Model of Cave of New Being and meditation pond
With the growing genre of architecture generated by biomorphic design and biomimetic processes, a reevaluation of Frederick J. Kiesler’s work is ever more timely. During the mid-20th century he became increasingly occupied with the relationship of structure and natural form in architecture. The Cave of the New Being (also known as the Grotto for Meditation), proposed in the 1960s for New Harmony and contracted by Mrs. Blaffer Owen, represented the designer’s pièce de résistance, embodying all of the intellectual currents of his era, from surrealism to biotechnics, yet it was never realized.
Through the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and thanks to the patronage of Mrs. Jane Blaffer Owen, professors Andrew Vrana, Joe Meppelink, Ben Nicholson, together with undergraduate students, all embarked on formal research and tectonic fulfillment of the project, utilizing digital modeling and fabrication technologies. The participants complemented research with the help of archival resources, accessed via Mrs. Owen and the Kiesler Foundation, with active dialogue with Mrs. Blaffer Owen, who has remained dedicated to the inscrutable proposal. More than providing closure on an unfinished project, the Cave of the New Being will function as a permanent landmark on the UH university campus, as part of a meditation pond next to the Philip Johnson designed College of Architecture. Johnson also designed the Roofless Church in New Harmony and was instrumental in bringing Kiesler to Mrs. Owen’s attention. Kiesler’s Cave was originally planned to be placed in proximity to Johnson’s church.
Left to Right: Joe Meppelink, Adjunct Assistant Professor and Director of Applied Research, UHCoA; Renu Khator, Chancellor and President; Mrs. Jane Blaffer Owen; Ben Nicholson, Associate Professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Beatriz Colomina, Professor, Princton School of Architecture; Andrew Vrana, Visiting Assistant Professor, UHCoA Patricia Oliver, Dean, UHCoA; Michelangelo Sabatino, Assistant Professor, UHCoA
The team’s investigations endeavored to synthesize Kiesler’s seemingly impenetrable notions of “continuous tension” and “co-realism,” along with his initial handling of biomorphism and recursive geometry in design. With the aid of three-dimensional scanning, reverse engineering and digital fabrication, the team spawned a structural/spatial apparatus that pays tribute to Kiesler’s intended maritime-inspired forms and tiled patterning imposed onto a minimal structure.
The unveiling on Tuesday January 26 by President Renu Khator of the digitally fabricated Cave of the New Being is the preliminary installation of a two-tier project that will culminate in its completion along with the publication of a forthcoming book on New Harmony co-edited by Professors Ben Nicholson and Michelangelo Sabatino. Following the unveiling, a reception was held to recognize the efforts of faculty and students and to inaugurate an exhibition on the Kiesler Studio.
Attendees learned of the intersection of utopian planning and psychology at the January 26th event, Kiesler: Architecture and Psychoanalysis. Organized by Dr. Michelangelo Sabatino, Assistant Professor and Coordinator of History and Theory, the event featured a lecture by Princeton University architectural historian and theorist Beatriz Colomina. Her address was followed by a presentation by Ben Nicholson, Associate Professor of Architecture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and former UH faculty member. In his presentation, entitled “The Kiesler Studio,” Nicholson illustrated his work with students, which preceded a conversation with Mrs. Blaffer Owen before the unveiling of the Cave of the New Being.
