Architecture has a specific role in this: to create an order, a measurable and
and practical application of the Plastic Number. The book equal- intelligible inside within this unknowable outside. Architecture surrounds us
ly includes an English translation of Dom van der Laan’s Nine like clothing and makes the chaos of nature readable and thus understandable.
Moving from outside to inside gradually unfolds itself within the walls of a
Letters to the Marian Sisters of St.-Francis, which offer an insight building. It is an inward movement, a slow process of interiorization.
into the building as he described it to its inhabitants. The series
For Dom van der Laan, the process of understanding, the creation of an
by Berlin photographer Friederike Von Rauch, more than words order, is closely linked to human cognition. Architecture’s main function
and analysis, are a silent witness to the directness and interiority is to be expressive through its order, and as such it entails an imitation of
the process of cognition itself. One needs to be able to relate to architecture
of Roosenberg Abbey’s spaces. through its human scale and clarity. In grasping our surroundings, we read
them, and in this way we count. On an intuitive level we constantly relate
and assess the measurements around us, defining a position. We intuitively
measure, counting and rounding up to integers that we can rationally
understand and name clearly.
Architecture needs this strength to mediate between intuition and rational

understanding. For Dom van der Laan, this constitutes the true meaning of
Dwelling. A House facilitates this process of counting in the best possible
manner. Through a clear hierarchical order of interrelated whole numbers,
everything in the House is interrelated, from the smallest building stone
Photograph: Coen van der Heiden
10 11
to the rhythm of the galleries and window series, to the overall spaces, the
building site, and eventually the city.
With these theories on space, Dom van der Laan follows the classical
tradition of building with numeric proportions. Series of robust columns
and elementary window rows are organized according to repetitive bay
rhythms. Spaces interrelate hierarchically through numeric proportions,
as 1:2, 2:3, 3:4...
However, the dynamics so typical of his architecture are not achieved

through the use of the proportional system as such. It is the manner in
which he interlaces spaces with one another into one spatial narrative of
successive perspectives and subtle rhythmical shifts. This architecture is
built as in-between space, out of the interchange between the material of
its surfaces and the light, which makes it come alive.
Photograph: Jeroen Verrecht
12 13
1.
2.
3.
4.
Dom Hans van Der Laan built four convents:
1. Abbey St.-Benedictusberg in Vaals, the Netherlands,

extensions 1957-1986
2. Roosenberg Abbey, Waasmunster, Belgium, 1972-1975
3. Motherhouse for The Marian Sisters of St.-Francis,
Waasmunster, Belgium, 1978-1985
4. Jesu Moder Marias Convent, Mariavall, Tomelilla,
Sweden, 1991-1995
Cloister of Roosenberg Abbey
14 15
A long driveway through the trees leads the visitor to the building. It does
not go straight to the building, but it passes it, with a first focus on the
side of the articulated west wing.
Dom van der Laan’s ideas of a human architecture are embodied in the
horizontal composition of Roosenberg Abbey. After passing the driveway,
one is confronted with a closed and broken-up wall, free of axiality or
mirror-symmetry. The abbey presents itself as an ambiguous conglomerate
of volumes and walls. The octagonal lantern of the church peaks out from
a corner behind this enclosure, inviting us in.
Dom van der Laan wanted this front façade to show a very strong contrast
between inside and outside. The closed façade, along with the bare asphalt
ground surface, make the front square into a clear outside, as an antithesis
to the previous approach through the woods and the following forecourt,
which he defines as an inside. Specific elements like the canopy above
the entrance, the ‘Spanish balcony’ and a lantern are placed to ‘make the
whole more attractive’.
There is no direct entrance to the church. One has to go past the wall and
be submerged into this other protected world behind it.
Photograph: Caroline Voet
16 17
It takes a while to perceive the slight inward fold in this wall. Nevertheless,
moving closer to the wall, one is gradually absorbed by the building, like
being embraced by two large arms.
Where the fold is, a slit opens up towards the inside and allows one to
glance into a courtyard surrounded by galleries. This first step inwards is
already accompanied by different building elements, each having its own
expression with different proportions. Crossing this threshold is extended
within several moments in time: the movement of going through, moving
upwards, passing underneath or in between. There is a slight platform
made of brick pavement and a wooden canopy suspended at a height of 1:7
from the top of the wall. As they extend outside of the slit, they define a
place, an imaginary spatial cell that gradually surrounds us. It is the place
where the wall stops and the threshold can be overcome. For Dom van der
Laan, this is the beginning of architecture, a space that comes into being
through a solid that is made:
‘Solid forms with vertical surfaces are produced which correspond

to each other in such a way that they generate a self-contained
space. This space is distinct from the earth’s surface, and provided
it is large enough, we could live in it.’ (AS I.11)
18 19
1 — Composing with the Plastic Number Series
‘Our perception is based on distinction... The more clear the

distinction, the more clear reality is to us. Dom Hans van der
Laan’s Plastic Number is one of the systems through which one
gets acquainted with the laws of our discernment and how it
reacts to plane and spatial measures. In my opinion, the knowl-
edge of the laws of discernment is pre-eminently useful to in-
tuitively correct certain proportions, until the highest clearness
is achieved. More systems seem possible to approach this, but I
don’t know any that is so complete and scientifically described.’
Gerrit Rietveld, in assessing Dom van der Laan’s work, 1959
20 21
The sorting test with 36 pebbles
Dom van der Laan did this test with his students, to explain how we differ-
entiate sizes and how we round off. He selected 36 pebbles, which can be
arranged in a quasi-continuous series. The pebbles diverge 1/25 from each
other. Although the difference in sizes between the pebbles is observable,
it is not reducible into simple integers. We can ‘see’ a difference between
the pebbles, but we cannot ‘name’ it.
He then asked his students to form groups of pebbles that seemed to be

of the same size.
Almost all of his students formed 5 groups of 7 pebbles, of 5 types of size,
as from the eighth pebble the difference in size becomes clearly visible.
These are the transition-measures or thresholds that separate the groups
from each other.
The pebbles on the border between two groups differ from each other at
How do we round off? a ratio of 3:4 in size, or relate according to the Plastic Number.
22 23
The Plastic Number, approximately 3:4
A line can be divided into two equal or two unequal parts. When con-
fronted with two measures of the same size, one counts. In the case of
unequal parts, it is a question of measuring or comparing. In order for
space to be clearly readable, architecture is designed so that measuring is
as straightforward as counting.
Dom Hans van der Laan, confession chair of Roosenberg Abbey
The proportions are loosely based on relationships between 3, 4 and 7
Dom van der Laan poses the question: at what point does one distinguish
unequal parts as such, or, in other words, at what point do these parts
give the perception of mutual difference? He concludes that this minimal
difference occurs when one part is nearly a third larger than the other,
the mutual relationship being about 3:4. The necessary margin between
two sizes is 1:4.
By repetition of this ‘ground-ratio’, Dom van der Laan composes a com-

plete measure-system, calling it the Plastic Number. As a basic framework
for his designs, Dom van der Laan divides 7 into 3 and 4. The difference
between 3 and 4 is the minimum difference between two measures, so that
one can compare them and name the difference clearly.
24 25
A C B A C B
Subdivision of AB into AC and CB according to the Subdivision of AB into AC and CB according to the
Golden Section Plastic Number
1:1,61803... 1:1,324718... or ca. 3:4
A C D B A C D B
identical
Subdivision of the largest part CB into CD and DB
Subdivision of the largest part CB into CD and DB
according to the Plastic Number
according to the Golden Section
C:D and A:C relate as 3:4
The result is two equal parts, AC and CD
Continuous subdivision
No continuous subdivision
B
A
A B
A D
B C
B C
A C
AB : AD = AD : BC
A C = BC : AC
C D = AC : CD
= CD : BD
C D
AB : BC = BC : AC
AC = CD
B D
two equal parts
Plastic Number: a continuous series of six parts inter-
‘sameness’
related by ca. 3:4
Golden Section: no continuous series Mathematical definition: 1 + x = x3
2
Mathematical definition: 1 + x = x
This is the first definition of the Plastic Number, as explained by Dom Van
der Laan in his first lecture series in Leiden, on 16 January 1943.
The discovery of the Plastic Number grew out of a dissatisfaction with With the Plastic Number, Dom van der Laan found a proportion that
the Golden Section. Dom van der Laan claimed that this proportion did allowed all six segments produced by two subdivisions to be a continuous
not allow for a certain harmonious progressive subdivision of a measure. ratio, forming an additive geometric progression. The entrance gate of
When subdividing the largest measure according to the Golden Section Roosenberg Abbey is already a clear demonstration on how he designs
ratio, one ends up with two equal parts.* with compositions of 3:4, as is shown on the following pages.
*See also Padovan, Modern Primitive, p. 84.
26 27
28 29
3
4 3 4
Symmetry Eurythmy
Two lengths of different forms Width and height within one
are compared form are compared
In the main entrance gate of Roosenberg Abbey, the resulting opening has
the eurhythmic proportion of 3:4. The wooden gate is lower, in a symmet-
rical ratio of 3:4 to the façade height, and it is positioned behind the wall
opening. The thickness of the wall is exposed in all its robustness, while
the wooden gate seems to be of another order, invisible when opened.
This building shows no mirror symmetry. The first thing encountered
upon entering the forecourt is a column, placed in an unconventional way
that blocks a logical entry. It is placed there with a purpose, inviting one
to slow down. This column is not positioned in the middle of the slit, but
shifted within the opening by a ratio of 3:4.
This careful composition of the entrance space already testifies to the Everything in a building is interrelated through the ratio 3:4.
system applied throughout the whole complex, a succession of interlock-
ing spaces between outside and inside. Every building element is there to This is what the Ancients called symmetry; not in the sense of two identi-
invite one to move consciously through the space, to enhance awareness, cal halves, but in the sense of the proportion between the sizes of the parts
drawing attention to the here and now. of a building, from the smallest to the whole. (AS IX 6)
30 31
Nearness
Drawing from AS XII.2b 1 7
So for Dom van der Laan:

The smallest cell, the space-cell, is the basis of the entire human habitat.
This cell is defined by walls. Between the walls and the space they shape, 1:7 is the maximum difference between two measures so that they can
an intrinsic relationship arises when they relate as 1:7. still be compared. The measures between them belong to the same family.
So the distance between the walls is seven times their thickness. Dom Measures outside this range are not directly related to each other.
van der Laan calls this intrinsic relationship between mass and space
‘nearness’ (nabijheid). 1:6, 1:5, ... is too dense,
In Dom Van der Laan’s abbeys, the yardstick for this cell is the human 1:8, 1:9, ... is too thin,
scale. Projecting the length of the body outward, a field is described of
about 3 to 4 m. This is the intimate experience field around one person. 1:7 is exactly right.
32 33
Order of size
1 4/3 7/4 7/3 3 4 16/3 (5+) 7 1 4/3 7/4 7/3 3 4 16/3 (5+) 7
3:4
Drawings based on AS VIII

1:7
The sum of the first measure (the yardstick or unit of the series) and the
second measure is the fourth measure in the series.
With the ratios 3:4 and 1:7, Dom van der Laan makes a series of eight The sixth measure is the sum of the fifth and a unit.
measures that he calls the ‘order of size’ or ‘measure-system’.
All the measures are related by ca. 3:4. The eighth measure is twice the fifth measure plus the unit.
The smallest and the largest measure relate as 1:7.
So:
In order to give these measures countable values, Dom van der Laan trans- The difference between the third and the fourth measure is the unit.
lates them arithmetically into the whole numbers 3, 4 and 7. The sum of the third and the fourth measure is the eighth measure.
So the relationship defining the series 1, 4/3, 7/4, ... is a practical approx-
imation of 1,324718... Thus, the Plastic Number reconciles counting and measuring.
34 35
Type of size
When reading continuous natural measures, we round

off to simple numbers. Each measure has ‘a halo’
around it, in which this measure is unaffected by en-
largement or reduction. We call these measures ‘of the
same size’. For example 3,21403... is rounded off to 3.
1 4/3 7/4 7/3 3 4 16/3(5) 7

6/7 7/6 3/2 2 5/2 7/2 9/2 6
z2
z1
Drawing from AS VIII.15
a1 a2
d1 d2
An authentic measure lies in the arithmetic mean of Derived system

two derived measures.
x1 = x2 To achieve a finer grain of measures, Dom van der Laan added a ‘derived
series’ with the same sequence as the first order of size, which he then
called the ‘authentic series’. Like the authentic series, the derived series is
z2
also interrelated through 3:4.
z1
An authentic measure is the double of a derived measure, and vice ver-

sa; the derived series thus allows for double sizes to become part of the
composition.
The difference between an authentic measure and its derived measure is

1:7 of its size. This way, they define a lower system, which is 1:7th smaller
a1 a2 than the higher: the lower system is the yardstick for the higher.
d1 d2
A derived measure lies in the harmonic mean of two

authentic measures.
a1:z1 = a2:z2 = 3:4
36 37
Major whole MaW
716
Groot geheel GG
Minor whole MiW

To apply the Plastic Number series as orders of size in a concrete building
Klein geheel KG 616
scale, Dom van der Laan determines numerical values for the series.
With whole numbers, he aims to deviate as little as possible from 1,324718...
Major part MaPa
He does this for three successive orders of size, which he calls the three
Groot deel GD
‘measure-systems’ or Series I, II and III. These authentic series are accompa- 540
nied by their derived Series Ia, IIa and IIIa. The largest measure of a series
Minor part MiPa
is the smallest one of the following series. He compares the three series to
Klein deel KD
the succession of musical octaves with their eight notes.
465
Major piece MaPi
Dom van der Laan begins with an assumed smallest unit of 100 in SI. The
Groot stuk GS
largest unit then has a numerical value of (7 x 100) + 14 + 2 = 716. Note 408
that 14 and 2 are the largest values in the two smaller series.
Minor piece MiPi
The difference between an authentic and its derived measure is the authentic
Klein stuk KS 351
value in the lower series: 716 – 616 = 100.
Major element MaE 308
In the design of buildings, the three measure-systems form an interlocking
Groot element GE
sequence of consecutive building scales. SI is used for the urban composi- 265
tions and positioning of a building on a terrain, SII for the enclosures and
Minor element MiE
placement of the walls and SIII for the forms of walls, columns and openings. 232,5
Klein element KE
200
This series gives the three main measuring systems according to the
175,5
Plastic Number ratio 3:4, as it is shown in AS VIII.6. The design for
151
the tables at Roosenberg Abbey on the next page shows how these 132,5
measuring-systems are used, like the keys of a piano that are chosen to 114
make a harmonic composition. 100
minor element
major element
minor whole
major whole
minor piece
major piece
minor part
major part
element
element
minor
minor
minor
minor
whole
whole
major
major
major
major
piece
piece
part
part
1* 4/3 7/4 7/3 3 4 5+ 7

