Caen : Benedictine monastery

Although Caen’s urban planning plan provides for the remoteness of the city's religious communities, the Benedictines have chosen a location for their new monastery in the middle of the fields, in Coverchef. They called on a young Parisian architect, Jean Zunz, who designed in 1954 the plans of a monastery that can accommodate 200 nuns, while they were only 80. The plan respects the Benedictine tradition: the church is oriented with a longitudinal arrangement, including a separation between the choir of the nuns and the nave for the faithful, located north of the cloister. The nuns cells occupy the floor of the western gallery of the cloister, rising on four levels. The refectory is located to the south. The wing is from the cloister shelters a courtyard which closes the quadrilateral. The chapter room, square in shape, is located east of the church, to which it is connected by a corridor. Architecture respects the Cistercian tradition of simplicity, highlighting the structure of walls and supports. The architect uses a simple style for all the spaces of the monastery, while the church is distinguished by a much more modern design. The large north wall, with its high sloping roof, thus breaks the monotony of the longitudinal plan. The church cover consists of five segments of inverted pyramidal vaults in reinforced concrete, covered with a grainy coating. The religious choir benefits from abundant light thanks to a 110 m2 glass roof, designed by the young artist Sergio Di Castro and produced by Ray.