Abbey Of Gethsemani
Trappist, KY

AIA Gold Medal Winner

Interior Design, Stained Glass, Liturgical Design, Furnishings

Click on the images below for more detail.

In collaboration with Jones, Peacock, Garn & Partners of Cincinnati, William Schickel renovated the deteriorating monastery church and its adjoining cloister and cloister courtyard for the Trappist-Cistercian monastery. The architecture grew to reflect the honest and the contemplative life that had characterized the Cistercian Monastery.

Removing the structurally unsound and the decorative elements and working with the basic structure and materials of the original church, Schickel’s design “empahsizes light, clarity and simplicity.” The cloister and courtyard design contrasts starkly with the natural world that surrounds the abbey. It features an asphalt path that winds to a central pentagonal space surrounding a fountain. It becomes “a place where the monks are reminded of the spiritual path they have chosen.”

(from Sacred Passion: The Art of William Schickel by Gregory Wolf © 1998 University of Notre Dame Press)

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