| Summary: | Here, in words and pictures, is the most exciting architectural story since the building of the great medieval churches in Europe, the grand plan on which a monastic community in Collegeville, Minnesota, and a world-famous architect -Marcel Breuer- have embarked. At the beginning, the Benedictine community of St. John's was considering only the addition of a small brick annex. But as the work progressed, the project evolved into a comprehensive, long-range plan for 19 new buildings. Each new building must be planned for the growth of the community in its several functions: as church, seminary, university, monastery and preparatory school. The Abbot summed up the feeling of the community in his letter to the 12 leading architects who were asked to submit plans for the buildings: "The Benedictine tradition at its best challenges us to think boldly and to cast our ideals in forms which will be valid for centuries to come, shaping them with all the genius of present-day materials and techniques." Functional and artistic success in such a building program depends upon the sensitivity of both patron and architect and the cooperative spirit that is engendered between them. The partnership between the community and Breuer has proved to be as productive as that of any of the great church builders of the Middle Ages. The scope and creativity of Breuer's master 100-year-plan and the spirit of cooperation between him and the monks, who are doing much of the actual labor themselves, have impressed architects all over the world. Hungarian-born Marcel Breuer, who first won recognition for his work with the Bauhaus group in Germany in the 1920's, subsequently taught at the Harvard School of Architecture. He has been practicing in this country and in Europe for 20 years; during this time, his outstanding works have been the church of St. John's Abbey, the UNESCO Building in Paris, the Torrington Manufacturing Plant in Los Angeles and the New Kensington Housing Project in Pittsburgh. A book about his work and ideas, Sun and Shadow, was published last year. -- from dust jacket.
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