Authentic I 100 132,5 175,5 232,5 308 408 540 716 1 4/3 7/4 7/3 3 4 5+ 7
Derived Ia 114 151 200 265 351 465 616 7/6 3/2 2 5/2 7/2 9/2 6
7/6 3/2 2 5/2 7/2 9/2 6
100
86
75,5
1/7 1/5+ 1/4 1/3 3/7 4/7 3/4 1 65
57
Authentic II 14 18,5 24,5 32,5 43 57 75,5 100 43 49
32,5 37
28
Derived IIa 16 21 28 37 49 65 86
16 18,5 21 24,5
1/6 2/9 2/7 2/5 2/4 2/3 6/7 14
1/6 2/9 2/7 2/5 2/4 2/3 6/7

1/49 1/35 1/28 1/21 1/16 1/12 1/9 1/7 1/7 1/5 1/4 1/3 3/7 4/7 3/4 1
Authentic III 2 2,5 3,5 4,5 6 8 10,5 14
Derived IIIa 2,2 3 4 5 7 9 12
1/42 1/32 1/24 1/18 1/14 1/10 1/8
7 8 9 10,5 12 14
2 2,2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5 6
This series gives the three main measuring systems according to the Plastic Number ratio 3:4,
1/42 1/32 1/24 1/18 1/14 1/10 1/8
as it is shown in AS VIII.6. 1/49 1/35 1/28 1/21 1/16 1/12 1/9 1/7
38 39
3
Step 1
The table is symmetrical, so the design starts from two
symmetrical halves of 3:4
57 cm:75.5 cm = 3:4
Step 2.
The central leg is an oblique offset of 3:4
14 cm:18.5 cm = 3:4
14 cm:100 cm = 1:7
1:4
3:4
3
3:7
1:4 1:3
Step 3.
The table top is organized as a double composition
43 cm / 14 cm = 3:4 / 1:4
The base is organized as a triple composition
14 cm / 24.5 cm / 18.5 cm = 1:4 / 3:7 / 1:3
Fragment of a drawing: Dom Hans van der Laan, closed table, side view and design principle,
Roosenberg Abbey, circa December 1973
Dom van der Laan designed his furniture using its
sections as a pattern. Here are the basics of a table at
Roosenberg Abbey. The dimensions of the leg, table top
and base are the yardstick for the overall table.
40 41
2 — Scale I: Inside and Outside
Experience-space anchored in the urban fabric
43
For Dom van der Laan, urbanity needs to be inter-
related with the human scale of the house. His aim,
therefore, is to define architectonic space through the
thresholds in human experience. Each person is sur-
1 2 3
rounded by an experience-space that he does not con-
sider homogeneous.
He defines three spheres:

- Personal work space, towards the intimate inside
- Walking space, for meeting 4 5 6
- Visual field, towards the outside
Drawing: Architectuur, Modellen en Meubels
7 8 9
Nine schemes for the disposition of cell, court and

domain:
1. Central court with central cell
2. Central court with peripheral cell
3. Central court with peripheral juxtaposition of cells
He directly translates them into architectonic space:
4. Peripheral court with central cell
- Cell, as the primary human space-cell
5. Peripheral court with cell
- Court
6. Peripheral court with peripheral juxtaposition of cells
- Domain
7. Peripheral juxtaposition of courts with central cells
8. Peripheral juxtaposition of courts with peripheral cell
This is the foundation for the three orders of size
9. Peripheral juxtaposition of courts with peripheral
between inside and outside.
juxtaposition of cells
Drawing: AS III.8.
Drawing: AS III.13
Cell, court and domain can be combined in various ways: from the centre
or from the periphery. Dom van der Laan calls this a central and peripheral
disposition, and he has a preference for the latter. A peripheral disposition
leaves the court intact, while in the case of central juxtaposition the court
itself is affected or fully built. In the case of peripheral disposition, the
court is not divided into cells; it is formed by them. The court becomes a
courtyard. The same goes for courts in a domain. If they are completely
enclosed by cells, repeating this figure by itself around the terrain makes it
into a court. The scheme shown in figure 9 is thus preferred. Cells, courts
and domain enclose and shape each other. This way, the cell becomes the
yardstick for the court, which in turn becomes the yardstick for the domain.
Models: Architectuur, Modellen en Meubels
44 45
Orders of size at Roosenberg Abbey
wall thickness : space of cell

=
0.5 m:3.5 m = 1:7
cell 3,5 m
court 25 m
Dom Hans van der Laan, Roosenberg Abbey of the
Marian Sisters of Waasmunster, position on the site,
20 January 1973
domain 180 m
At Roosenberg Abbey, Dom van der Laan works with a cell of 351 cm.
Walls have a thickness of 49 cm. Based on these dimensions, the three 7 9 12 16 21 28 35 49
orders of size are developed: 2513 3329 4410 5843 7739 10252 13581 17991 Order I
Domain
2864 3794 5026 6658 8817 11684 15478
- The wall pieces and window openings vary between 0.5 m and 3.5 m
8 10 14 18 24 32 42
- The larger spaces and convent wings vary between 3.5 m and 25 m +
1 4/3 7/4 7/3 3 4 5 7
- The terrain, or site, is 49 times bigger than the cell, or 175 m
351 465 616 816 1081 1432 1897 2513 Order II
Court
400 530 702 930 1232 1632 2162
This results in the four orders of size as shown on the left. These are the 4/6 3/2 2 5/2 7/2 9/2 6
specific series of measures used for the design of Roosenberg Abbey. Again, 1/7 1/5 +
1/4 1/3 3/7 4/7 3/4 1
they are like the keys of a piano from which the design is composed, as will 49 65 86 114 151 200 265 351 Order III
be shown in the practical examples on the following pages. You can place 56 74 98 130 172 228 302 Cell
your bookmark next to the analysis, to follow the exact measures. 1/6 2/9 2/7 2/5 2/4 2/3 6/7
1/49 1/35 1/28 1/21 1/16 1/12 1/9 1/7

7 9 12 16 21 28 37 49 Order IV
Wall
8 10,5 14 18 24 32 42
1/42 1/32 1/24 1/18 1/14 1/10 1/8
46 47
Position on the site
2/4
4/7 6/7
3/7 2/5
1/7 6/7 1/7

2/5
1/7 1/7 2/4
3/7
4/7
Through the position of the building, the forecourt becomes a yardstick

for the terrain:
‘Along the length of the entire site, measured from north to south, the
Dom Hans van der Laan, Roosenberg Abbey, Waasmunster, measuring scheme of the terrain width of the outer forecourt is the smallest measure and therefore serves
and the position of the building, 7 May 1973 as the unit in this order of size. The site is approximately 175 m in depth
and the outer forecourt is about 25 m wide, so this is 1/7 part. The same
applies along the width from west to east: the strip along the Lovinfosse
As with scheme 9 in the cell – court – domain model, Dom van der Laan wood is also 1/7 part of the total width of the site.’
chose a peripheral disposition for the building on the site. The building VDL, 9 letters, 1975
responds to the irregularity of the terrain, but, conversely, the site bound-
ary is adjusted in order to achieve a better proportion. On the west side, The deduction of 1:7 also provides further design possibilities. In a lecture
a strip of 3.5 m is cut out for a public passage. The east boundary of the at Roosenberg, Dom van der Laan states that:
terrain is shifted by 12.5 m to the east. ‘This is a ratio that has often been used by Jan de Jong. When I want to work
with derived measures, I first deduct 1:7 of the large measure, so I can work
Van der Laan writes about the plan above: with a juxtaposition of derived measures within the remaining 6:7.’
‘The axis of the east wing runs from the north side 3/7 parallel to the east VDL, lecture at Roosenberg Abbey, 1975
side. The axis of the south wing runs from 3/7 of the west side perpendic-
ular to the west side. Both axes intersect at A. He divided the remaining 6:7 according to the ground-ratio. This gives in
The axis of the north wing is perpendicular to the east wing at a distance the total sequence: 1:7 – 2:5 – 2:4
of 58.40 m from A. The axis of the west wing is perpendicular to the The position of the building is defined as 2:5, for Van der Laan the most
south wing at a distance of 44.10 m from point A. BD then is 33.30 m, balanced or ‘eustyle’ proportion: the superposition of a clear inside on top of
and DC is 50.75 m.’ an outside. We will see this proportion recur in several parts of the building.
48 49
The way the building is positioned creates two gardens: a more private
garden for the Sisters on the east side, and a larger garden on the south
side for guests.
Different paths run through the landscape, dividing the garden-forest into
patches, filled in with exploitation woods of chestnuts and pines.
Next page:
Dom Hans van der Laan, Roosenberg Abbey of the Marian Sisters of Waasmunster, position
of topographical lines and landscaping, 7 May 1973
Dom Hans van der Laan, sketch of the paths running through the landscape of the garden-forest, On the plan, Van der Laan writes:
presumably summer 1973 ‘Along the south side: gravel path 3.5 metres wide, measured from the centre of the wall, then
flower beds of 2.65 wide with passages of 2.65 also. Alongside the flowerbeds and around the
lawn a path of 3.5 metres wide. The surrounding birches are positioned at a distance of 3.5 metres,
while the row is 7 metres from the edge of the woods. The path 3.5 meters wide then leaves 1.75
metres of grass before the birches and 1.75 metres of grass alongside the wood. No birches in
front of the house.
Of the present acacias a few good specimens will have to remain on the forecourt and on the
square lawn at the east side.’
Note the design for the cloister garden with only grass and two flower beds. The vegetable garden
will never be realized.
50 51
52 53
54 55
The basic geometric scheme
Dom Hans van der Laan, the Eureka sketch: calculations of the geometric scheme that allows 5843
for three wings to follow the 3:4 proportion, presumably January 1973
4410
3330
N
Dom van der Laan used to say that the irregularity of the abbey plan is
derived from the terrain, but this is only partially true. It follows a precise
geometrical scheme, which involves a rotation that gives a proportion
between the straight wing and the rotated wing of 5:√26.
The result is that the north, south and east wings relate as three consecutive 5075
sizes in an order of size. The axis of the west wing has a length of almost
5,026 cm, a derived measure of the east wing, so they almost relate by a
6:7 ratio.
As such, time through movement in the cloister around the central garden, North wing : south wing = 3330 cm : 4410 cm = 3:4
the amount of steps that one takes to move from one space to another, is South wing : east wing = 4410 cm : 5843 cm = 3:4
also ordered by the Plastic Number. West wing = 5075 cm = no measure of the system
56 57
58 59
The forecourt
Before physically entering the cloister or the church, one passes the forecourt;
another step between the outside and the inside, full of asymmetrical
Plastic Number compositions. On passing through the entrance gate, one
notices that the canopy is part of a larger flat roof covering a gallery
that frames a forecourt. The roof is carried by thick rectilinear masonry
columns. They do not support the roof from underneath. They stand
in front of it independently, and only just seem to carry it. The columns
fold themselves around the corners of the court. As such, the openings are
more defined than the piers, which look like fragments of an interrupted
wall. The crowning of the wall, with dark brown ceramic pipes cut in
half, acts as the only ornamental feature of this austere architecture. It is
a traditional detail that Van der Laan saw during his 1955 study trip to
the Syrian churches and the cloisters in the south of France and Italy. It is
meant to emphasize the horizontality of the spaces. Under the gallery, the In the shadow of the forecourt, a first stone displays a
pavement is heightened by a small step. verse by Gery Helderenberg:
On entering, the further direction to follow is not clear. One slows down; To be a cornerstone and be named Christ
doors need to be discovered. The entrance to the church is around the Measuring wall and man in seams
corner. A column blocks the view, only offering a glimpse of the entrance Base soil and fundament
door of the abbey in the furthest corner diagonally from the door to the Message corona word and teaching
church. Belgian architecture critic Geert Bekaert described it this way: Wisdom Lord who is life
‘The irregularity of the plan of the forecourt is striking in this otherwise Build us upward to sanctity.
perfect control of the elements. We are now inside, but still nowhere. The
courtyard is entirely self-contained, but there is nothing in it. Nothing VI August MCMLXXV
intrudes, unless exactly this fact of being inside. We cannot do anything
but stay here, take in the surroundings, let ourselves be taken in by the
surroundings, let its peace come into us, walk around.’
Geert Bekaert, Landschap van Kerken, p. 282
60 61
3 — Scale II: Solid and Void
Mass and space as a foundation for the house
63
From space-cell to gallery and hall-space
space-cell
Gallery = cell enlarged in one direction,

The space-cell, as the embodiment of the workspace, is the first intimate an ‘extended’ cell
area in which the relationship between wall and space is defined. According
to the idea of mutual nearness, the relationship between wall and cell is
defined as 1:7.
It is important that the cell has openings, so that the thickness of the wall
is revealed. As such, a column in one corner is sufficient to demarcate the
spatial boundary.
The spatial cell equally can be seen as a convent cell, a space for one per-
son. In order to place a bed with a bedside table or a desk with chair and
wardrobe, 3 to 4.5 m is a functional measure.
A gallery, as an ‘extended’ space-cell, still expresses the 1:7 relationship

with the wall through its width.
In order to create bigger spaces that still relate to this human scale, Dom
van der Laan applies a superposition with a gallery. The gallery and the
larger ‘hall-space’ fuse into each other and relate through their superposi-
tion. Hereby the gallery is the basic unit of size for the hall.
The following pages show different spatial formulas for spaces from mo-
nastic cells, to churches and stairwells. Hall = superposition of galleries into the space
Drawings: AS XII.2-10
64 65
An urban conglomerate of elementary blocks
702
1230
930
Elementary block
All sides relate as 3:4.
702 cm : 930 cm : 1230 cm

3 : 4 : 5+
One hall on the ground floor with six cells on top
Organization of three and four elementary blocks

As a starting point for the disposition of the spaces, Dom van der Laan
Dom van der Laan speaks of three and four houses around a courtyard
uses a generic elementary block, which he names ‘the house’. It consists
of one half-space on the ground floor and six cells on the first floor. All
sides of these basic blocks have the ground-ratio. He then distributes the
blocks in the wings: three in the south wing and four in the west wing. In
between the blocks, there are four empty slots. These make room for the
three stairwells and the connection to the bell tower.
In a second phase, the half-spaces are set precisely according to the size
required to address the functional needs. For example, the kitchen is
reduced or the conference room is enlarged by half a bay-measure.
66 67
The monastic cell
Cell
351 cm x 400 cm = 6:7
Wall : cell = 1:7
The monastic cell or guest room is the smallest spatial unit. The 1:7 is
expressed in the relationship between the façade and the space itself.
Roosenberg Abbey is the first place where Dom van der Laan designs this
type of room for one person. Two square windows overlook the garden.
The cell contains one bed with a bedside table, one cabinet and one table
with a chair.
The monastic cell measures 3.51 x 4.00 m, a proportion of 6:7. On the

isometric drawing, these measures can easily be counted, through the
49 x 49 cm tile pattern.
Roosenberg Abbey has 12 cells for the Sisters in the south wing, and 25
cells for the guests in the west wing.
68 69
The half-space
Width of hall: 930 cm

