The Plan of St. Gall

Original Plan of St. Gall

“Uniformity, rationality, planning -these were the watchwords of the day, reflected in the concept of St. Gall,” states Warren Sanderson in his definitive book on St. Gall. The plan of Saint Gall, produced in the 9th Century, may be the earliest surviving document of medieval urban planning on record, and it is the only surviving architectural document between the fall of the Roman Empire and the 13th Century. Much like the more recent city planning of Corbusier (that many architects are more familiar with) the plans of St. Gall strived to be a compelling and attainable utopian society for a monastic community of 300 members, give or take.

The plan was drawn on five separate pieces of parchment that were stitched together creating overall dimensions of 30.5 inch by 44 inch. It was drawn in red ink with dark brown annotations indicating the program elements of each structure. In the top margin above the orchard/cemetery. It reads:

For thee, my sweetest son Gozbertus,have I drawn this brief annotated copy of the layout of the monastic buildings with which you many exercise your ingenuity and recognize my devotion, whereby I trust you do not find me slow to satisfy your wishes. do not imagine that I have undertaken this task supposing you to stand in need of instruction but rather believe that out of love of God and in friendly zeal of brotherhood I have depicted this for you alone to scrutinize. Farewell in Christ, always mindful of us. Amen.

The surviving plan of St. Gall is a copy from an earlier original, of which the dates, circumstances and document itself are unknown. It was presented to dear Gozbertus, the Abbot of St. Gall from 816-836 who planned to rebuild the entire monastery.

The plan depicts a self-sustaining compound for monastic life containing all the necessary elements essential for the lives of medieval monastic society including churches, chapels, houses, stables kitchens, workshops, brewery, infirmary, and even a space dedicated to bloodletting. Everything was organized in a deliberate and efficient manner. For instance, the chicken coups were adjacent to the garden spaces so that the monks did not have to travel far in order to fertilize the garden, just as the bloodletting house was near the edge of the community most likely to buffer any moans and gasps let out by butchered monks, but also so the “bad-blood” easily disposed of outside the community walls. The plan suggests much about medieval daily life and some of the philosophies underpinning these traditions. For example, there is an absence of heating in the large dining hall, and during the winter-months the uninsulated stone walls with vaulted ceilings undoubtedly became severely cold thereby suggesting that designer aimed to discourage excessive enjoyment of meals.

Sanderson, Warren. The Plan of St. Gall Reconsidered. Cambridge, MA: Medieval Academy of America, 1985. