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Author:   Hilary Thimmesh, OSB
Publisher:   Saint John's University Press
Imprint:   Saint John's University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 13.70cm , Height: 1.00cm , Length: 21.00cm
Weight:   0.198kg
ISBN:  

9780974099279

ISBN 10:   0974099279
Pages:   136
Publication Date:   01 September 2011
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Contents Introduction ix        I  1954–1956: The architect, the committee the community   1       II  October–November 1956: Sounding out author and monks   8      III  December 13–17, 1956: Chapter approves architect   11      IV  December 18–20, 1956: Breuer and Smith’s first visit   17       V  January–March 1957: Altar, seating, balcony, hexagon wall, banner   22      VI  March 21–22, 1957: Radiant heating, air, religious art, stained glass   29     VII  May 3–4, 1957: Breuer and Smith: organ, bells, heating   31    VIII  October–November 1957: Granite, bids, Chapter votes no   36      IX  April 1958: Cost savings, fundraising, Chapter votes yes, Saint John’s in 1958   43       X  Summer 1958: Kacmarcik named art consultant, search for window artist, Blessed Virgin shrine, confessionals, cornerstone   46      XI  October–November 1958: Bak window sketch, relic chapel, atrium, apse mural   53     XII  January–February 1959: Private chapels, Bak cartoons approved   60    XIII  May 1959: Breuer visit. Artwork: crypt chapels, Blessed Virgin shrine, Assumption Chapel, apse mural, hexagon window, Breuer’s reservations   66    XIV  July 1959: Query about Bak design, possible external critics named   73     XV  August 4, 1959: Critics Lein and Saltzman, Breuer Bak; sketch by Albers proposed   75    XVI  September 1959: Seeking alternate design by Albers questioned, agreed   84  XVII   October 7–November 11, 1959: Baldachin, apse mural, chapter house   88 XVIII   November 12–25, 1959: Albers design, Emil Frei’s advice, Bak design selected   96   XIX   November 28–December 21, 1959: Abbot and Breuer correspondence   106   XX   January 12–September 1, 1960: Organ, possible apse mural artists considered, Stations of the Cross   114 Epilogue 121 Acknowledgments 123 Roster of Names 125

Reviews

There's this about great architecture: once it's there, it's hard to imagine it once wasn't. Hilary Thimmesh takes us on the winding, fraught, sometimes wild and sometimes sublime ride from when Saint John's Abbey Church wasn't to when it staked its claim as arguably the most significant American ecclesiastical building of the 20th century. Marcel Breuer put it succinctly: 'In architecture, you buy something that doesn't yet exist.' Thimmesh, with stylistic flair and impish wit, draws on his notes as secretary of the planning committee more than half a century ago to take us into the midst of a dozen monks who demonstrated through sixty meetings over four years the truth of Saint Benedict's observation about the 'variety of temperaments' in the monastery. This book is great fun to read, and relates a miracle--a committee helped beauty happen.Patrick Henry, Retired executive director, Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research

How does someone review a memoir? Perhaps by the evident quality of the narrative constructed from old committee minutes. Perhaps by the church building that resulted from the process the narrative documents. Perhaps by attending to the unflagging courage of the actors, who punted only occasionally. Read this memoir. It measures up on all counts.Mary Collins, OSB, American Benedictine Review This first-hand account of the inner workings of a building committee responsible for one of the key Catholic churches of the twentieth-century is a rare and special treat. Father Thimmesh has given us a new understanding of what it means to be an enlightened and knowledgeable patron. I commend him for his even-handed presentation of events surrounding this commission, both the good and the difficult. His discussion of the great northern stained glass wall is critical in its insight about client and architect privilege.Dr. Victoria M. Young, Associate Professor of Modern Architectural History, University of St. Thomas The genesis of one of the most important church buildings of the twentieth century, the soaring concrete abbey church at St. John's University in Collegeville, is recounted with clarity and wit.Minnesota History An intriguing insider account of the creation of one of the great monuments of modern architecture in Minnesota. Father Hilary Thimmesh's memoir, enhanced by shrewd observation and gentle wit, opens a window into the process by which a committee of monks worked with architect Marcel Breuer to design and build the now famous church at St. John's Abbey. The committee and Breuer did not always find themselves in perfect harmony-the making of masterpieces is rarely accomplished without conflict and controversy-but the results at St. John's speak to just how well the process ultimately worked. Admirers of the church and anyone interested in the relationship between architect and client will enjoy this book.Larry Millett This book offers a first-hand description of the design and construction of the Marcel Breuer-designed church at St. John's Abbey, written by a monk and a member of the original building committee. This meeting-by-meeting account of the process conveys the complexities faced by both the architect and the client. And it shows how virtues like prudence, courage, fairness and faith all played a part in realizing what became of one of the most important churches of the 20th century.Thomas Fisher, Dean, College of Design, University of Minnesota There's this about great architecture: once it's there, it's hard to imagine it once wasn't. Hilary Thimmesh takes us on the winding, fraught, sometimes wild and sometimes sublime ride from when Saint John's Abbey Church wasn't to when it staked its claim as arguably the most significant American ecclesiastical building of the 20th century. Marcel Breuer put it succinctly: 'In architecture, you buy something that doesn't yet exist.' Thimmesh, with stylistic flair and impish wit, draws on his notes as secretary of the planning committee more than half a century ago to take us into the midst of a dozen monks who demonstrated through sixty meetings over four years the truth of Saint Benedict's observation about the 'variety of temperaments' in the monastery. This book is great fun to read, and relates a miracle--a committee helped beauty happen.Patrick Henry, Retired executive director, Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research

This book offers a first-hand description of the design and construction of the Marcel Breuer-designed church at St. John s Abbey, written by a monk and a member of the original building committee. This meeting-by-meeting account of the process conveys the complexities faced by both the architect and the client. And it shows how virtues like prudence, courage, fairness and faith all played a part in realizing what became of one of the most important churches of the 20th century.Thomas Fisher, Dean, College of Design, University of Minnesota

There's this about great architecture: once it's there, it's hard to imagine it once wasn't. Hilary Thimmesh takes us on the winding, fraught, sometimes wild and sometimes sublime ride from when Saint John's Abbey Church wasn't to when it staked its claim as arguably the most significant American ecclesiastical building of the 20th century. Marcel Breuer put it succinctly: 'In architecture, you buy something that doesn't yet exist.' Thimmesh, with stylistic flair and impish wit, draws on his notes as secretary of the planning committee more than half a century ago to take us into the midst of a dozen monks who demonstrated through sixty meetings over four years the truth of Saint Benedict's observation about the 'variety of temperaments' in the monastery. This book is great fun to read, and relates a miracle--a committee helped beauty happen.Patrick Henry, Retired executive director, Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research

Author Information

Hilary Donald Thimmesh, OSB, (1928–2019) was a native Minnesotan who became a monk of Saint John’s Abbey in 1947. He was ordained priest in 1954, earned a doctorate in English from Cornell University in 1963, and taught courses in Chaucer and Shakespeare intermittently with administrative appointments until 2009 when he was named the first director of the Benedictine Institute. Fr. Hilary was prior of Saint John's Abbey from 1980–1982 after which he took over as president of Saint John's University in 1982 until 1991. In 2006, Fr. Hilary edited a sesquicentennial volume of Saint John's, titled Saint John's at 150: A Portrait of This Place Called Collegeville.

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