Breuer a self-guided tour of
ARCHITECTURE
at the University of Mary and Annunciation Monastery
I
t has been a Benedictine tradition to build on mountaintops and high places, to become a beacon of light for the people of God. Part of that tradition has been the building of beautiful monastic structures worthy to house that radiant light. This hilltop monastery and university campus in Bismarck, North Dakota, remains true to that tradition, revealed in the care that the Sisters of Annunciation Monastery gave to choosing a lofty and beautiful site and, with daring leadership, a great architect who could design buildings that would become art treasures.
These buildings are visible parables of Benedictine tradition, mission and values, as Marcel Breuer thoughtfully intended. While there are many Benedictine values drawn from Jesus’ gospel, there are six through which the University of Mary prefers to shine: community, hospitality, respect for all persons, service, moderation and prayer.
Simplicity of form and limited areas of color encourage respect for persons. Breuer believed that, rather than imposing a designer’s taste on spaces, it is people who should give life, color and character to those spaces.
Community and hospitality are supported in generous gathering spaces that offer gracious hospitality, where people can meet and mingle, and large spaces flow without interruption into smaller, more intimate spaces.
Moderation reveals itself silently upon entering these buildings. To some, they may initially seem stark, but for those who linger, the simplicity of surroundings designed for function and service becomes
Spaces can be configured in a variety of ways to allow for new uses or to serve in multiple ways.
refreshing, freeing and serene. Here one finds that simplicity feeds the soul. This simplicity also reveals the priority of prayer and the spiritual. An aura of peacefulness, serenity and focus within these walls overcomes the busyness of ongoing activity. Breuer’s skill at framing spaces and incorporating nature keeps one connected to the mysteries of nature, the passing of time and changing of seasons. Light and shadow play silently, constantly changing patterns at each hour and season. The remembrance of sacramental holiness is awakened by the
magnificent bell banner announcing the hours of monastic prayer and Sunday worship, and the chapel font at the entry to the Benedictine Center and Our Lady of the Annunciation Chapel. Like a beacon on this hill, the bell banner soars into the sky, while its unseen roots are buried deep in the earth, its solidity rooted in the Christian, Catholic, Benedictine tradition centered in gospel values. From this hilltop, you too are invited, with us, to carry the light far and wide.
“The real
impact of any work is the extent to
which it unifies contrasting
notions–opposite points of view…” — Marcel Breuer
The Architecture of Marcel Breuer by Sister Edith Selzler, OSB
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The Original Marcel Breuer-Designed Buildings
Construction: 1959-1963 1
Benedictine Center for Servant Leadership Originally known as Annunciation Priory, this was the monastic home of the Benedictine Sisters of the Annunciation from 1959 to 2000. The building was renamed in 2000 in keeping with the educational mission at the University of Mary to prepare graduates to lead with professional competence, compassionate service, and moral courage. Dedicated to the Benedictine Sisters by Catholic benefactors Myron and Marjory Atkinson of Bismarck, it currently houses offices for administration, faculty, the Saint Pope John Paul II University Ministry staff, the Liffrig Family School of Education and Behavioral Sciences, Boniface East and Boniface West residence halls, St. Joseph residence hall, classrooms, the Marauders Cove coffee shop, the Harold Schafer Leadership Center, and two chapels: Our Lady of the Annunciation and Our Lady of the Word.
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Construction: 1965-1968 3
Named after the fourth president of the University of Mary, this building houses the department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, department of Occupational Therapy, and classrooms for graduate programs in Athletic Training and Exercise Science. 4
Arno Gustin Hall Named after the third president of the University of Mary, the Rev. Arno Gustin, OSB, of Saint John’s Abbey, Collegeville, MN, this 342-seat hall accommodates lectures, as well as theater and musical performances.
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University Hall With its panoramic view of the Missouri River, this building originally was the home of student dining services and student activities. It now serves as classroom and laboratory space for the School of Engineering.
Harold Schafer Leadership Center Named after renowned North Dakota entrepreneur Harold Schafer, the center is located within the Benedictine Center for Servant Leadership. Originally the Benedictine Sisters’ community room, it now holds an executive boardroom and the Great Room, designed for gatherings with full catering services. On display are Harold Schafer historical photos and artifacts.
Harold J. Miller Center
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North Hall This very first independently constructed residence hall in the heart of campus continues to serve as living space for 220 students.
(l-r) Marcel Breuer and Hamilton Smith showing plans for the future Annunciation Priory to Sister Mary Mark Braun (facing camera), and (l-r) Mother Edane Volk and Sister Andriette Rohrenbach. Next to Breuer is Sister Wanda Piotrowski.
Breuer and the Benedictines
W
hen the Benedictine Sisters of the Annunciation planned to build here along the bluffs of the Missouri River near Bismarck, ND, they asked Hungarian-born architect, Marcel Breuer (1902-1981), to design their monastic home. Breuer was well known for the UNESCO building in Paris, the Whitney Museum (now called the Met Breuer) in New York, and much of Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, MN. Breuer, an internationally recognized architect, graciously undertook this commission by the Sisters. When gazing around the landscape, Breuer is said to have crouched down to pick up a handful of soil and exclaimed, “Even the land is friendly here.” He was so taken by the setting that he went about creating what he called “a little jewel on the prairie” for the Sisters. Breuer delighted in the play of sunlight and shadow to create distinctive patterns in a harmonious variety of textures. His work features spaces in brick walls, recessed windows and ceilings, slatted beams and jutting flue tiles, all placed so as to produce contrasting shadows. Examples of Breuer’s masterful treatment of local materials include the use of fieldstone, glass, reinforced concrete, and Hebron brick. Typical Breuer touches are cantilevered stairways, textured plaster surfaces, and his selection of a palette of colors—vermilion red, cobalt blue, cadmium yellow and moss green—where white is dominant. All serve to create an ambience of peace that reflects the monastic values of stability and simplicity.