Width of gallery: 345 cm
Hall : gallery
Superposition
2:5
All the spaces on the ground floor, for example the refectory and the
library, are shaped according to the specific formula of the hall-space,
more specifically a half-space, as there is only a gallery on one side. In
the Roosenberg Abbey, the half-spaces are 930 cm wide. The length is
irrelevant for the expressiveness of this space and varies for each hall.
The light comes from windows situated on one side, facing the outside of
the abbey. On the more inner side, a gallery of 345 cm is superimposed.
The gallery is 2/5th of the entire width to reach Dom van der Laan’s ‘eustyle’
composition: the gallery is in superposition of the whole half-space, and
does not divide it in two.
70 71
The stairwell
Stairwell
800 cm : 930 cm
6:7
The ground level and top level are connected through a stairwell that has
the length of two bays. The staircase itself is formed in a slot between the
exterior façade and a new parallel wall.
The slot is illuminated from above by four windows on the first floor. This
way, the light travels down the stairs, making it a bright focal point in a
rather dark hall. This is enhanced by the fact that the upward movement
is ‘announced’ by five steps toward the slot: first a movement toward the
light, then a movement alongside the light. On the first floor, the parallel
wall has a height of 1 m, so the perspective opens up as one moves upwards.
72 73
Bringing in the bay-rhythms: The plan of the stairwell
two superimposed densities in the half-space
Bay-rhythm defined by the windows: of 3:4 of the cells Width of stairwell: 930 cm
Faster rhythm of 4 in the space Width of gallery: 345 cm
Gallery : stairwell = 2:5
Bay-rhythm defined by the piers: same as the cells Width of stairwell: 930 cm
Slower rhythms of 3 in the space Width of stairs: 196 cm
The measurements of the rooms are mainly formed through the measures Stairs : stairwell = 2:9
of order II that you can see on your bookmark. Because of the specific
structure of the different bay-measures and different spatial articulations,
the room is not experienced as a symmetrical, uniform or closed module.
The use of different bay-measures is remarkable. In a classical composition,

bay-rhythm, window, structure and openings are aligned logically, for The stairwell is two bay-measures wide: 2 x 400 cm = 800 cm
example four windows in the façade and four column-spaces. But Dom van
der Laan does not want us to read a structural logic; he wants us to read With a width of 930 cm, it reaches a proportion of 6:7. The column
the space. So he defies the reading of structure by changing the rhythm row that defines the disposition in the half-space is continued throughout
of the windows. He uses a shift: four windows and three column-spaces. the whole wing, so it also crosses the stairwell, defining a 2:5 eustyle
On the façade, this results in a smaller bay-rhythm that relates as 7:6 to proportion. The stair itself is 196 cm wide. The slot parallel to the façade
the cell-module on the upper level. For the piers, he chooses a bay-rhythm is in a proportion of 2:9 to the whole stairwell.
of 465 cm, which relates to the cell width of 351 cm in a 4:3 ratio. In this
way, the half-space becomes an interrelated play of three successive bay- The opening to the cloister is set at 228 cm from the side, or 2:7 of the
rhythms, which produces a dynamic effect. stairwell.
74 75
The church
The church of Roosenberg Abbey has an exceptional shape. It is made

of a superposition of a rectangular base and an octagonal lantern. Dom
van der Laan regards the octagon as a primitive formula to bring togeth-
er wall-pieces to a spatial enclosure by juxtaposition. Width and height
are organized according to the Plastic Number proportion of 3:4. The
tabernacle is situated in a small apse behind the altar. This formula of a
centralized church allows the altar to be positioned in the middle, with the
celebrants gathered closely around it. Dom van der Laan referred to it as
a fourfold nearness: one giant cell in the middle. As such, it is the inside
space that is built here, while the outside space is left over. The result is a
tension around the octagon between the spaces bordering the entrance and
the apse and the two narrow corridor-like spaces on the side.
76 77
3:4
height 3 3:7
4:7
7 length
width 5+
Overall shape of the church

1632 cm : 2162 cm : 930 cm high
1632 cm : 2162 cm = 3:4
930 cm high : 1632 cm = 4:7
Apse
265 cm
265 cm : 1897 cm
1:7
Base
1632 cm : 1897 cm
6:7
Height
base : octagon lantern
530 cm x 400 cm
3:4
8 octagon sides
530 cm
The plan to the left still shows two windows facing the outside. In the final
design, they are left out.
Dom Hans van der Laan, Church for the Marian Sisters of Waasmunster, 28 January 1973
78 79
80 81
The cloister and gallery of the front court
Width of cloister: 351 cm
Net width : net height

300 cm : 312,5 cm
24:25
The court is framed by a peripheral juxtaposition of cells that are stretched

into a bar-shaped gallery: the cloister gallery.
The cell with a habitable, functional measure is ‘repeated’, but now in an
expressive manner in order to frame the court.
The gallery relates to the court in the same way as the wall to the space,
thus about 1:7.
The height of the cloister is not intended to be a measure of the system. It is

the result of a (weak) superposition of the upper floor onto the total height.
This results in 312.5 cm net. With a net width of 300 cm, the proportion
of the enveloped cloister space is practically square, and only slightly more
directed upward in a proportion of 24:25. This is the same proportion as
the exterior windows on the ground floor of the west and south wings.
As Dom van der Laan explained with the pebbles, 1:25 is a difference we
can ‘see’ but cannot ‘name’.
82 83
Measuring scheme
465
465
816
816
465 465 465 4

65
Width of basic wing Width of church wing

930 cm 1632 cm
2 x 465 cm 2 x 816 cm
Width of basic wing : Width of church wing = 4:7
The preliminary scheme to the left shows how a grid is developed to

position the walls.
The basic unit is a module of 351 x 400 cm. In this scheme, which is based
on counting, the lengths of the wings are treated as multiples of 400 and
465 cm. The measures between court and cell follow system II: from 351
to 2513 cm.
The cell depth is 351 cm.

The courtyard is formed by a cloister gallery of 351 cm.
Four wings are placed around the cloister gallery. Three of them have
a width of 930, or 2 x 465 cm. Dom van der Laan called this a ‘double
nearness’. The church wing has a width of 1632, or 2 x 816 cm.
The church wing relates to the other wings as 7:4, so the figure defined by
the corners of the wings consists of the same quadrangle-form in a smaller
size as the figure defined by their axes. Rik van der Laan called this the
Van der Laan square.
Dom Hans van der Laan, measuring scheme of Roosenberg Abbey, 20 February 1973
84 85
86 87
Layout of the spaces
11 12 13 14 15 16
10
4 17
8 18
7
6
5 21
20
2 19
3
1 entrance
2 forecourt
3 church
4 courtyard
5 sacristy
6 parlour
7 office
8 parlour
9 study hall
10 atelier
11 recreation
12 stairs
13 refectory
14 kitchen
15 dishes
16 refectory for the guests
17 conference hall
18 reception hall
19 museum
20 porter’s lodge
21 abbey entrance
Dom Hans van der Laan, Roosenberg Abbey Waasmunster, October 1975
88 89
A house for the rector
Dom Hans van der Laan, the rector’s house for Roosenberg Abbey, 8 July 1973
In order to give the front square a façade on the east side, Dom van der
Laan decided to place a house there for the priest. As the Sisters decided
they did not need the house, he convinced them they needed some garages
there, to which they agreed. Nevertheless, Dom van der Laan kept a house
there during the entire design phase. Eventually, he designed a building
with three openings, which seen from the front square look like three ga-
rages. At closer look, one discovers that the middle opening is the entrance
porch to a small house.
Dom Hans van der Laan, preliminary drawing for the rector’s house
90 91
A spatial narrative from outside to inside
3’ 4’
4 5
2
Within the abbey, the progressive movement from outside to inside is al-
ways present. The inner courtyard is not a hidden centre that is discovered
1 suddenly. It is, instead, a central space that is revealed gradually through
several transgressions and layers. The cloister gallery is approached through
different successive porticos, porches and in-between spaces. There is no
Progressive movement of the front square through symmetry. The transition from one place to another is never axial, so
forecourt and main access to the courtyard: moving means slipping through the space in angular rotations. Each space
1. boundless and natural outside has its own proportion and rhythm, its own light intensity and orientation.
2. forecourt This creates a horizontal movement that folds into itself and invites you to
3. through the gallery of the forecourt keep turning inward. One becomes highly conscious of the acts of entering
4. entrance porch and passing through.
5. stairwell
6. cloister gallery Dom van der Laan referred to this transgressive movement as having seven
7. directed inwards , the cloister garden steps. The steps are formed as a successive contrasting of inside to outside
conditions. A second movement is the unfolding of the inner spaces. None
From 6 to 4’: of the spaces directly connects to the garden gallery; they are only accessed
movement towards another functional space through the connecting staircases.
92 93
The principle of dynamic superposition
A static juxtaposition:
Two spatial modules A and B are positioned one beside
the other. The experience is unambiguous and strictly
divided: one is either in space A, or in space B.
A dynamic superposition:
Two spatial modules A and B are positioned in a con-
dition of overlay. The experience is ambiguous: the
Photograph: Caroline Voet transgression from space A to space B unfolds gradually.
There is a condition of superposition.
The abbey is made out of a concatenation of cells. They are the com-
mon unit that defines the underlying grid. Nevertheless, this is not an
unambiguous modular architecture. The spatiality is not created through
a succession of singular modules or closed entities, one beside the other.
Dom van der Laan places the cells through superposition: one inside the
other. Not in a central or static way, but in a peripheral and dynamic
composition. Furthermore, the dynamism springs from the use of distinct
rhythms. Every space and every wall has its own rhythm. From this, con-
secutive shifts and overlays arise. A space cannot be grasped unambigu-
ously, but is experienced as different intertwined spatial demarcations.
At every turn different views are framed, gradually changing with the Through a dynamic disposition different spatial enti-
position and movement through the spaces. ties can be emphasized and placed in superposition,
depending on size and composition, but also the degree
As such, the building becomes a three-dimensional spatial matrix of of openness and the expression of rhythms through
rhythms. The result is a dynamic layered architecture that unfolds as it is openings, beams and columns.
moved through. The rhythmical overlay causes spaces to be experienced
as a whole, and not as the sum of their parts. Analysis made by the author
94 95
96 97
Seven silent in-between spaces
The cloister is bordered by seven in-between spaces, which in turn connect

the functional spaces. These are the three stairwells, the connections to the
church, the bell tower and the Sisters’ garden. One space acts as a changing
room for the liturgy and interconnects two parlours and an office. They
all are an invitation to silence.
These spaces are dark, as they receive no direct light. The light moves
inwards through slits and openings, guiding one through the abbey.
Drawing by Arthur Schoonenberg, Delft University of Technology
98 99
Ritualized space
For Dom van der Laan, architecture of faith is, in the first place, a house
in which dwelling is brought back to its most basic form. Its elementary
architecture seems to be made of frozen rituals, human actions orchestrat-
ed in an unchanging, stable embrace, slow and silent. As such, Roosenberg
Abbey seems to bear witness to a concrete approach of spatial and material
organization towards contemporary forms of interiority.
Looking at the plan of Roosenberg Abbey, one notices the generic cloister
plan, as St Benedict described in his Rule. Every activity has its proper space:
the church for praying, the refectory for eating, the library for reading...
There is no multifunctionality here. Also, the building is composed so that
a change from one activity to another is accompanied by a spatial narrative.
Changing one’s actions means leaving a space, walking through a first
in-between space, alongside the cloister to a second in-between space, to
only then enter the next space and engage in the next activity. Each time,
one passes the inner courtyard as an invitation to contemplation.
This spatial sequence adheres closely to the ordered daily life of the Sisters.
Each day is organized around six sets of prayer, and the other activities
are orchestrated around them within fixed moments in time. Every space
Photograph: Ronald De Buck
has its integrated furniture that prescribes its use itself. Not only the li-
turgical objects have their position. Every daily object, from the spoons
to the washing sponge, has its fixed place. Every daily action is ritualized
and repetitive, and remains the same every day. This might be seen as
restrictive, but the Sisters find the routine liberating. Being freed from
daily chaos, haste and speed gives them space to contemplate and focus
on the essentials. That is what they, and also their guests, seek a constant
invitation for interiority and thus from there an outward movement for
intense encounter, every day anew. Dom van der Laan saw Roosenberg
Abbey as an analogy of this inward movement, its spaces forming gradual
layers between inside and outside.
100 101
Rough materiality and colours
The spatial layout and its proportional relationships aim to enhance an

intimate bond between mass and space. Roosenberg Abbey is free of any
ornamentation. Dom van der Laan used a radically ascetic formal language.
It is a minimal space constructed of heavy brick and concrete walls. Because
of the lack of ornamentation, the building parts present themselves as ele-
mentary blocks, defined by clear lines between mass and space. Dom van
der Laan, although he never commented on this aspect, carefully detailed
all of the building elements so as to give them this austere expression.
Windows are square rhythmical openings with the same dimensions inside
and out. The use of simple finishing materials, wood, paint or rough-cast
plaster, makes the space extremely tangible. The concrete elements show
the pattern of the wooden casings. The windowsills are intended to look
like rough blocks, but they are meticulously detailed with built-in gutters
and gargoyles. With these details, the focus is not on a theory, but on
craftsmanship and testing material effects on site.
The wooden finishings, ceilings and furniture are tinted in complementary

