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The new abbey was built on top of the paracuesta, north of the village, and is surrounded by woods. The Dutch architect and Benedictine monk Dom Hans van der Laan (residing in an abbey in Vaals) designed the building in 1972-1973 with the assistance of his brother Nico van der Laan. It was built from 1973 to 1975 in collaboration with the architect-bureau De Vloed (Melle) and was officially inaugurated on August 6, 1975. In this building Hans van der Laan realised his new progressive vision on the essence of architecture. The timeless modern style of the complex is characterized by great simplicity, a high linearity and absence of arches and architectural ornaments. The homogeneity of the structure, the experience of harmony and beauty both within as outside the building arise from applying the principle of modules. Fixed ratios of a standard measure were used in composing the ground plan, layout, areas, volumes, pillars, walls and openings. At the same time, the building was so constructed to fit the specific shape of the area enclosed by three forest edges and offering a vast look at the south side. The combination of enclosure and openness gets repeated in every room or wing, and on the open areas and gardens of the complex. This all happened in such a way that the surrounding nature emphasizes the architecture of the abbey. The basic principles that Hans van der Laan applied here have been published (see Bibliography). The abbey is located in the back so it is not visible from the public road. The front is situated on a large square which can be reached via a long straight driveway. The complex itself consists of four wings around a spacious central courtyard. On the northeast corner is the enclosed porch entrance to the abbey church, on the western wing and running parallel to a public footpath are the public spaces (museum and guest quarters) and an upper floor with bedrooms. The south wing, with upper floor and adjacent campanile, overlooks the large rear garden. The east wing contains the living quarters of the sisters, has only one storey and is directly connected to the abbey church. The sisters have also a terrace facing the garden. The axes of the 4 wings are somewhat aligned with those of the site, which has led to a rupture of the severity of the concept: as a result the courtyard with cloisters and courtyard exhibit an irregular rectangular shape with only two right angles. The whole complex is built with brick, concrete and rough wood, whitewashed walls with exclusive use of flat roofs, while the horizontal line is dominant. This architectural aspect is emphasized by the special protective top cover on all facades: crenate borders composed of round dark brown glazed tiles, somewhat like an architectural decoration but functioning as an overall binding element. A break in the closed facade is the entrance, with a gate underneath an extending wooden roof. A plaque on the right, with the mention "Roosenberg - Sisters of Mary of St. Francis", and a small cross on the gate itself, discretely refer to the religious destination of the building. One first enters the courtyard construed as an atrium with gallery, having in the diagonally opposite corners the entrances to the church and to the convent. In the back of the courtyard there is a stone plaque commemorating the inauguration with an inscription taken from the poetry of priest-poet Gery Helderenberg and in the corner of the paved square one finds a bronze statue (1977) of H. Francis of Assisi with lamb and dog, made by the Dutch sculptor Niel Steenbergen. The monastery church, dedicated to Saint Virgin Mother of the Church, is not only the main volume of the front wing but has also a dominant character with respect to the rest of the monastery complex. The essential part is the octagonal tower on top of the rectangular shaped basis. The blind walls on the garden side show on the southeast corner wall two bricks with the inscription "Hic Deum / Adora". Inside the church a series of pillars separate an open and round perambulation from the octagonal central part. These pillars are of the same type as in the adjacent courtyard. The church gets its light only from above, through two windows in each side of the octagon. The arrangement of the interior of the church, completely designed by Hans van der Laan, is fully in line with the architectural space. The prayer benches, the centrally placed altar, the tabernacle in a niche on the east side, perfectly fit in the overall concept. This is also the case for the austere furniture composed of boards of equal width and thickness which can also found back in most other rooms of the monastery. These were also made according to the plans of the architect. The wooden ceilings, doors and furniture have been painted in a limited range of colours which are aligned to the environment in general and the colour of the uniform stone tiles in the whole complex. The fixtures of lamps and wall crosses show the same simple design of his hand. Only in a few places, designated by H. van der Laan, a figurative wall decoration was made: a fresco of an enthroned Virgin Mary surrounded by H. Paul and St. Peter at the back of the church, signed Theodore Strawinksky (1977). in the passage to the bell tower there is a stone relief of Niel Steenbergen referring to the old seal of the Roosenberg Abbey showing Virgin Mar y enthroned with three roses in her hand, which can be seen as the transition from Roosenberg to the Sisters of Mary of St Francis. There are two more paintings (by Rosemary van der Does): "The transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor with three apostles" in the cloister next to the entrance door of the church, and "Hospitality" in the refectory. The cemetery of the abbey is located northeast of the monastery on a north-south oriented drove in the wooded part of the monastery garden adjacent to the Belselestraat. The cemetery was built according to a saved draft of 1983 signed Rik van der Laan (architect and son of Nico van der Laan, and nephew of Hans van der Laan with whom Hans van der Laan closely cooperated the last years of his life. The design shows great similarities with the cemetery that Hans van der Laan previously designed for the Benedictine abbey in Vaals (cfr draft plans from 1977 to 1979). The cemetery has a semicircular form and is enclosed by a holly hedge "Ilex aquifolium" and a "catalpa bignoniopides" planted in the northwest corner. In the centre rises a wooden cross with the typical design of Hans van der Laan. The cross is an iron pole mounted on a high plinth with stone masonry blocks. The churchyard cross is surrounded by a large circular bed of low sheared shrubs "hedera helix hibernica". This perk is surrounded for two thirds by two rows of uniform graves. In the middle of a third front row there are the graves of the first rector and of the first head of the sisters: 2 identical narrow granite tombstones widening towards the upper end and with similarly sober epitaphs. |