The first project in their continuing partnership with Dutch architects MVRDV has been approved for development at the Plum Village Buddhist Monastery in southern Dordogne, France. 

In addition to creating architectural concepts for a new Nunnery, renovating the current bookshop, and creating four community guest rooms, MVRDV is working on a non-profit project and employing a collaborative and immersive approach to create two masterplans for the Monastery's Upper and Lower Hamlets. 

In keeping with Plum Village's ideals, these designs put an emphasis on rehabilitation and the use of bio-based and circular materials while preventing environmental damage. 

Lower Hamlet, Landscape & Vegetation. Image © MVRDV

The planned improvements, created in collaboration with Bordeaux-based co-architect MoonWalkLocal, will make it even easier and more peaceful for the hundreds of people who visit Plum Village each year—including peace and climate activists—to learn about Engaged Buddhism.

Thích Nhất Hạnh, dubbed the "Father of Mindfulness" for his contributions to the development and popularization of the now-familiar practice, established Plum Village Monastery in 1982. With three separate locations—the Lower Hamlet, where about half of Plum Village's nuns reside, the Upper Hamlet, where Plum Village's monks reside and the Dharma Cloud Temple, the foundational temple of the Plum Village tradition, is located—Plum Village is currently the largest Buddhist monastery in Europe. 

Engaged Buddhism is practiced by followers of the Plum Village Tradition, who apply their morals and wisdom to modern problems. Therefore, MVRDV's ideas were based on sustainability and reverence for the environment, offering an architectural response to climate change.

Guest Houses, Gate House. Image © MVRDV

People travel from all over the world to experience mindful communal living at Plum Village's annual retreats. there to 800 people show there in some instances. The popularity of these retreats has been a significant logistical problem, even though it is a wonderful indication of the resonance that the Plum Village Tradition has with people all over the world. 

Many of the sisters give up their usual beds to make room for visitors and sleep in tents each summer. Outside building doorways, shoes are piled high, and delivery trucks break the stillness. To put it briefly, the demand for Plum Village's practices and teachings has grown beyond the site's capability.

The designers of MVRDV have been working closely with the monastic residents of Plum Village since 2023. They have visited the monastery several times to fully immerse themselves in its ideals, analyze its problems, and discuss potential solutions with the monks and nuns in dialogue-based workshops.

Guest Houses, Garden Houses. Image © REDVERTEX

"For this project we really had to un-learn what we learned as architects, engaging in the practice of deep listening and understanding the very unusual needs of our clients," said Sanne van der Burgh, Associate Director at MVRDV and leader of the architect’s Climate Team, which has played a pivotal role in the design process. 

"The things we know a lot about are things they don’t need. Things we initially didn’t understand, they need. The lives they lead, their daily routines, are very different from the users we typically design for. They live in harmony with nature and work closely together in their community. Plum village works as an organism that adjusts to the seasons, the weather, and most importantly the people. In more ways than one, working with Plum Village has been an enlightening experience," Van der Burgh added.

Guest Houses, Veranda House. Image © MVRDV

Masterplans

Both masterplans take the same general strategy, while recognizing the particular difficulties that each of the Upper and Lower Hamlets faces. In order to build car-free villages, they both reorganize vehicle routes, identify a number of locations with unique personalities and functions, and create a more welcome, stress-free arrival sequence at each hamlet. 

To address enduring issues, they employ natural solutions, such as establishing bird habitat, which can reduce the high number of mosquitoes. Solar panel placements are specified in both plans. The masterplan for Lower Hamlet suggests building a new nunnery and dining hall in addition to numerous other additions and improvements. 

The Upper Hamlet project, which was recently approved by the Thénac municipal council, calls for expanding and renovating the current bookshop as well as adding new guest rooms.

Nunnery, Landscape View. Image © REDVERTEX

Nunnery

The new nunnery will be a courtyard-style structure on a sloping site, and it is the largest new building suggested in either of the masterplans. It is intended to house and train 76 monastics and candidates from 12 different countries. 

It will have classrooms, common areas, a library, a zendo, and dormitories. The courtyard is surrounded by spacious verandas that connect all of the living areas and foster the nuns' sense of community.

Nunnery, Courtyard View. Image © REDVERTEX

The nunnery will be constructed using a prefabricated system of wood frames with straw insulation to reduce the carbon emissions associated with its construction. The Loubès-Bernac town council recently approved the nunnery's construction.