colours, grey-blue, grey-green and warm burgundy, all subtracted from the
lively Indian slate tiles covering the floor, as such enhancing the sensorial
qualities of the space as a whole. Once the stones for Roosenberg Abbey’s
floors were selected, Wim van Hooff, Dom van der Laan’s colour specialist,
extracted many colour samples from them to test on site. Together they chose
specific complementary tints for every room. The furniture of the refectory
is covered in warm burgundy and soft grey-greens, while the church shows
more lively blue-greys and green-greys. Here, the windows are even tinted
with a hint of blue, to subtly change the atmosphere. The selection of the
right colours was a careful process. The tables in the refectory received up to
six layers of slightly blue-tinted varnish after Dom van der Laan found them
too red when they were put into place. They now have the exact same deep
burgundy colour as the beech hedge visible through the windows behind.
The focus moves from building material to matter. The light enhances this.
Because of the articulated series of openings, daylight illuminates the space
at different intensities. It creates patterns of its own through a pronounced
light/dark shadow play. Because of the rough finishing of the spaces, the
light plays with the effect of the subtle topography of the surfaces, bringing
the architecture to life. No other elements form distractions. With this
attention to tectonic qualities, this sacred space receives a formal focus,
but one that draws upon one’s physicality or corporeality. Spirituality in
this sense is evoked by the materiality of space.
102 103
Photography Friederike von Rauch
Resident at Roosenberg Abbey spring 2015
4 — Scale III: Open and Closed
The articulation of the wall as line, plane
and volume
121
‘To end, I would like to offer you an interesting confirmation,
taken from the work of Vitruvius. In the third chapter of his
Araeostylos fifth book, he draws five aspects for the disposition of columns,
depending on their smaller or larger mutual distance. He suc-
cessively recognizes, besides a normal placement, the dense and
wide placement, a fairly dense, and a fairly wide placement. The
Diastylos
range that he allows for the five cases goes from the narrow
placement to the wide placement and this is exactly 1/4, because
the wide placement is 4/3 times as wide as the normal placement.’
Eustylos Dom Hans van der Laan, Lecture III. The Plastic Number, Study seminar of 23-24 April 1949
Systylos
Pycnostylos
Dom van der Laan builds his architecture out of continuous rhythmic
series of wall pieces, window openings and porticos. He calls them win-
dow-arrangements and column-spacings. This creates a classical image
of architecture.
To define the rhythm of the column-spacing, Dom van der Laan uses the
definitions of Vitruvius, in which he expresses the intercolumnium in rela-
tion to the column width. He adopts the five column-spacings and trans-
lates them into measures of the Plastic Number system. Dom van der Laan
approaches the column spacing from a superposition: bay-rhythm or col-
umn distance (column width plus intercolumnium) against column width.
The eustylos is the most harmonic series to pursue. As with Vitruvius, the
Drawing from AS XI.10 central opening of the eustylos can be wider.
122 123
‘We make the thresholds, the in-between piers, the coverings,
and we say we made an opening. So we talk about making
and making, and we mean two different things. The material
making is the joining together of materials, of material elements
into a whole; strictly speaking, we cannot make spaces or holes.
Still, the linguistic use of the making of a window opening is
very correct, even if it does not deal with the taking down of a
window during a renovation... If, for example, we consider the
sidewalls of a basilica, we see in the horizontal sense two sorts
of order. These orders do not even need to correspond in the
vertical sense. On the bottom we see a series of columns that
separate a side gallery, above a series of windows in the plane
of a wall. It is obvious that the columns at the bottom are made
and that the intervals between the columns came into being.
Moreover, these columns are made in the material sense. But
above it is different: on the material level, the supports are made,
but in a more elevated sense the windows are made and those
same supports came into being as intervals. You see, we can talk
about making and making. On the level of the material making
everything stops with the thing that is made, while if we take
the making in a more elevated sense we can let the space come
into being.’
Dom Hans van der Laan, Cuypers, Berlage and Dom Bellot, Oosterhout, introduction lecture for the
Photograph: Coen van der Heiden Algemene Katholieke Kunstenaarsvereniging, 5 June 1943, (unpublished), 11.
124 125
Articulation of the wall
Opening in superposition to the bay-rhythm

Density is defined by pier : bay-rhythm
The wall is regarded as a ‘squared solid’ with openings, a composition of

wall pieces with clearly delineated rectangular open and closed parts. Every
wall piece is a eurhythmic and symmetric play of measures within an order.
As such, space can be read through clear lines, delineating planes, which
in turn delineate the volumes. This constitutes an important condition for
Dom van der Laan: volumes and planes cannot be read intuitively as such.
Our perception translates volumes into lines that we count.
The densities of the rhythms are defined through the models of the col-
umn-spacings and window-arrangements, which articulate different bay- Studies by Dom van der Laan for the window-arrange-
rhythms. Their density is expressed through pier or opening in relation ments in Tomelilla. The rhythms of the bays and the
to the bay-rhythm. So the opening is always measured in superposition to rhythms of the delineations of the openings within the
the bay-rhythm. solid are both emphasized.
126 127
Piers and windows
Small opening in the wall

Central position of the smaller size
Bay
= panel of a vault, transversal hall
of a factory
= plane of a façade or wall that can
be seen as a unity by its division
= rhythm, cadence
= unity of counting, spatial module
From peripheral to central disposition.

Study of 4 densities based on the Scottish Douglas
Tartan, Dom Hans van der Laan, presumably 1970.
Large opening, losing its form
Peripheral disposition of the smaller
sizes
Drawings from AS VI.12,13
The composition of the openings is closely linked to our way of looking.

It is the smallest size that is most clearly evident in a composition and it is
therefore used to express the rhythm.
In a central arrangement, the opening is rather small and it is measured
In one case, the opening manifests itself as a hole, and in the other, it loses in relation to the bay-measure. In a peripheral arrangement, the openings
its shape. are larger and the mass is measured relative to the bay-measure. This is a
In the first case, the opening is regarded as a window. central disposition of windows towards a peripheral disposition of piers.
In the latter, there is a superposition of piers and lintels on a wall. Through The transition point from central to peripheral is the juxtaposition wall
these piers and lintels the wall is called into being. One can speak of a surface : window = 3:4. This is just central. For windows wider than 4/3
framing of the opening. of the mass, it is the pier, being peripheral, that becomes more apparent.
128 129
Figure ground study
Dom van der Laan examines rhythm and density in different generic pat-
terns, such as the Scottish Douglas tartan. He applies his findings to the
design of plans and façades. He looks at the pattern as a manifold dispo-
sition with ‘the ground effect’, an interference between figure and ground.
According to him this leads to a three-dimensional effect, an effect of depth.
‘The force by which this happens is really the beauty of this tartan, which
I love to use as a classic example because all of this is achieved with a
minimum of resources.’
In this way he analyses the figure-ground relation and redraws it according

to the ratios of the Plastic Number. The depth effect in the middle tartan
is optimal, since the ratio white : black is 3:4. He considers the relation
mass (light) : opening (dark) of 3:4 as neutral. Since dark visually shrinks
and light visually expands (see the Scottish tartan), they are visible as equal
parts in a ratio of 3:4.
‘When I end the book with a city map that resembles a Scottish tartan, I
white : black know very well that such a city is not possible in our society, and that at
24:56 = 3:4 = neutral most I can dream of a monk settlement in such a spirit. A plan like this will
always have to bend and deform according to the circumstances that occur,
like the tartan is subjected to the falling folds of an outfit. But to achieve
that general city plan, I had to take all of the steps of the line of thought
one by one, again and again processing all of the subjective data into a
new objective fact. And so I finally arrived at the objectivity of the number,
to then allow all of the previous steps to share in this highest objectivity.’
Dom van der Laan, letter to Richard Padovan, 15 August 1983
In the drawing to the left, Dom van der Laan makes comparative matrices where each strip
increases 1/7 according to the figure-ground principle. He seeks the point where there is a visual
similarity between white and black, paying attention to the visual effect that shrinks black and
expands white. According to Dom van der Laan, the equivalence is in the ratio 3:4. This is the
drawing on which the white relates to the unit as 24:56, or white : black = 3:4.
130 131
The façades of Roosenberg Abbey
Studies by Dom van der Laan for the south and west façades.
Note that this is not the final design: the proportion of the windows will change.
For the façades of Roosenberg Abbey, Dom van der Laan develops a gen-
eral formula that consists of a solid base and an open frieze, organized
by two horizontal rows of windows. The open frieze relates to the whole
façade as 2:5, again the eustyle condition of superposition.
Frieze and base both have a specific character, reflecting the form and
rhythm of the spaces inside.
Where the measures of the wall parts and windows are related to the
inner space, they equally are a part of the composition of the façade The top frieze is conceived as a repetitive frieze of paired, practically square
experienced from the outside. Here they are considered as series, each windows. They are the windows of the series of cells, equally square in
with its own rhythm. plan. There are two windows per cell. The solid wall pieces are rather
small here, and as such, it is the wall pieces that are made; the windows
The built windows of the base have a proportion of 3:4, but in this draw- ‘arise’. The small pier is always 1/3 of the wide pier. The height of the frieze
ing they still are 2:3. They are not a continuous series, but more organized windows relates to the height of the building as 1:5.
in groups expressing the half-spaces on the exterior. The wall pieces are Lintel and sill are continuous concrete beams. The heights of the lintel and
bigger, and as such these windows are ‘made’, or cut out of the wall. sill relate as 4:3.
132 133
Five column-spacings Five window-arrangements
derived column-spacing authentic window-arrangement

Araeostylos 57:100 or 4:7
21:100 or 2:9 (opening : solid = 4:3)
authentic column-spacing derived window-arrangement

Diastylos 49:100 or 2:4
24.5:100 or 1:4 (opening : solid = 1:1)
(opening : solid = 3:1)
authentic window-arrangement
derived column-spacing 43:100 or 3:7
Eustylos (opening : solid = 3:4)
28:100 or 2:7
derived window-arrangement
authentic column-spacing 37:100 or 2:5
Systylos
32.5:100 or 1:3
authentic window-arrangement
32.5:100 or 1:3
derived column-spacing
Pycnostylos
37:100 or 2:5
In a series of ten spacings of different densities, the bay-rhythm is set at

100, measured on the axes. In the column-spacings, the columns are in
proportion to the bay-rhythms. In the window arrangements, it is the
windows that are measured.
The point where one moves from window-arrangement to column-spacing
lies in the relation solid (light) : void (dark) = 3:4.
134 135
Dispositions of piers and windows
top frieze,
double continuous rhythm
frieze : whole
260:702 = 2:5
top windows
130:130
bottom windows
grouped series of more individ-
ual windows
130:172 = 3:4
Dom Hans van der Laan, principle of section and

façade, date unknown
In a note to his brother Nico van der Laan, he writes:

‘I think that for a span of 544, 36 cm of floor thickness
is not enough, but above the windows, I would like to
have 28 cm. So one more?
On the drawings of the façades the parapet of the upper
window arrangement
windows is still at 400, but this has to be 442, meaning
130:265 = 2:4
702 and 260.’
Each building part and opening of the wall follows the measuring system
column spacing
from orders III and IV.
83:400 = 2:9
Principles are defined in the plans, but also in the façades and sections.
araeostylos
The vertical measures in the cross section are not taken from the centre:
they are measured from the floor surfaces.
The open frieze is 260 cm high, and as such the eustyle 2:5 of the total
façade. The top windows are square, the bottom windows are 3:4.
136 137
138 139
The east wing
Dom Hans van der Laan,

early façade study for the east wing
closed part
110 cm + 38 cm = 148 cm
The east wing, the private area for the Sisters, is oriented towards its own
terrace and outdoor garden. Flanked by the church and the south wing,
the façade has an open character to reduce the contrast between inside
and outside.
The windows of the east façade are higher and start closer to the ground
bay-measure = 400 cm
than the other ground-floor windows.
They are 126 x 196 cm or 2:3.
superposition
The window arrangement is 2:4.
closed part : bay-rhythm
148 cm : 400 cm = 2:5
As with the frieze windows on the top level, the windows in the east wing
are coupled in pairs by means of a thin pier, which takes up to 1/3 of the
remaining wall section.
The closed part is in a 2:5 superposition on the bay-rhythm.
140 141
The cloister
Dom Hans van der Laan, early façade study for the cloister
The height of the cloister is 4/7 of the total wing height.
The piers are in a 2:5 superposition on the wall.
In the corners, the wall pieces are wider. It makes the four façades more
autonomous, instead of one continuous plane wrapping the cloister garden.
142 143
There are 7, 9, 12 and 13 windows in the cloister.
Because of the irregularity of the plan, there are two straight corners and
two corners defined by an acute and obtuse angle. The perspective opens
up differently depending of the type of corner.
144 145
The bell tower
Just like the façades, the bell tower is expressed through a solid base, and
an open top part for the bells, which is in a 2:5 superposition.
The bell tower connects the abbey to the large garden for the guests.
Left: Photograph: Jeroen Verrecht

Bottom: Dom Hans van der Laan, early principles for
the bell tower and first floor, date unknown
In the first design phase, the tower was still positioned

against the convent wing. Eventually, the tower will
be detached. In a note to his brother Nico van der
Laan, he writes: ‘The tower is now 1230 high, meaning
a white form of 3.02 x 5.30 x 12.30. The holes are
measured authentically, but they are not beautiful yet.
I was in constant doubt about a lower tower of 10.80,
In the total plan the tower seems to me to be of great
importance to give the totality a solid base towards
this side towards the garden, which does ask for a face,
which is not necessary towards the front.’
146 147
The in-between space towards the bell tower
frame 8
window
3:4
frame 7
lintel 37.5
2 stones above lintel
4:7
3:4
2:3
frame 3 frame 5 Photograph: Caroline Voet
height
lintel 43 lintel 43
313.5
1 stone above lintel 1 stone above lintel
The connection towards the bell tower is a succession of in-between spaces.
Although proportioned according to 2:3, 3:4 and 4:7 ratios, they are not
4:7
made of juxtaposed singular modules. They rather express themselves
4:7 3:4
through a succession of peripheral openings and frames.
The widths of these frames connect through different proportions 3:4

frame 4 frame 6
and 6:7.
door door
width 131 width 131
The lintels all have a different height and distance to the ceiling. Although
frame 2
frames 3 and 5 are narrower than frames 1 and 7, their lintel is slightly
lintel 44.5
higher and only separated by a row of stones from the ceiling instead of
no stones above lintel
two, as is the case with frames 1 and 7. These small but precise alterations
and cross-references connect frames 1 and 7, emphasizing it subtly as one
frame 1 space beyond frame 2.
lintel 37.5
2 stones above lintel While frames 1 and 2 are positioned symmetrically within the space, frames
7 and 8 are shifted from this central axis. Their position expresses the bell
tower as a 3:4 composition, thus allowing for a porch towards an exit door
width frame 1 and 7 : frame 2 to the garden to be placed on the left.
226:345 = 3:4
width frame 1 : frame 3 and 5

226:197 = 7:6
148 149
Dynamic perspective from bell tower to cloister Dynamic perspective from cloister to bell tower
Point from which one sees a glimpse of one

of the three ropes of the bells in the bell tower
The progressive movement from the courtyard to the bell tower in the
north-east corner of the abbey is a good example of the lack of symmetry
in the building. The double portico that leads to the tower is not placed in
the axis of the corridor, nor is it aligned with the corner of the courtyard:
it is shifted from this corner by 14 cm. This is emphasized by a shift in
the tile pattern.
Thus, looking into the courtyard from the bell tower, a glimpse of the
unfolding perspective of the west cloister is already visible. Behind the dou-
ble portico, the composition between pier, window and gallery gradually
changes as one progresses towards the courtyard.
In the other direction, moving along the cloister towards the bell tower
offers a glimpse of the opening towards it and its window facing the back
garden. The closer one moves towards the bell-tower, the less one sees of
Movement from the bell tower towards the courtyard the window.
Photographs: Coen van der Heiden In the north-west corner of the cloister, from one specific spot, a glimpse
of one of the three ropes used to ring the bells can be caught.
150 151
1 4
2 5
3 6
Progressive views towards the bell tower

