Space, Time & Van der Laan

120 Pages·2012·2.82 MB·English

Space, Time & Van der Laan
Jonathan Middleton

Space, Time & Van Der Laan

Acknowledgements
I am gratefully indebted to the Father Abbot, and the Benedictine monks of Abdij Sint
Benedictusberg, Vaals for their warm welcome and their gracious hospitality during my stays
as their guest between 2007 and 2010. In particular I am grateful to Father Lambertus,
guardian of the Van Der Laan archive, for granting me access to the archive and permitting
me to study the original drawings and models.
I am also grateful to Wim Johanessma (Brother William) for his hospitality in Brussels,
introductions, translations, and encouragement. I am further grateful to him for granting me
the opportunity to visit Van der Laan’s Conventual Retreat at Roosenberg, and the Convent
in nearby Waasmunster.
Finally, I am most grateful to Richard Padovan for introducing me to the work of Van der Laan
in the first place, and together with Terry Robson, instilling in me a desire to always seek the
essential.
Dom Hans van der Laan
1904-1991
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house:
they will be still praising thee.
Psalm 84:4, King James Version

Contents
11 Preface
15 Introduction:
Sacred Space and Time:
Theological Premise and Paradox
21 Chapter I Ima Summis
31 Chapter II Measure to the Measureless
47 Chapter III A Construction in Time
57 Chapter IV The Sacred Chronotope at Vaals
75 Chapter V Ima Summis (Reprise)
81 Photographs
101 Drawings

108 Notes
118 A Selective Bibliography