MÉSZ-MÉK Diploma Award 2023

Concept and text: Dóra Tihanyi, BME
Consultant: Péter Kronavetter DLA

The Pauline monastery of Kőkút („Stone Well”) in Salföld is one of the oldest monuments of the order, with a history dating back to the 1260s. The scheme proposes to enhance the significance of the site and to develop its uses. The concept can be divided into two parts: one relating to the spiritual content of the monastery ruins, and the other concerning the restoration and enhancement of the abandoned buildings. There are two basic components of the monastery’s spatial sphere: the church and the cloister, or monastery courtyard, which is an architectural archetype of introversion, contemplation and enclosure. The meeting of the high walls of the churchyard with the sky and the canopy of trees requires no more intervention than to reinforce its original function and significance. The plan provides this emphasis by enclosing the churchyard and adding masonry furniture and a new wooden framework to support worship and rituals. The cloister garden and the gallery are not found. The cloister pavilion is an evocation of this, with an enclosed exterior and an open side toward the garden. The pavilion is of timber construction, with internal wooden pillar-like columns composed of three constituents held together by hardwood inserts and eyebolts. The hardwood inserts, which can be interpreted as decoration, feature symbols of the sacred or Pauline order of monks on the cam surfaces.