Photographs: Coen van der Heiden
152 153
Studies for the north and west façades
21 January 1973
These two drawings show an evolution in the design of
the northern front façade and the west façade between
January and May 1973.
On the front façade, one can see the evolution of the

entrance from a more horizontal to a practically square
composition. The church still has windows on the
ground floor in January.
On the west façade, note how the windows of the spac-

es on the ground floor at first follow the rhythm of the
frieze of the top floor. In May, they follow their own
rhythm, which is 3/4 of the frieze.
May 1973
154 155
In construction drawings, measures – widths and heights – are adapted
to the measures of the brickwork. There are header measures and course
measures. In this way façades are drawn in header measures and course
measures and thus communicated to the masons.
Roosenberg Abbey is conceived from a brick of 9 cm wide, 6 cm high

and 19 cm long. Taking the joint into account, this means that the header
measures are 10 cm, and the course measures are 7.5 cm.
After the choice of this stone all measures of the design are adjusted, if
needed, to multiples of 10 cm and 7.5 cm.
Dom Hans van der Laan, details for the façade, 8 May 1973
156 157
5 — Scale IV: Furniture and Objects
159
Dom van der Laan designed all the furniture, liturgical objects and
clothing for the abbey. He developed a specific system for the furniture:
a U-shaped profile is extruded in different directions. A cabinet is a
horizontal U-profile, extruded upward. Benches and stools are a vertical
U-profile extruded in length, while the tables and chairs are extruded
compositions of U-profiles.
All furniture is made of wooden planks and boards fixed with visible
rivets. The furniture is painted in distinctive blue-greys, green-greys and
brown-greys that correspond to the natural colour of the stone pattern.
Each room is allocated a series of furniture, placed in specific places.
It is quite heavy and difficult to move.
Top: Dom van der Laan, isometric of the interior of the hall
Below: Dom van der Laan, isometric of the interior of the parlour
160 161
Dom van der Laan, drawing of the furniture layout in the Sisters’ recreation room, Dom van der Laan, drawing of the furniture layout in the guest refectory,
presumably December 1973 31 December 1973
162 163
Dom van der Laan, detailed plan of the ‘open benches’, presumably 1974 Dom van der Laan, detailed plan of the ‘closed benches and chairs’, presumably 1974
164 165
The Sisters’ refectory
The Sisters’ recreation room

166 167
Dom van der Laan, detailed plan of the ‘open cabinet’, presumably 1974 Dom van der Laan, detailed plan of the ‘bed’, presumably 1974
168 169
top: Dom van der Laan, For the bride of David Wylde, Abbey Vaals, 16 September 1988 Dom van der Laan, tunic for the Schola of Utrecht, 5 February 1976
bottom: Dom van der Laan, design for a tunic for the Marian Sisters of Waasmunster,
June 1974, not executed
170 171
Church with a view of the mural by Théodore Strawinsky Dom van der Laan, church, 2 January 1973
Photograph Stien Stessens
172 173
Tabernacle in the apse of the church Dom van der Laan, tabernacle
Photograph Stien Stessens
174 175
Top: Dom van der Laan, chalice for Roosenberg Abbey Paten and wine goblet, Roosenberg Abbey
Below: Dom van der Laan: drawing for paten Photograph: Coen van der Heiden
176 177
6 — Nine Letters from the Architect
on the Construction of Roosenberg Abbey
179
In 1975, Dom Hans van der Laan wrote nine letters to the community of
the Marian Sisters of St.-Francis, who were about to move into their new
abbey. The letters reveal his process of decision making during the design of
Roosenberg Abbey, not only as an architect, but also as a Benedictine monk,
as such offering an in-depth reading on why this building is the way it is.
I
I recall recording the initial ideas for your abbey with my brother before
I had even seen the site.
At the time I knew only that it was flanked by woods on three sides, that
it was situated in an elevated spot and that its fourth side looked out over
a lower plain with a little river.
That side, moreover, was to the south. I envisioned that site at the time as
the ideal image of natural loins from which the abbey would have to be
born. We knew its measurements, as well as the orientation of the woods
surrounding it, and I remember you were particularly concerned about
the view of the valley being fully enjoyed throughout the abbey building
itself. I was more focused on the intimacy of the site, enclosed by the
edges of those three woods, and it seemed to me that these two aspects of
enclosed and open views beautifully matched and provided, as it were, the
basic chord for the composition of your abbey, which even with a greater
enclosure would still need to be adequately open to its surroundings.
Every house built for human beings is a perfection of the nature

constructed by the Great Architect. We add the ‘inside’ to nature
and in so doing we turn her into an ‘outside’.
Yet if the situation in which we build is right, nature has already provided
the initial template for this inside and outside. This is what immediately
appealed to the Director when he was first given a tour of this site.1 This
1. Van der Laan refers to rector Henri Raamdonck, at that time fusion of enclosure and open views to him seemed to fulfil the idea of
General Director of the Marian Sisters of St. Francis. He was closely the monastic life the building would accommodate, the broad outlines of
involved in the conception and construction of Roosenberg Abbey. which were already set in his mind as well as in yours.
180 181
I therefore immediately endeavoured to nestle the building in those natural guest refectory has been given an additional window with a panoramic
loins of the grounds, so that these two aspects would again converge; and view. The sisters’ ‘living room’ has the grandest views, but a small window
as I have already told you, the abbey evolved, step by step, as a sort of to the side offers an intimate view of the terrace. Finally, the church has
symphony of enclosed and open views, of inside and outside. no view at all, but it is entirely open at the top. I shall always be grateful
In the house itself, I have again and again related spaces to each other that you eliminated the downstairs windows there. This is precisely what
whereby one space is always an inside in relation to another space. gives the church, in relation to the other spaces of the abbey, its entirely
This play of inside and outside is not merely play, for it is strictly grounded unique and eminent value. In this way, we will take a few more walks
in the requirements you stipulated for the building. Your programme was through the house together, so that I can tell you what was going through
beautifully elaborated, and I consider this one of the principal reasons for our minds as we designed it.
the success of the building. Initially, details and personal preferences were
not discussed; you provided merely a broad outline. On the ground floor
a number of halls; upstairs 12 rooms for the sisters and 24 for guests, and
a chapel or church to dominate the whole. The size and number of the
halls on the ground floor resulted in each hall downstairs corresponding
to six rooms upstairs.
Accordingly we made wooden blocks whose volumes corresponded to
these spaces. We were able to give these blocks the proportions of a kind
of ground form, as derived from our studies of architecture in Den Bosch,
and composed the entire building based on this ground form. Eventually,
when all is completed, the altar, with this same ground form, will stand in
the centre of the church. No complications arose during the more specific
design of the halls and rooms; by adhering to the initial plan, we were able
to attribute every space its required size and place.
When it came to situating the building on the grounds, it was a great
surprise that the shape of the building was able to correspond so precisely
to that of the site.
The building fits on the grounds like a child in the lap of its mother,
and this will continue to lend great peace and self-evidence to the
life in the house and the garden.
The building is solidly seated, as it were, against the Ortegat wood and its
side rests against the Lovinfosse wood. It offers a private view of the side
garden on the east side and a panoramic view toward the south.
I tried to repeat the building’s solid orientation on the site in its internal
spaces, on a smaller scale. In each hall I allowed the space to lean against
a closed side to insure its enclosure, and provided an open side for the view.
This is of course different for each hall, according to its location in the
building and its intended use. The most private is the conference hall. The Photograph Ronald De Buck
182 183
windows of the workshops along the terrace are entirely different from
II those of the ‘living room’ as well as from those of the cloister.
The column spacing of the inner forecourt is also entirely different from
that of the church and the great halls. And because we matched the differ-
Once we had arranged the diversity of spaces with identically shaped
ent kinds of ‘inside’, that is to say the rhythm of inside and outside of the
wooden blocks into a definite plan, so that each space had its place in the
different spaces, to the shape of the walls, that is to say to their rhythm of
building and the building as a whole had its place on the site, the actual
open and closed, the house takes on a highly fascinating quality. Without
architectural work began.
the forms, all of which are extremely sober, displaying anything ostenta-
I recall that at the meeting at which the general scheme was approved, archi-
tious, one experiences this harmony as something beneficent.
tect De Vloed brought along a sample of the brick we were supposed to use.
So we constantly consider the inside together with the outside, and with-
It is interesting to consider that, while the general scheme started from
in that inside, the shape of the wall in conjunction with the shape of the
the site, this brick was to be the point of departure for the actual
space. Moreover, we consider the totality of spaces in relation to the
architectural design.
totality of forms.
Later, I must tell you about the harmony of the measurements, for in a
The site and the brick as two extremes must be brought together good building space, form and measure must join into one great whole.
in the building, with its spaces and walls. We can consider the
spaces of the halls, corridors and cells as limitations of the vast The spaces in which we dwell then fit in with our experience, the
space between the woods; the columns, walls and windows as forms we see with our perception, and the ratios among meas-
extensions of that small, solid brick. urements we read with our mind.
And just as mind, sensory perception and physical experience for us co-
Space and wall together consequently form the building. In Den Bosch we
incide into a single being, these three worlds of space, form and measure
learned to always consider two things simultaneously: not just the building,
must form a single great harmony in the building. This is more or less
but the building in relation to its site; that is to say, not just the inside of
the secret of the way we build, and we do our utmost to truly realize this.
the building, but the inside together with the outside, from which it is
separated by walls. Similarly, we do not merely value the halls for the space
So we can walk through the house in three ways: the first way is by paying
they provide; we always consider that space in relation to the shape of the
particular attention to the spaces we enter and traverse; another way is by
walls and the columns, of which we expose the thickness with great care.
looking at the forms of walls, columns and windows and in so acquiring
As such, an interplay emerges between the form of the space and that of
impressions of the forms of the spaces; a final way is to absorb the ratios
the walls. In the building, this interaction between space and mass then
of the measurements. We tried to use colour nuances to reinforce all these
reveals to us a representation of the greater interaction between building
impressions. Regarding the first way, I would immediately draw your at-
and site. We continue this play of forms between space and mass once
tention to the closed front façade with which the building begins. This was
more in the walls themselves, with the columns and the space between
done with great consideration. This front façade is entirely different from,
the columns, and with the windows and the wall sections between the
for example, that of the workshops lining the terrace. That open façade,
window openings.
flanked by the church and the protruding wing of the sisters’ residence,
In the same way, we also carried the play of inside and outside through in
transforms the outside space, the sisters’ garden, into an inner courtyard,
the interior by relating one space as a sort of outside to another space as an
as it were. The contrast between inside and outside is very weak here,
inside. This is why I called your abbey a symphony of inside and outside:
whereas with the front façade this contrast is very pronounced. Because
I could also have called it a symphony of open and closed, for different
the building is set amid the woods, a visitor proceeding along the entrance
window arrangements and column spacings are present throughout. The
184 185
drive already feels drawn into an inside. Therefore the outer forecourt had
to be made into a clear exterior by means of the blank wall and the asphalt
III
on the ground. In order to reinforce the beneficent effect of entering the
In the last few days I found a text I must have copied from Dom Guéranger
building, therefore, the outer forecourt has been treated as a severe outside
a long time ago: ‘la réflection ordonnée et suivie replace notre intelligence
and the inner forecourt as a welcoming inside.
en possession de notions oubliées’ (orderly and sustained reflection enables
That inner forecourt is framed, as it were, by four open our intelligence to recall forgotten notions). This applies most particularly
to the work we have done in Den Bosch in the past 30 years, which was
porticos, while the outer space features merely a blank wall; devoted to architecture. Gradually, the great fundaments of architecture
this contrast, you might say, forms the basic chord of the ab- have revealed themselves, and thanks to your great faith in that work we
were given the opportunity to let these fundaments find expression in a
bey, the intent of which is to be a strictly demarcated inside complete building.
devoted to God. The house, with everything necessary for everyday life, seemed to natural-
ly find its place on the site. It was as if that open terrain that the Director
discovered on the fortunate evening after his visit to the chapel of the Holy
However, the outer forecourt has been made slightly more appealing
Virgin had been predestined for such a building, in size as well as shape.
thanks to the projecting canopy and the two lamp posts flanking the
The orientation, too, is exactly right. One enters the grounds from the
entrance, as well as the open portico of the garage. (This is the reason I
Oude Heirweg on the northside and sees that marvellous view toward the
always wanted to give the rectory an open portico.)
south. As a result the church received its east-west orientation naturally
Even the Spanish balcony of the corridor opening upstairs contributes to
and the dimensions required for the building left just enough garden.
tempering the overly severe outside character of the outer forecourt. However,
This view really enraptured us in the beginning, so much so that we
it is principally the dome of the church visible above the front façade that
thought of keeping the building open in that direction and not closing off
elicits a yearning for the inside, and that is precisely what is needed.
the inner courtyard on that side.
Despite all the loveliness of open nature, we must want to go inside. The
But in the process of designing it, the opposite soon proved true. Had it
rest is for another time.
been meant as a holiday home, a place to enjoy the natural setting and
achieve physical recovery, this might have been an evident choice, and
since in the worldly sphere consideration is virtually given solely to phys-
ical well-being, we too have a tendency to place too great an emphasis
on that aspect of life. This quest for physical well-being for its own sake,
incidentally, is a great illusion, for we are not created for such a purpose.
That is for animals. Our well-being lies in a correct balance between
spiritual and physical satisfaction.
Nature is not sufficient for spiritual well-being, and therefore

