Clairvaux II Interpretive Reconstruction

Ville-sous-la-Ferté, France
Fall 2015 / GSD Semester 1.1
Professor Christine Smith
Interpretive Reconstruction

Destroyed during the French Revolution, Clairvaux II abbey church, founded by St. Bernard in 1135, no longer exists – there are no records, no drawings, nothing. This interpretive reconstruction speculates on what arguably the first true Cistercian church may have looked and felt like, referencing contemporaries Fontenay, Clairvaux III, Morimund, Silvacane, Le Thoronet, and Citeaux. The process also speculates on the relationship between deep seated values and architectural form.