Sacred Landscapes of Central Switzerland Platform

^{Kloster Baldegg, Northeast-view, Architect: Marcel Breuer, © Photographer: Jonathan Ritler, 2017}

Overview

Major transformations are currently underway in the "Sakrallandschaften" (sacred landscapes) of Europe and particularly in the monasteries of Central Switzerland. For demographic reasons, many monasteries are looking for new ways into the future. The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) is therefore committed to the region with its interdisciplinary expertise in this area and sees this as part of its "third mission". With its interdisciplinary skills, the HSLU wants to raise awareness of the sacred landscape as a (architectural) cultural heritage and communicate this, it wants to accompany and support the monasteries in the upcoming processes, point out new possibilities for use, for example in the field of tourism, and it wants to deal with the topic in research and in teaching. 
 
Three main topic have emerged: Accompanying the transformation processes of the monasteries from the perspectives of building culture, tangible and intangible cultural heritage and regional planning perspectives  was identified as the first topic. Questions about subsequent uses and their tourism potential describe the second focus, and the development of new and innovative educational formats from tradition and from the implicit knowledge of the community life of the monasteries against the backdrop of digital transformation is the third.

^{Kloster Baldegg, Roof (detail), Architect: Marcel Breuer, © Photographer: Jonathan Ritler, 2017}

The first joint project focuses on Baldegg Monastery’s „Motherhouse“ that was inaugurated in 1972. The architect is Marcel Breuer, who is world-famous for the brutalist architecture he designed in his New York studio.

^{Baldegg Monastery 1973, Archive Baldegg Monastery}

The first major publication on this extraordinary building is a collaboration between Baldegg Monastery and HSLU and will focus on the following topics: How did the architect Breuer design the sacred architecture for the Baldegg Sisters, what were the principles behind the design of the building and its interior? How do architecture experts view Baldegg Monastery today? How does the community of the Baldegg Sisters live their Franciscan spirituality in these rooms? And what can we learn today from Baldegg Monastery about space, interior and exterior, silence and spirituality?

^{Architect Marcel Breuer in conversation with Sister Basilda, Baldegg Monastery Archive}

The publication explores these questions by bringing together the voices of the monastery, architecture and art experts to create a multi-perspective picture of Baldegg Monastery. The publication "Im Kloster Baldegg - Klösterliches Leben in einem Bau von Marcel Breuer“ (In Baldegg Monastery - Monastic life in a building by Marcel Breuer) will be published by Scheidegger & Spiess in 2024. 
 
The reuse of monasteries and their educational buildings is one of the most pressing issues in sacred landscapes. In a joint project between HSLU (DFK, W, SA), the former "Stella Matutina" educational building of the Baldegg Sisters, the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation and local partners such as the municipalities of Weggis, Greppen and Vitznau cooperate and will realize a joint platform for sustainable tourism on the Hertenstein peninsula. As a New Regional Policy (NRP) project, the "Island Dreams" project is financed by the Canton of Lucerne (rawi) and accompanied and supported by LucerneTourism.

^{Hertenstein peninsula with Stella Matutina, dormitory and church}

Facilitated by the platform, the monasteries of Central Switzerland serve as learning ecosystems in which new and innovative teaching formats can be developed. What is the potential of monasteries and their practices and rituals in today’s world? What can students learn about the monasteries, their gardens and operations in times of change? Most notably in projects on the monastery grounds, the HSLU and the monasteries jointly develop gardening projects that explore ecology and the shaping of nature. Traditional monastic knowledge of spirituality, focus and rhythm is applied to enhance the students’ self-technique in today’s changing society and times of crisis.