Novitiate
It is a place of discipline and devotion, where the outside world is shut out.
Thus it has its own created world….the court yard….and the many spaces that open on to it.
The courtyard is the epicenter, the nucleus;
it is the focus and can be seen from every where.
The court yard is the backdrop for all daily routines and is also the place of observation and contemplation.
The openings around the courtyard are made in such a manner, that sisters that walk along the corridors become the objects that move ; whom the novices observe and emulate one day. Openings capture different parts of the moving sisters; headdress, robes, feet and hands as one walk across. The many fenestrations are carefully orchestrated that the object does not feel being watched and the external corridor wall is a gallery that capture these many elements.
While the court yard is for community life and a place of observation the roof top is the place of contemplation and solitude.
The Roof top opens to the sky and the outside world , to be looked at from far. This is the place where one can be alone and commune with one, the world she tread and the everlasting God…. A place to find one’s destiny.
Madumali Sumanadasa
April 2009
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