we must create a world through housing in which the mind and
spirit can flourish, just as the body does in the sunshine.
Yet a house is also needed for the body, and in our climate especially this
must meet many requirements. This, however, is more of a necessary evil;
where nature falls short, we must supplement it with houses. But for our
186 187
mind and spirit a confined internal space is absolutely necessary, and not outside, and this is because it is open at the top and has no roof. One looks
as a necessary evil. for the portico of the abbey, because only then will one be truly inside. I
Even Paradise was an enclosed garden from which Adam and Eve could thought it was right to keep this vestibule severe and dark, in order to turn
be expelled, and we must regard every enclosed space we build today as a it into a preparation for the light inside of the abbey building — in other
restored Paradise. It was therefore not right to open the inner courtyard, words a kind of novitiate. The rest for another time.
so essential to any abbey, on one side because of the view, and already you
can experience the beneficent effect of the inner courtyard, which forms
the heart of the house as a true hortus conclusus. In this way the mind is
constantly directed towards that for which it inwardly strives.
The Holy Theresa of Avila – and Ruusbroec too – tells us that the
conquest of our innermost selves, where through baptism we find
God himself, is as that of seven enclosures, that is to say seven
enclosed insides contained one within the other, as it were, and
this is more or less the case for each house. One does not simply
stumble into a house through the door.
First there is the doorstep, then the vestibule, the hall, the reception room;
in this way, one slowly penetrates the intimacy of the house. Each time, one
is inside, but not quite completely. Inside the vestibule one is still outside the
hall and inside the hall outside the room. All these steps from inside and
outside are much more clearly perceptible in a house the size of a monastery,
and therefore much more instructive for the mind. And if one asks me why
sisters would not be better off living in an apartment, the answer is that an
apartment cannot show us how to find our innermost soul.
Because of its open views, an apartment building can teach us how to dis-
tract ourselves, that is to say to scatter ourselves outward, but not how to
collect ourselves inward, toward the great union with the divine presence
in our soul. A monastery must teach us to turn inward sevenfold — that is
to say, again and again. The garden-outside serves as a place from which
to go inside and discover each inside space.
That is why I am so happy with the atrium, which we enter from the outer
forecourt. It must teach us the beneficence of being inside: a new piece of
nature, but one entirely adapted to our mind and spirit. In nature a vast
quantity of trees, innumerable, but in the atrium only ten columns, distrib-
uted on four sides. The trees with their innumerable leaves; each column
with a capital of a few small round foils. Yet in the atrium one is still entirely Photograph Ronald De Buck
188 189
IV for a garden that is not too clean, but rather contains the volatile forms
that God’s nature provides. It is so beautiful to see the work of our hands,
It was once again a delight to see the building approaching its completion. with its unvarying rectangular shapes, standing out against the infinitely
Now that the space around the abbey is beginning to take on its definitive varied, supple forms of nature, the work of the Creator.
shape, the exterior architecture, too, is getting better. Because the building
does not have a singular form, but is composed of four separate wings The few proportions that determine the forms of the house are no
around a courtyard, the four façades of the house are also clearly distinct
from one another. They are therefore not the four sides of a single building,
more than what our intellect managed to distil from the endless
as is the case in a villa, which is usually set free-standing in a garden that treasure of proportions disseminated in nature by divine wisdom.
surrounds the house.
Close to the perimeter of the house everything can still be somewhat aus-
In your building, however, each façade belongs to one wing and tere, but closer to the woods it all should be surrendered to nature.
each façade rules its own garden. The courtyard is a different story altogether, of course; this space must
be completely different from that of the garden. The courtyard is not an
outside space around the house, but an outside enclosed by the house.
Photographs in which two façades are simultaneously visible should there-
This creates an entirely new outside, not the original outside of nature in
fore be avoided. This is acceptable for a small house but not for an abbey.
which the house is built, but a constructed outside created anew within
The front façade faces the outer forecourt; the garden façade with a tower
the house and is therefore a beautiful representation of the supernatural
faces the large guests’ garden. This façade makes this garden, as it were, and
life we carry hidden within our heart.
as you later stroll along the paths around this field you will always remain
in contact with this façade. The façade along the Lovinfosse wood has a
totally different character again, because it flanks only a long strip of lawn. It is the ‘hortus conclusus’ of the Song of Songs, not an outside
In order to separate this façade from the garden façade with the tower, I
would like to plant a screen of birch trees along the large field, aligned with
garden but an enclosed garden. This courtyard must therefore
the façade along the wood. From the lane behind this row of birches one also be completely different from the outside garden, and I
then has a view of that long side façade and the strip of lawn. Also on the
other side a screen of birches should separate the guests’ garden from the sis-
would like to keep it as austere as possible. and each façade
ters’ garden, which is entirely organized by the low façade with the terrace. rules its own garden.
That birch screen should be aligned precisely with the plane of the façade
with the tower. In this way four gardens are actually created: two strips, the It is not a garden with trees and flowers, but a garden that arises from the
outer forecourt and the strip of lawn along the Lovinfosse, separated by a gallery around it, born, as it were, from these galleries. The discovery of
low wall, and then the two fields, the large field for the guests on the south this courtyard must be the greatest effect of your abbey; the small inner
side and a small field for the sisters on the east side. The evening stroll with forecourt is merely its foretaste, a novitiate; but once one has truly entered
the Director around the site, especially now that the piles of sand and the the abbey, in the reception hall, one must instinctively be driven toward
necessary trees have been removed, confirmed all of this for me. the large opening that grants access to the cloister. There was a great
temptation to fully illuminate the stairwell from above through the four
The fact that your garden is so solidly attached to the house allows it to windows on the upper floor, but this would have ruined the orientation of
fully benefit from the architecture, and it will need little to thrive. Its the stairwell toward the courtyard. That is why there is that blank wall
layout can therefore be of the utmost simplicity, so that it will require in front of the stairs: it makes the entrance of the house severe, but the
little maintenance. The austere architecture itself asks, as a counterpoint, discovery of the inner courtyard all the more enchanting.
190 191
Once in the galleries around the courtyard, everything changes. It is from V
here that one will visit all the other spaces. Stairwells and porticos can be
entered at every corner, and beyond those stairwells and porticos are the Today I have copied a passage from the great work by Antoine
halls and rooms.
de Saint-Exupéry, Citadelle (The Wisdom of the Sands), a book
One thus conquers the house from the inside out; the outside I discovered quite late, which describes exactly the climate in
merely peeks at us through the windows like something from which the work of the Bossche School evolved.
another world we have left behind and now look upon with
‘... of my father’s palace, where every step had a purpose.
different eyes. It was a spacious abode, with its wing reserved for women and the en-
closed courtyard where the fountain sang. (And I command that the house
Moreover, one enters every hall through a kind of gallery, a part separated
be given a heart in this way so that one can walk to as well as away from
by some columns, which gives the hall its measure and assures its intimacy
something. So that one can enter as well as exit it. For otherwise one is
no matter its size. Beyond these halls there is nothing more; one is truly
nowhere. And it does not mean that one is free, if one is not.)
within the intimacy of the house, an intimacy accessed not directly from
There were also barns and stables. And it happened that the barns were
the nature outside, but from the created outside of the inner courtyard.
empty and the stables unoccupied. And my father resisted the idea of
And as such, through a small entrance portico, we arrive at last inside the
using one for the purpose of the other: “The barn,” he said, “is a barn
church, the last and most beautiful hall in the house, the aula Dei. Here
first and foremost, and you do not live in a house if you no longer know
a kind of gallery runs around the octagonal space, with the altar in the
where you are.”
middle. The other halls had the galleries on one side and the light on the
other. This great hall has the gallery all around its perimeter and the light
“It does not take much at all,” he also said, “for the use of something to
coming from above. Here we are in the heart of the house, which is what
be more or less fruitful.”
it must actually be. Those who enter the church from the outside and the
“Mankind is not livestock to be fattened, and love matters more to him
inner forecourt will never experience this like those who enter the church
than profitable use. You cannot love a house that has no face and in which
from the inner cloister. Everything is designed to make this entering into the
steps have no direction.”
church a delight: ‘Ego autem in multitudine misericordiae tuae, introibo in
domum tuam, Domine, et adorabo ad templum sanctum tuum.’ (But I, by
There was the hall reserved for the great envoys and where the sun was
your great love, can come into your house, Lord; in reverence I bow down
only let in on the days that the sandy dust rose, kicked up by the horsemen,
toward your holy temple.) We were taught to recite this verse from Psalm 5
on the horizon lined with great banners among which the wind blew as
upon entering church for divine office. I can write all of this to you because
on the sea. It was left empty when little princes of no importance came.
we built this house together. It was always our intention to build not merely
There was the hall were justice was exercised and the hall to which the
a house in which prayers are said, but a house to pray.
dead were carried. There was the empty room, the purpose of which no
one ever knew; perhaps it had no purpose, or it must have been to teach
the meaning of mystery and the fact that not all things can be fathomed.
And the slaves, who trotted along the corridors laden with their burdens,
carried heavy carpets that hung limp from their shoulders. They climbed
stairs, pushed against doors and descended more stairs, and depending on
whether they were closer to or further away from the fountain in the centre,
they would grow more or less silent, becoming timid as shadows near the
192 193
women’s domain, where an unguarded glance would have cost them their Through its consecration the building acquires the same sanctifying power as
lives. And the women themselves: calm, arrogant or secretive, depending the liturgy with which it identifies, but this consecration must be grounded
on their place in the house. in clearly visible forms.
Last time I wrote you about the great distinction between architectural and
I hear the voice of fools: “What a waste of space, what untapped riches, natural forms. When I last paid you a visit and strolled around the garden
what discontent caused by neglect! Those useless walls should be torn with the Director, or rather around the grounds that are to become the gar-
down and those stairs levelled; all they do is make walking difficult. Then den, I was struck by how different laying down a garden is from building a
man will be free.” And I reply: “Then men will become like livestock in house. In the garden nothing more is needed than to refine forms provided
the city square, and out of fear of boredom they will invent stupid games by nature: a few trees removed here, a few birches added there to mitigate
that will be dominated by rules anyway, but rules without grandeur. the transition between the artificial forms of the building and the natural
For the palace can foster poetry. But what kind of poem can one write forms of trees and surroundings. In nature there is an inscrutable variety of
about the futility of the dice they cast? They will likely live on for a forms; in architecture a few clear forms, all rectangular and defined by a few
long time from the shadow of the walls, the poems of which will inspire exact measurements. I particularly recall the huge stacks, square stacks of
their nostalgia; then the shadow itself will fade and they will no longer hundreds of square bricks all in the same format, whereas in nature no two
understand them.” forms are the same and never the same size.
It is from those small uniform bricks that the limited variations of your house
And where then would they find joy? were created quite consciously. You saw them ‘grow’ up: the piers of the halls,
So would it be with a man, lost in a week without days or in a year with- the walls with the open windows, the rows of piers of the inner courtyard
out days of celebration, that shows no face. So would it be with the man and the frieze of the upper windows, all the same square forms, one a bit
without hierarchy, who envies his neighbour and who, when the latter bests longer, another a bit thicker or a bit flatter.
him in some way, endeavours to bring him down to his own level. What joy
could they then still draw from the dead pool they would collectively form?’ They are all forms from a very limited gamut, to which we can,
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Citadelle III
so to speak, give names: blocks, bars and slabs. What occurs in
For you this is not about a fictional palace but about a real house, which nature in an infinite range of forms, we have to produce in a very
I truly believe has a special ‘face’, a face that will hold one’s interest to
such an extent that one will not, out of boredom, seek diversion in other
limited range, so that we may comprehend it all.
things. A stay in such a monastery should in itself awaken the passion for
monastic life, and then, as a result of such an interaction, the inner life And what is true of the piers and the walls is equally true of the spaces: bar-
can only flourish. shaped corridors, block-shaped stairwells, slab-shaped halls; and these forms
too are very limited. They are defined by the ratios between length, width
Exupéry’s comparison of architecture to liturgy is also most felicitous. and height, and these ratios are always seven in number, just as music has
an octave of clearly distinct notes.
With minor variations, the same forms recur throughout the house; one
learns to recognize them as the forms of this house. They give it its own face,
What unfolds through the building, with its hierarchy of spaces, which will come to be loved.
culminating in the consecrated church, is the same, in terms of Although the play of forms, that of the columns and window openings as
well as that of the spaces themselves, is much more varied downstairs than
space, as what happens through liturgy, with its recurring days upstairs, you still find a lovely horizontal slab shape for the stairwell, long bar
of celebration, culminating in Easter, in terms of time. forms for the corridor and above all the purely balanced shape of the cells.
194 195
As one continues to move through these spaces, they eventually VI
harmonize into a spatial melody. The more simply your house Now that the garden is being laid down and the furniture is being put into
place, immediately something of the great unity that will mark the whole
is furnished and decorated, the more clearly perceptible these is emerging. From the small planks used to make the furniture, all with the
ground motifs will be. same width and thickness, to the great vastness of the entire domain, there
exists one great connection between all the spaces, forms and measures:
We experience all of this more than we see it; this in no way diminishes a small world of created things in the midst of the vast world of nature.
its impact. This is even more true of the harmony of measurements, about In nature all within an irretraceable variety and multiplicity, and yet with
which I will tell you in one of my next letters. great unity and harmony.
It is to the glory of God when we replicate this in our own way, within
the limitations of our human intellect. The more straightforward we do
this, the better we can attain that same unity and harmony. A few straight
paths in the garden in our created world do what the beautiful trunks
and branches of the acacia trees do in nature. Similarly, the furniture that
comes in such direct contact with the natural forms of our body needs only
a few simple forms in order for us to turn them into a unified whole. This
is also why we have minimalised the natural forms of the wood grain and
its natural nuances of colour with a thin layer of paint. Yet the colours of
the house and of the furniture are not uniform: there too we sought, with
great care, a limited gamut of colours.
The three colours of the blue ceiling, the red tables and the
yellowish chairs and cupboards play between the white of the
walls and the off-black of the doors.
Mr van Hooff balanced these colours with great patience, and I am very
happy that you afforded him the opportunity to do so.
In the process we were able to construct our own little world of spaces,
forms, colours and measures, one entirely adapted to our limited intellect
and capacity to comprehend.
In regard to nature, our work is like that of children, but it fits our existence.
Little children are given milk and are satisfied. A house that is properly
adapted to our capabilities is like milk for the mind. Also the ironwork
for the candlesticks and the silver for the chalices and monstrance were
fashioned in the same spirit. The forms are reduced to their most simple
Photograph Ronald De Buck
196 197
form, and the proportions purely reflect the limited gamut we explored VII
in Den Bosch.
Now just a few more words about the windows and façades. You will have After all the letters about the construction of your abbey, now one specif-
noticed that the windows of the halls downstairs are not square like those ically about the church. The Church does not issue specifications for the
of the rooms upstairs. construction of a monastic abbey.
However, our Pope Paul, just as Pius XII used to, repeatedly emphasizes
An ancient architectural law holds that the shape of the space that monastic buildings should express great simplicity and poverty, in
order to reflect the true monastic life. In the new Institution of the General
and that of the windows should be assimilated. In fact we strive Roman Missal the church building is discussed in the same spirit, as well
to ensure that the entire disposition of the wall and of the space as everything it must contain.
resemble each other. Like the rhyme at the end of lines of verse The words ‘nobilis simplicitas’, noble simplicity, recur throughout
enhances the harmony of the lines themselves, so do the rhythm like a refrain. Those words are drawn from my own heart: I have
and the shape of the windows enhance the rhythm and the shape sought nobility in the correct proportions and simplicity in the
of the space. material and the forms.
The length and width of the halls relate to each other, in almost every case,
The same simple rectangular forms recur throughout and everything is
as four to three, and this is also the ratio between the height and width
made of brick, concrete and plain wood.
of the windows.
However, for the interior of the church, clear guidelines are given, and the
Upstairs, however, the rooms are nearly square, and this is also true of
first is the central place the altar must occupy. When the altar first comes
the windows. But there is yet another difference between the windows
up in the description of the offertorium, it is immediately called ‘the cen-
of the halls downstairs and those of the rooms upstairs. In the halls the
tre of the entire Eucharistic service’ (no. 49). And when the altar itself is
windows are cut out of the walls, while upstairs the windows are not made
discussed (219), it says again: ‘The altar is the centre of the thanksgiving
as holes: instead the wall piers and the in-between columns are made,
offered by the Eucharist.’ And finally, no. 262 gives the following complete
and the windows naturally come into being between those wall sections.
description: ‘The high altar must be built freestanding, so that one can
This gives the façades of the house a unique character: downstairs a solid
easily circulate around it and so that the service can take place toward
wall pierced with holes, upstairs an open frieze of windows with piers
the people. It must be positioned so that it is truly the centre upon which
and small columns at regular intervals. As a result this row of windows
the whole congregation of the faithful naturally focuses its attention.’
becomes an ornament, a crowning for the façade.
This stipulation has significant consequences for the disposition of abbey
churches. In the past there was a separate space reserved in our churches
The façade of the terrace is composed like the upper section of the other
for the choir stalls, between the chancel and the space for the faithful. As
façades. This turns this façade into an ornament for the entire house.
a result the churches were long and the faithful far removed from the altar.
In the tower you again find the same composition as that of the two long
In order to give the altar the central place required by the Institution, the
façades: an open upper section for the bells and a solid lower section.
church space must be folded together, as it were. The chancel is then sit-
This provides the basic chord for the composition of the façades.
uated on one side of the altar, ending at the presider’s chair for the priest,
who must stand facing the people at the leading end of the chancel (271),
and the faithful are then positioned on the other side of the altar, so that
the choir benches must be set along the other two sides of the altar.
198 199
To accommodate this disposition of the altar between the choral benches, somewhat smaller than that of the high altar, and it is somewhat higher.
the church must be quite wide, with the result that when the size of the It is placed on two steps, so that the tabernacle, which stands on the rear
congregation is small, as it will be in your case, the church must take on a half of this altar, can be seen from anywhere in the church, beyond the
square form. For your church I have chosen an octagon, but in order to give presider’s chair. As a result the entire church can be used for the worship
this space the necessary orientation, so that the presiding priest will actually of the Blessed Sacrament outside Mass.
be positioned at the leading end of the space, the octagon is contained within
a more longitudinal framing. Behind the presider’s chair there is a space However, because during Mass all attention must be focused on the high
left over for attending to the altar, and on the other side a space for a larger altar (Institution, 262), a stone ciborium has been built around the taber-
number of congregants on feast days. nacle, so that its front can be closed during Mass, hiding the tabernacle
from view. When it is open, on the other hand, the tabernacle is framed
The high altar is entirely made of natural stone and as a result stands out by the ciborium in such a way that it particularly stands out.
prominently in the simple space. Under the table is an enclosed cavity in The fact that this ciborium makes the altar itself less suitable for the cele-
which the relic of Saint Modestus M. can be placed. The relic is contained bration of Holy Mass seems to me not in the least objectionable, since in
in a leaden box along with the consecration charter, and this box is set in a the circumstances this altar will not be used for this purpose. The high
wooden shrine placed on a small riser under the altar table. The final key- altar and the tabernacle altar form a unit in this church, so that the high
stones are then to be cemented at the consecration of the altar. The leaden altar is used for Mass.
envelope with the authentications from 1750 then sits next to the relic. The Institution provides very specific instructions for the position of the
For the keeping of the Blessed Sacrament, the Institution stipulates a pref- faithful. They must stand during part of the Mass, sit during another
erence for a separate chapel, suitable for silent prayer and worship by the and kneel during Consecration. Although the time spent kneeling is brief,
faithful (276), but this was difficult to achieve in this abbey church. Given the benches have been carefully designed to facilitate kneeling, since the
the small number of sisters and congregants, the church does not need to be church, outside Mass, serves as a substitute for a separate Sacrament chap-
large; therefore this church does not consist, like a large church, of a prin- el, which must accommodate kneeling worship of the Blessed Sacrament.
cipal space and ancillary spaces. A side chapel for the Blessed Sacrament, It is a pleasure to see how careful adherence to the new Institution of the
in this case, would entail a second church. General Roman Missal has resulted in a well-ordered whole, which testifies
to the great wisdom with which these guidelines were established.
The tabernacle, however, cannot be set on the high altar, where Mass is
celebrated facing the people. It is also preferred that the Blessed Sacrament
not be kept on an altar upon which the Holy Mass is celebrated. The text
of the new Ritual for Holy Communion is clear on this point. (De Sacra
Communione et de cultu mysterii eucharistici extra missam: no. 6). In it
we read: ‘On the grounds of the sign value, it is more in keeping with the
nature of the celebration that, through reservation of the sacrament in
the tabernacle, Christ not be present Eucharistically from the beginning
on the altar where Mass is celebrated. That presence is the effect of the
consecration and should appear as such.’
A separate ‘altar’ has therefore been built for the tabernacle, placed in an
apse behind the presider’s chair, yet sufficiently removed from it to allow
some kneeling benches to be placed for prayer directly in front of the
tabernacle. The sacrament altar is made of the same stone and in the same
style as the high altar, so that it is clear they are connected. Its surface is
200 201
VIII Niel Steenbergen’s Madonna. There too one subconsciously has the length
of the inner courtyard in mind, especially since it can be clearly estimated
There are still two things I must write to you about with respect to your from the view onto the church dome. It is again based on this length that
abbey, and then I will have told you everything I had resolved to say. one appreciates the depth of the guests’ garden. These two measures too
The first concerns the size of your building, the measures we gave it in are in perfect harmony.
relation to the entire site, and the measures of its elements: the size of the
halls, the galleries, the columns, the windows, right down to the thickness The depth of the guests’ garden exceeds that of the sisters’ garden to exact-
of the walls. We very deliberately established a connection among all these ly the same extent that the length of the inner courtyard exceeds its width.
sizes. It is the secret to the great sense of peace that your abbey exerts upon This provides the basic chord of the composition of the entire abbey, for
all its visitors. Although it is difficult to say something about this, I will this ratio will now recur in all of its parts.
nonetheless attempt to do so.
The second subject, to which I will devote a final letter, is that of the Along the length of the entire site, measured from north to south, the width
furniture and the colours that complete the house. of the outer forecourt is the smallest measure and therefore serves as the
In terms of colour, especially, your house is an experiment, for our group unit in this order of size. The site is approximately 175 m in depth and the
of architects had not hitherto done it this way. They mostly based their outer forecourt is about 25 m wide, so this is 1/7 part. The same applies
selections on the colours of our own abbey. Yet the architects from my along the width from west to east: the strip along the Lovinfosse wood is
brother’s practice, who paid you a visit on Wednesday, reacted very pos- also 1/7 part of the total width of the site. What the width of the forecourt
itively. The impetus for this experiment clearly came from you, and until constitutes for the whole square with the building and garden, the widths
now I do not regret it. of the corridors constitute for the halls within the house. This corridor
When the position of the abbey had to be slightly altered at the start of width is in turn one seventh part of the width of the outer forecourt, or
construction, the result was that the sisters’ garden lost too much depth, 3.5 m, and this is also the width of each hall’s rear gallery. With this unit
because the edge of the wood on the east side was too close to the building. the entire house is measured, and we find it again in the paths of the large
Buying that wood solved that problem, however, and we were even able to gardens, which are also 3.5 m wide. In the corridors and halls, however,
give the garden better dimensions than we had originally planned. we find yet a smaller measure, and that is the thickness of the walls. Again,
this is 1/7 part of the corridor width, or 50 cm. This is the smallest unit
Carving away a strip of the woods 15 metres wide just like that of measure in your house, which recurs everywhere in the measurements
of the floor tiles. The measurements of the windows and doors are based
might have been harsh, but the effect was convincing. Seen from on this smallest unit.
the terrace, the garden suddenly had its right depth. Seldom have
As such you see the great interplay of three orders of size: first that of the
I seen a purely theoretically derived measure produce such a walls with its windows and doors, then that of the corridors and halls and
concrete effect. The ‘harmony’ between the size of the building finally that of the outer forecourt and the whole building and gardens.
with that of the garden suddenly became as clear and pure as This can all best be compared to the great division of the year into
that of your bells. seasons, weeks and days. The day is the smallest unit with which we count
down the weeks; using weeks we count down the periods of Easter, Lent
Coming from the cloister through the broad passage to the terrace, one has and Christmas, and finally we use those periods to measure the whole year.
a subconscious awareness of the breadth of the inner courtyard, and it is In this way each day gets its proper place along the year, and in the same
against this that one measures the depth and the size of the garden. The way the wall thickness, which in relation to the entire domain is after all
same thing happens when one exits through the guest vestibule containing tiny, nonetheless gets its explicit value in the whole composition.
202 203
Without days, weeks and seasons, the year is not comprehensible IX
and we lack any conscious contact with time. The order of all the To fulfil my promise, look here, just before the big day, one last letter about
sizes in the whole building similarly give us contact with the space the furniture. From everything I have written you it must have become
clear that in Den Bosch we have learned above all not to confine ourselves
in which we life. This is the effective source of the great peace in architecture to the purely practical aspect of design. ‘Man does not live
that emanates from the building. Everything one sees, windows, by bread alone’ and a house that offers only a safe place for our body, only
attuned to a comfortable use, is not sufficient for us men. Our mind and
doors, columns, halls, galleries, gardens and outer forecourt, con- spirit must also be sustained from outside, and the house plays a major
stantly re-establishes us in the space in which we live, and that is role in this. You need only consider the influence of the parental home on
the awakening intellect of a child.
true dwelling: mastery over space. And if this is true of any house, how much more so for an abbey, where
the life of the mind and spirit takes precedence. Just as mind and body
I could tell you a great deal more about all the subordinate proportions cannot be divided in ourselves, these two aspects of architecture cannot
with which we endeavoured to repeat with great care, in small, the basic be separated. It is precisely the physical function of the house that must
chord linking the house and the domain as a whole. This ratio recurs inform the mind through its forms and dimensions.
like an echo everywhere, between corridors and halls, between wall piers
and windows, between façade frieze and façade height, between bell
We must be able to read from the house what dwelling actually is,
chamber and tower, between closed and open sections of the window in order to have a clear picture of what it signifies, that through
frieze. These are the things we have learned in the studies of my brother
Nico’s course in Den Bosch and were able to achieve as never before in
Baptism, God himself dwells in our innermost self.
your house. The free deployment of this entire gamut of measures was
nowhere inhibited by exaggerated demands for comfort or economy, and Just as in everyday life too great an emphasis on the care of the body can
as a result the building is able to exude its spiritual light everywhere, and, suppress the care of mind and spirit, so in architecture can an excess of
as an encore, has turned out to be economical and comfortable anyway. physical comfort be a detriment to the expressive power of space and form.
For this I am as grateful as you. A healthy asceticism manages to respect the body without forgetting the
mind and spirit. ‘Sic transeamus per bona temporalia ut non amittamus
aeterna.’ (That we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not
the things eternal.)
In the past we still knew too little of the ways to make architectonic forms
express their function, and we constantly had to violate their proportions
in order to make the building properly usable; either that or we had to
sacrifice usability, here and there, in favour of correct proportions.
Gradually we have penetrated the possibilities of expressivity to such a
degree that we are able, with a certain ease, to do justice to both aspects
of the building.
The practical demands you stipulated in commissioning the building,
moreover, made it easy for us to order every space, form and measure in
such a way that the building is able to speak its language, a language that
proves able to touch everyone.
204 205
It is extremely difficult to adapt furniture that comes into direct contact with spaces now seem inhabited before anyone has been in them, which lends
the body, and in which comfort, especially today, plays such an important a certain gentleness to the severe forms of the house. In the corridors and
role, to an architecture, whose spiritual value takes such precedence. stairwells, which are devoid of furniture, the architecture retains its severe
dominance, which further reinforces the rhythm of inside and outside I
told you about in my initial letters.
It will be necessary to somewhat radically alter the everyday
use of tables, and especially chairs, in order for these pieces Upstairs in particular, when from the severe stairwell one accedes the
rooms, which are so entirely fitted through this kind of furniture, one
of furniture, in their articulation and proportion, to speak the undergoes this rhythm most strongly. As a result one can be completely at
language of the architecture as well. Had you attached too great peace inside the rooms, and I hope that the experience of the guests, but
especially that of the sisters, will confirm this.
a value to existing customs and to the mere comfort of modern
furniture, it would not have been possible for us to maintain the With this I have now written up everything I intended to tell you about the
house, and thus this task too has been completed on the 6th of August, at
great unity of the building down to the details of the furniture. the same time as that of the construction of your abbey.
On the other hand, I am convinced that the insights we have attained

