Page 39 - ArchitectureDC_Spring2015

In architecture schools, “retreats” of various sorts are
popular programs for thesis projects. There is a certain
logic to this, given that people go to retreats for many of
the same reasons that architecture students do thesis
projects: to think deeply and independently; to challenge
assumptions and question hierarchies; and to emerge from
the experience, one hopes, enlightened and improved.

Moreover, a retreat works well for a thesis project on
several practical levels. Its range of programmatic uses—
sleeping areas, dining areas, communal meeting spaces,
and so forth—is wide enough to support a variety of
solutions and creative approaches. It’s a good fit for a
range of sites, but especially for rural settings free of the
complex constraints of an urban context. Furthermore,
by virtue of its purpose as a place for contemplation, a
retreat tends to inspire thoughtful architectural expression
at a variety of scales.

Unlike the world of academia, the Real World offers
few opportunities to design retreats. But it does happen
occasionally. The Calcagnini Contemplative Center of
Georgetown University, by Alan Dynerman, FAIA,
principal of Dynerman Architects, is a real place, but it
shares the depth of intellectual consideration that is the
hallmark of a successful thesis project. It is a project that
was conceived on, and functions on, multiple levels
beyond bricks and mortar.

Arthur Calcagnini is a successful businessman and
Georgetown alumnus who took a particular interest in the
university’s variety of “Contemplatives in Action” retreats.
The school has about 20 such programs, including religious
retreats (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim; both
silent and not) and retreats for faculty, students of various
disciplines, and alumni. This facet of the Georgetown
University experience is rare in American higher education.
It is an outgrowth of the Jesuit tradition of retreats for
spiritual exercises, and a manifestation of the concept of
cura personalis (“caring for the whole person”), which is
central to Jesuit life and learning. (Although Georgetown
is open to students and faculty of all faiths or secularities,
it was founded by the Society of Jesus and remains
Jesuit-run and steered by the teachings of St. Ignatius of
Loyola, the founder of the order.)

While serving on a student review panel at the
University of Maryland, Dynerman met Alan Brangman,
AIA, who at the time was the head of facilities at
Georgetown. This led to a meeting in which Dynerman
showed his portfolio, and Brangman saw a potentially
good fit for an unusual project—the proposed retreat
center in rural Clarke County, Virginia. Dynerman had

Project: Georgetown University Calcagnini
Contemplative Center, Bluemont, VA

Architects: Dynerman Architects
Structural Engineers: McMullan Associates
MEP Engineers: Comfort Design
Civil Engineers: Patton Harris Rust & Associates
General Contractor: Howard Shockey & Sons/Walnutdale

Building Co.—A Joint Venture

All photos © Alan Karchmer Architectural Photographer

ADVANCED RETREAT 37