Nunnery, Garden View. Image © REDVERTEX

Guest Houses

The Lower Hamlet concept includes additional guest residences, which MVRDV is currently designing for the Upper Hamlet. 

These two-story structures have a straightforward layout and are made of wood. With exterior staircases, balconies, and verandas for circulation, the rooms are grouped in a u-shape around communal living areas that include space for Dharma sharing circles. 

Guest Houses, Garden House Entrance. Image © MVRDV

Guest Houses, Communal Space. Image © MVRDV

The four guest houses take on distinct personas based on their respective settings: the Gate House, situated on the entrance square, has a reception area, workspaces, and laundry room downstairs and can accommodate 16 people upstairs; two Garden Houses, each housing 31 people, surround the vegetable garden; and the Veranda House, situated in the site's more expansive and private Son Ha area, can accommodate 31 people with a large veranda that extends into the landscape. 

The guest cottages are completed with various materials in each site to reflect the unique character of their surroundings.

Book Shop, Exterior 1. Image © MVRDV

Book Shop

The current bookstore, located in an old stone barn, will be enlarged and restored. Larger doorways encourage people inside, and a covered terrace will offer areas for socializing, reading, and lounging. 

The structure is envisioned as a warm and inviting social hub of Plum Village Upper Hamlet, where the barn's substantial stone walls previously concealed its function. A straightforward, modular wooden shelf system will be installed in the once cluttered and disorganized area to better showcase the monastery's calligraphy, books, and other artifacts.

Book Shop, Exterior 3. Image © MVRDV

Book Shop, Interior 1. Image © MVRDV

Upper Hamlet Programme Zoning

Upper Hamlet Programme Axis

Upper Hamlet Programme

Upper Hamlet Constructions

Upper Hamlet Masterplan

The designs for Plum Village Buddhist Monastery were produced by MVRDV in collaboration with co-architect MoonWalkLocal and consultants OTEIS, VPEAS, and Emacoustic.

Project facts

Project Name: Plum Village

Location: Thenác and Loubès-Bernac, France

Year: 2023–

Client: Communauté Bouddhique Zen Village des Pruniers

Size and Programme: Masterplans (Upper Hamlet 35.5ha, Lower Hamlet 27.5ha), Nunnery (2832 m2), 4 Guest Houses (2735 m2), Book Shop transformation

Architect: MVRDV

Founding Partner in charge: Jacob van Rijs 

Partner: Bertrand Schippan

Head of MVRDV NEXT: Sanne van der Burgh 

Head of Interiors: Aser Gimenez Ortega

Design Teams:

Lower Hamlet Masterplan: Catherine Drieux, Charlotte Kientz, Duong Vu Hong, Efthymia Papadima, Kevin Petitjean, Quentin Aubry, Alexander Forsch, Arend van Waart, Irech Castrejon

Nunnery: Catherine Drieux, Charlotte Kientz, Duong Vu Hong, Efthymia Papadima, Kevin Petitjean, Quentin Aubry, Alexander Forsch, Arend van Waart, Irech Castrejon, Lola Elisa Cauneac

Upper Hamlet Masterplan: Catherine Drieux, Charlotte Kientz, Duong Vu Hong, Stijn Lanters, Margaux Caboche, Anna Zoia, Quentin Aubry, Isabella Lucchese

Guest Houses and Book Shop: Charlotte Kientz, Duong Vu Hong, Türker Naci Şaylan, Efthymia Papadima, Kevin Petitjean, Amanda Galiana Ortega, Elise Coulon, Sofia Mermigka-Angeli, Foteini Boukoutsou, Giulia Cacciatori, Naïs Ranson.

Visualisations: Antonio Luca Coco, Luana La Martina, Ciprian Buzdugan, Andreana Vasilatou

Strategy and Development: Jan Knikker, Sruti Thakrar, Hannah Yan

Partners

Co-architect, Project coordination: MoonWalkLocal

Contractor: AZELAN, Ecococon, SEG FAYAT, BRISSE, TRAMBLAY TP, Remi Babin 

Structural engineering, MEP, Building Physics: Oteis

Cost calculation: VPEAS

Environmental advisor: Gerea

Acoustic engineering: Emacoustic

Inspection office: ANCO

The top image in the article. Nunnery Village View © MVRDV.

All images © REDVERTEX and MVRDV.

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