about the expressive power of architecture are adequate to do justice to
the usability of buildings, but that they are still insufficient for furniture
in which usability plays such a determinant role.
We did do everything we could to make the chairs comfortable to sit on,
Father H. van der Laan
and to simplify their maintenance, but in practice there will certainly be
some difficulties to overcome.
Mamelis Vaals Abbey
I therefore rely on a willingness to sacrifice lower concerns for higher ones,
April-August 1975
such as must so frequently be the case in spiritual life. And that higher
concern is above all the great unity of furniture and space, and the peace
that this communicates to the mind and spirit. We constantly considered
this kind of furniture in relation to the space in which it stands and which
it completes, and in such a way that we consistently matched its colours
to those of the space. Mr van Hooff coloured this furniture, as it were,
using the shadow tones of the walls, as was done for the doors in your
house. This also happened in our church. But your furniture, in its colours
and in the way it was painted, has been made clearly distinct from its
architectural setting.
It forms a world of its own, with its own gamut of colours. The colours
of the floors and ceilings already introduce this gamut to a certain extent;
the chairs and benches do not quite stand out, but the tables have their
own pronounced colour. It is the interaction among the colours, and not
the colours themselves, that link the furniture to the architecture. The
207
8 — Practising the Plastic Number
209
Make your own abacus
Model: Architectuur, Modellen en Meubels
The abacus comprises two orders of size
Dom van der Laan combined the study of the Plastic Number with the
abacus, first presented on 25 April 1952. It was used to test different design
options and proportions through symmetrical relations, but also to train
one’s discernment and ability to design through sketching and making
things with precision.
The abacus as presented in 1984 consists of 38 bars, each 12 mm wide

and 7 mm high. Two orders of size are represented: the order from 3.5 mm
up to 24.5 mm and the order from 24.5 mm up to 175.5 mm. To make
the whole fit, 2.5 mm from the underlying order is added, as well as the
derived measure.
Dom van der Laan, abacus, 26 November 1984
210 211
Symmetrical compositions
2:5 is a eustyle superposition used 75,5 24,5 3:4 1:4

everywhere in Roosenberg Abbey
57 43 4:7 3:7
57 32,5 10,5 4:7 1:3 1:9
57 24,5 18,5 4:7 1:4 1:51:3
43 32,5 24,5 3:7 1:3 1:4
43 24,5 14 3:7 1:4 1:51:3 1:7