“A building is a man-made
work, a crystallic, constructed thing. It should not imitate
nature—it should be in contrast to nature. A building has straight geometric lines. Even when it follows free lines, it should be always clear that they are built— that they did not just grow. I can see no reason at all why buildings should imitate natural, organic or grown forms. A building is a thing in itself. It has a right to be there, as it is, together with nature….Nature and architecture are not enemies—but they are distinctly different.”
BELL BANNER This hundred-foot structure is a symbol and landmark of the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery. Breuer wrote: “From afar the bell tower makes a distinctive silhouette in the otherwise fairly empty landscape, and from nearby marks the approach to the chapel.” The cross, set on a windswept hill, hollowed out as it were, by the Spirit, a sign of faith, points directly to the font at the chapel entrance with its water, a symbol of baptism, and to the Eucharistic altar. The bronze Dutch bells are named Hilary (for Bishop Hilary Hacker), Joseph (for Monsignor Joseph Raith), and Mary (in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary).
— Marcel Breuer
“T he strong opposite forces
of ideas, all clearly expressed without compromise, and
united in one—that has always been the element of real art.” — Marcel Breuer
CLOISTER WALK This walk extends across the front of the building, featuring V-shaped concrete yokes, which rest on walls of native fieldstone. The monastic cloister walk creates an atmosphere of solidity and permanence. To the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery, the yokes symbolize prayer and the extended arms of Sisters as they make their monastic profession.
FLUE TILE FAÇADE The flue-tiled façade creates a patterned sunscreen that signifies enclosure without exclusion. From inside, each square of tile frames a bit of natural beauty while admitting welcome light.
FOUNTAIN This granite structure, replacing the baptismal font found in parish churches, bears a design like that of the altar. The pentagonal star represents time and nature, while the circular basin symbolizes eternal life.
“A
lot of people ask: in this new,
anonymous space, with its continuity — in this architecture in which one part is dependent on the next—where is the place for the human being, where is the place for individual, personal expression? I think the answer is that, in reality, the simpler the space, the plainer the backdrop, the more important becomes the individual human being seen against this backdrop….a wall covered with Rococo paper fights with the individual in that room, gives him or her much less chance to be a self-expressive person.” — Marcel Breuer
OUR LADY OF THE WORD CHAPEL This chapel, part of the original 1959 complex, was the only chapel until 1963. The only source of natural light is from the concealed window over the pierced red baldachin. A red-tiled floor contrasts with the dark-stained oak ceiling, which seems loftier by reason of the steps descending to the nave. The gold-leafed ceramic tile invokes the sacred and offers a shimmering backdrop to the altar. The durable sisal fiber mat beneath the altar and chairs is the original. Sisal fibers are harvested by hand from the leaves of the cactus plant and are stronger and more durable than many other natural fibers.
OUR LADY OF THE ANNUNCIATION CHAPEL As Breuer remarked, a place of worship demands “dignity and serenity as its birthright. Its destiny seems to be to express in static material – stone, concrete, glass – our drive toward the spiritual.” The altar and ambo are of polished blue granite. The reredos is gold-leafed tile, and the cantilevered baldachin is of molded plywood. The pews and choir stalls are dark-stained oak and provide seating for 500 people. The eastern window has rose as a dominant color to represent dawn, whereas the western one uses amber with violet hues befitting sunset. Split fieldstone, natural on the exterior walls, is white on the interior; this brightens the space with subtle intimations of grace. Because it is a consecrated chapel, there are 12 candleholders on its walls. Consecration occurred on May 13, 1963. Wooden crosses in the window area serve as Stations of the Cross. A meditation chapel is located behind a wall to the west of the main entrance into the chapel. A Marian shrine contains the statue of “Mary, Prototype of Every Witnessing Christian” by Gerald Bonnette of Newport, Minnesota. Bonnette’s idea is that every person can become a throne for Christ. The statue is of laminated red oak and weighs about 600 pounds. A Eucharistic Adoration Chapel for the Blessed Sacrament is located to the left of the altar, separated by a wall with rectangular windows. This allows for an intimate space for Eucharistic Adoration. In this chapel is an icon of the Annunciation.
REUTER ORGAN The pipe organ in Our Lady of the Annunciation Chapel was built in 1963 by the Reuter Organ Company, Lawrence, Kansas, for the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery. It was refurbished in the summer of 2017 and has a total of 1,759 pipes.
“I am as much interested
in the smallest detail as I am in the whole structure.” — Marcel Breuer
COURTYARDS In the inner courts between structures, Breuer combined natural beauty with formal design. Breuer had a great reverence for nature and aimed to keep it intact. He once said, “Nature and architecture are not enemies, but they are distinctly different.”
EAST WING OF THE ORIGINAL COMPLEX The east wing of the Benedictine Center complex, originally built to be the monastery and high school, is now the University of Mary’s south campus, with student residences, classrooms and offices. The newly created Marauders Cove was formerly the university’s south dining hall.
WEST WING OF THE ORIGINAL COMPLEX The west wing of the Benedictine Center complex, formerly living space and bedrooms for the Sisters of Annunciation Monastery, is now called Boniface West. It includes the original St. Anne’s Chapel and houses St. Joseph Hall for men.
Architects of several of the buildings on campus have been honored with awards from the North Dakota Chapter of the AIA [The American Institute of Architects] in acknowledgment of the university’s ongoing respect for its original architectural vision. As the campus has grown, tremendous care has been taken to embrace that vision and remain visually and functionally consistent with the Sisters’ and Breuer’s wonderful original collaboration.
for Life. 7500 University Drive
Bismarck, North Dakota
umary.edu