Rue de Poissy, in the fifth arrondissement, the college des Bernardins
appears to be a long white boat, quietly tied to nearby buildings.
Front breakthrough high windows shoulder, under a roof tile freshly
laid, the building Cistercian found a place among the monuments of
medieval Paris, and activity in its original spirit of study and
spirituality. Cardinal Lustiger wanted to make this place "a centre of
cultural influence of the Catholic Church." After five years
of major restoration work and contemporary design, led by Herve
Baptiste, architect of historical monuments, and Jean-Michel Wilmotte,
the college of Bernardins is (almost) ready for its inauguration on
September 4, presentation the public (open days on 5, 6 and 7
September) and its first solemn event: this is where Pope Benedict XVI
will address the world of culture, September 12, in the presence of six
hundred guests. The vast nave of the thirteenth century Gothic double
colonnade (formerly dining hall and dormitory) is intended to Home and
exhibitions, library and cafeteria (it took a little sacrifice the
beautiful perspective, the benefit of friendliness). The most dramatic
changes have occurred in the basement and the attic.
Under the nave, the cellar novel has regained its original level: the
pillars novels had been buried to ensure the stability of the building
and protect it from flooding the Bièvre. Reinforced by
micropiles, they could be identified. The cellar houses six classrooms,
the walls of wood and communicates with a new library, set up in the
streets of Poissy. The great height has been a remarkable job to house
two auditoriums (the largest has 250 seats) with a room governed
high-tech. At both ends, two roses were restored one, the other
reconstituted. In this fine architectural three-story addition of a
staircase in the eighteenth century, a sacristy of the fourteenth, a
remnant of a church destroyed, and a small garden.
Wood, stone and glass, materials sober and net to keep the Cistercian
simplicity. Thus, in order not to influence the vault of the nave,
floors were suspended by anchors of the new steel frame metal roof. And
the building has a geothermal air conditioning. The overall cost of the
company amounts to approximately 50 million euros, including the
acquisition of buildings, which were transferred to the diocesan
association with the Council of Paris in 2000 to 1.90 million euros .
Here begins a new chapter of a long history. Created in 1247 by Etienne
Lexington, abbot of Clairvaux, the college of Bernardins has long been
a theological training center for the Cistercians. Sold as national
property during the Revolution, he became prison, warehouse, school
and, more recently, fire and internship at the police academy. Open to
the public, who may have free access to the exhibits, come to stroll or
take a drink, the new college of Bernardins wants to collect (that is
the meaning of the word college), with a Christian hospitality, meaning
researchers from all backgrounds, mix culture and life, friendliness
and study, the taste for beauty and reflection. The project is to make
it a place where culture is at the service of man, where you can
"tackle together in one place and everything that makes the human
person in its entirety." Exhibitions, concerts, film clubs, conferences
successor thereto. The cathedral school, institution of higher
education on Christianity offering courses in philosophy and theology,
will settle there. And the chair of the Bernardins' will be the hub of
research college in the social, educational, economic, ethical and
religious. Art, meetings, discussions and training are the pillars of
the college of Bernardins