18,5
32,5 24,5 14 10,5 1:3 1:4 1:51:3 1:7 1:9
18,5
Juxtapositions of authentic measures
3:4 4:7 3:7 1:3 1:4 1:51:3 1:7 6:7 2:3 2:4 2:5 2:7 2:9 1:6 1:8
This juxtaposition is used to position
Authentic symmetrical proportions Increased and decreased symmetrical
Roosenberg Abbey on the terrain
Figure: AS IX, 7d proportions
Figure: AS IX, 8e 86 14 6:7 1:7
21
65 14 2:3 2:9 1:7
24,5
65 10,5 2:3 1:4 1:9
3:7
32,5
weak
49 18,5 2:4 1:3 1:51:3
weak
1:3 49
37 14 2:5 2:4 1:7
1:4 28 21 18,5 2:7 2:9 1:3

32,5
21 28 14 2:9 2:7 2:5 1:7
1:5 1/3
37
strong
strong
Juxtapositions of authentic and derived measures

1:7
2 x 49 2
3 x 32,5 2,5
Superposition: the whole is compared to Juxtaposition: two parts are compared
4 x 24,5 2
one of its parts to each other; the whole has disappeared
Figure: AS IX, 13h Figure: AS IX, 14j 5 x 18,5 1,5
6
6 x 16 2,5
3 x 0,5
Synchronizing all the measures of building parts is what Dom van der
7 x 14 2
Laan named symmetry.
‘Symmetrical proportions ensure that the size of the architectonic whole Consecutive multiplications within an order of size and
is related through its articulation to the smallest part acting as the unit. their margins in relation to 100
Thus, the quantitative order of space and form can be read off from the
building as a large Plastic Number.’ (AS IX, 9) Three studies by Hans van der Laan Jr.
212 213
Eurhythmic compositions
field strips field strips
s fs fl l s fs fl l
1:1 4:3 7:4 7:3 3:1 4:1 5(1/3):1 7:1
1:1 n
4:3 fn
7:4 fb
1:1 3:4 4:7 3:7 1:3 1:4 1:51/3 1:7 7:3 b fields
broad fairly fairly narrow broad fairly fairly narrow
broad narrow broad narrow n strips
3:1
Within the measures of a system, there are eight

fn
authentic and eight derived figures. 4:1
Dom van der Laan differentiates two ground fig-

The eight figures can be related to
ures: fields and strips. The fields gradually become
each other in different sizes, 36 in 5(1/3):1 fb
narrower, until they devolve into short strips, which
total. They can be ordered systemati-
in turn become longer.
cally in a rectangular triangle. As the
figures become narrower or smaller,
they are fewer in number.
fields strips 7:1 b
The 8 measures form a gamut of 36 figures with 26

1:1 4:3 7:4 7:3 3:1 4:1 51/3:1 7:1
fields and 10 strips:
short fairly fairly long short fairly fairly long
- 8 squares
short long short long
- 7 fields in the ground-ratio 3:4
Different eurhythmic relations between figures with - 6 fairly narrow and 5 narrow fields
authentic measures - 4 broad and 3 fairly broad strips
Figures: AS X.2a,b - 2 fairly narrow and one narrow strip
Figure: AS X.3c
Eurhythmy is the study of the form, of the proportions between the three
dimensions, where length, width and height are compared within one single
form. Dom van der Laan here refers to the ancient definition of eurhythmy:
‘Symmetrical proportions enable us to determine the size of forms, by
relating them to a form that acts as a unit of size; but the eurhythmic
proportions give us an insight not in the quantity of form, but into its
6:7 2:3 2:4 2:5 2:7 2:9 1:6 qualitative properties.’ (AS X.1)
Different eurhythmic relations between figures with

derived measures
Figure: AS X.11o
214 215
Make your own form-bank
Model: Architectuur, Modellen en Meubels
Measures used for the form-bank

16 - 21 - 28 - 37 - 49 - 65 - 86 - 114
In 1976, the abacus is supplemented by the minor form-bank. It consists of

36 authentic forms, which are formed by the eight measures of the system:
- 10 blocks
- 10 bars
- 10 slabs
- 6 white forms
In 1977, Dom van der Laan makes the drawing on the left, with measure-
ments for the realization of a form-bank of 36 forms. They have a height
of 16 mm. The smallest block is 16 x 16 x 16 mm, while the biggest slab
is 114 x 114 x 16 mm.
The form bank is used to make three-dimensional compositions.
Dom van der Laan, Form bank of 36 forms, November 1977
216 217
bars
3 short
3 long
1:1 white forms
7:1 4:3 3 broad
7:4 3 eminent forms
7:3 1 core-form
3:1 3 transitional forms
blocks long
51/3:1 narrow slabs
4:1 3 thick
1:7 3 thick
4:1 3 long 1:51/3 broad
51/3:1 1:4 3 flat
3:1 3 flat 1:51/3
1:3 narrow 3 narrow
7:3 7:1 1 core-form 1:4
7:4 short 1:4 1:3 1:7 1 core-form
4:3 3:7 3:7
1:1 1:3 1:3
long 4:7 3:7
3:4 4:7 4:7
thick 3:7 3:7
1:1 3:7 4:7
4:7 4:7 4:7 3:4 3:4 3:4
3:4 flat
3:4 3:4 3:4
1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1
10 blocks: 10 bars: 10 slabs: 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1
- 3 fields - 1 field and 2 strips - 1 field and two strips 1:3
- field = smallest determinant figure - field = biggest determinant figure 1:1 3:4 4:7 3:7 1:3 1:4 1:4 1:51/3
1:51/3 1:7 1:7
flat thick
Figure: AS X.7g
36 forms: blocks, bars, slabs and white

From the 36 fields and strips, Dom van der Laan defines a series of three-di-
forms, shaded 3 core-forms
mensional eurhythmic proportions.
Figure: AS X.8h
‘Every squared volumetric form is determined by three flat rectangular
figures. Of these only two are decisive for the form, the third being in
effect constituted by the other two, borrowing its length from one and its
breath from the other. We will always regard the figures with the smallest
and largest dimensions as the determinants of the form.’ (AS X.5)
They are classified according to their appearance in three stages. First the
gamut is divided by a middle group into three main groups: blocks, bars
and slabs. Following that, every main group receives the qualifications
6 white forms:
short and long, thick and flat, narrow and broad. Then, every main group
- 3 eminent forms
is subdivided into three specimens each, and one central core-form that
- 3 transitional forms
allows no further qualification.
Figure: AS X.8j
In the middle is a core-group of white forms, which are not classifiable as blocks, bars or slabs.
They are determined by two fields and a strip. ‘From this superior group they separate into
blocks, bars and slabs, as light divides into the colours of the rainbow. We will therefore call 4 width
length 7
the forms of the core-group, by analogy, white forms.’ (AS X.7)
7:4
The three white forms in the corners are transitional forms between block and slab, between
block and bar, and between bar and slab.
height 3 7:3
The three middle white forms have something in common with all the forms. ‘The three catego- 4:3
ries, block, bar and slab, meet together in an ideal form which does not exist as such but presents
itself as block-like in one form, bar-like in another and slab-like in the third. Because of their
outstanding value. These three forms play a leading role in architecture.’ (AS X.8)
The core block is a typical block, where the height, width
and length are consecutive measures within an order.
In Roosenberg Abbey, a half-space with six cells is
proportioned as a core block.
218 219
About the author
Caroline Voet is professor at KU Leuven Faculty of Architecture, where
she received her PhD in 2013 on the work of Dom Hans van der Laan.
She holds degrees in architecture from the Architectural Association
in London and the Henry van de Velde Institute in Antwerp. Her re-
search focus is on spatial systematic and architectural methodology and
has been published in for example ARQ and Interiors Routledge. She
is co-founder of the award winning practice Voet en De Brabandere
Architectuur en Scenografie.
About Friederike von Rauch

Friederike von Rauch is a German artist. Her photographic work, revolv-
ing around themes of architecture, space and surface, speaks a pictorial
language that focuses on details.
Her work captures the essence of a space, and light is vital to her compo-
sitions, which exist independently of time or place. Viewers are drawn to
her intellectual quest for a balance between sensuality and cool aesthetics.
Friederike von Rauch was born in Freiburg, Germany, in 1967. She
studied at the University of the Arts in Berlin. She has participated in
numerous solo and group exhibitions.
Her publications include Sites (2007); Neues Museum (2009), which re-
ceived the Architectural Book Award of the Deutsches Architekturmuseum;
and In Secret (2013). She lives and works in Berlin.
221
Dom Hans van der Laan. A House for the Mind Distributor in Belgium:
Exhibitions International, Leuven (BE)
www.exhibitionsinternational.org
Registered publisher:
Sofie De Caigny, Director, Flanders Architecture Distributor worldwide:
Institute, Jan Van Rijswijcklaan 155, B-2018 Antwerp, Architectura & Natura, Amsterdam (NL)
Belgium www.architectura.nl
www.vai.be
ISBN: 9789492567031
Published: 2019 (third edition)
Legal deposit: D/2017/10/202/2
Author: Caroline Voet
Copyright original drawings and texts by Dom Hans
Editor: Bart Tritsmans van der Laan: Van der Laan Archives, St.-Benedictus-
berg Vaals (VDLA)
Concept:
Caroline Voet Copyright of the Nine Letters:
Stien Stessens Marian Sisters of St.-Francis, Waasmunster
Inge Ketelers
Analytical diagrams by Caroline Voet with the sup-
Editing and coordination: port of Hans van der Laan, Rik van der Laan and
Bart Decroos Frans Ruys, and drawn with the assistance of Jins
This book refers to: Ilse Degerickx Callebaut and Angelica Magrini.
Dom Hans Van der Laan, Architectonic Space. Fifteen lessons on the Graphic design: This book accompanies the exhibition ‘Dom Hans
disposition of the human habitat, English translation by Richard Padovan Stien Stessens van der Laan. A House for the Mind’, organized in
(Leiden: Brill, 1983). Translated from: Coordinated by Inge Ketelers (Grafische Cel, LUCA the fall of 2017 by the Flanders Architecture Institute
Dom Hans Van der Laan, De architectonische ruimte. Vijftien lessen over School of Arts) at deSingel international arts campus, Antwerp (BE).
de dispositie van het menselijk verblijf (Leiden: Brill, 1977). The exhibition was based on the academic research
(AS) Photography: of and curated by Caroline Voet.
Friederike von Rauch
Dom Hans Van der Laan, Architectuur, modellen en meubels, exhibition Jeroen Verrecht, Coen van der Heiden, With the support of KU Leuven and Grafische Cel,
and catalogue, (Lemiers: Abdij St. Benedictusberg, 1982). Caroline Voet, Ronald De Buck, Stien Stessens LUCA School of Arts.
Initiative and coordination: William Graatsma, Jos Naalden en Istvan Cover photograph by Jeroen Verrecht
Szénassy, compilation and design: Dom Hans van der Laan. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may
Lithography: Colour & Books, Apeldoorn (NL) be reproduced, stored in an automated database or
Richard Padovan, Dom Hans van der Laan, Modern Primitive (Amsterdam: published, in any form or by any means, whether elec-
Architectura & Natura, 1994). Translation and copy-editing: tronic, mechanical, by photo-copies, recordings or any
(MP) InOtherWords translation & editing, other manner, without the prior written permission of
D’Laine Camp & Pierre Bouvier the publisher. Individual authors are responsible for
Geert Bekaert, ‘Een beginsel van altijd en overal. Abdijkerk Roosenberg, the contents of their contribution.
Waasmunster’ in Landschap van kerken, 10 eeuwen bouwen in Vlaanderen Printer: Die Keure, Brugge (BE)
(Leuven: Davidsfonds / Antwerp: Standaard Uitgeverij, 1987).
Printed on:
Keaykolour Original Biscuit 300 gsm
Munken Print White 100 gsm
Magno Silk White 115 gsm
222

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Dom Hans van der Laan

A House for the Mind

A design manual on Roosenberg Abbey

Flanders Architecture Institute

This manual is an introduction to Dom van der Laan’s design methodology,

A design manual on Roosenberg Abbey

Flanders Architecture Institute

1 – Composing with the Plastic Number Series . 21

Photography: Friederike von Rauch

4 – Scale III: Open and Closed. . . . . . . . . . . . 121

In this book, Caroline Voet elaborates on how to comprehend Dom van

Bart Tritsmans, Flanders Architecture Institute, 2017

Architecture needs this strength to mediate between intuition and rational

Photograph: Coen van der Heiden

However, the dynamics so typical of his architecture are not achieved

Photograph: Jeroen Verrecht

Dom Hans van Der Laan built four convents:

1. Abbey St.-Benedictusberg in Vaals, the Netherlands,

Photograph: Caroline Voet

‘Solid forms with vertical surfaces are produced which correspond

Photograph: Coen van der Heiden

‘Our perception is based on distinction... The more clear the

He then asked his students to form groups of pebbles that seemed to be

By repetition of this ‘ground-ratio’, Dom van der Laan composes a com-

*See also Padovan, Modern Primitive, p. 84.

Drawing from AS XII.2b 1 7

So for Dom van der Laan:

Drawings based on AS VIII

When reading continuous natural measures, we round

1 4/3 7/4 7/3 3 4 16/3(5) 7

An authentic measure lies in the arithmetic mean of Derived system

An authentic measure is the double of a derived measure, and vice ver-

The difference between an authentic measure and its derived measure is

A derived measure lies in the harmonic mean of two

Minor whole MiW

1* 4/3 7/4 7/3 3 4 5+ 7

1/6 2/9 2/7 2/5 2/4 2/3 6/7

He defines three spheres:

Nine schemes for the disposition of cell, court and

Models: Architectuur, Modellen en Meubels

wall thickness : space of cell

1/49 1/35 1/28 1/21 1/16 1/12 1/9 1/7

1/7 6/7 1/7

Through the position of the building, the forecourt becomes a yardstick

Geert Bekaert, Landschap van Kerken, p. 282

Gallery = cell enlarged in one direction,

A gallery, as an ‘extended’ space-cell, still expresses the 1:7 relationship

702 cm : 930 cm : 1230 cm

One hall on the ground floor with six cells on top

Organization of three and four elementary blocks

Wall : cell = 1:7

The monastic cell measures 3.51 x 4.00 m, a proportion of 6:7. On the

Photograph: Coen van der Heiden

Width of hall: 930 cm

Photograph: Coen van der Heiden

Photograph: Caroline Voet

Gallery : stairwell = 2:5

The use of different bay-measures is remarkable. In a classical composition,

The church of Roosenberg Abbey has an exceptional shape. It is made

Photograph: Coen van der Heiden

Overall shape of the church

Width of cloister: 351 cm

Net width : net height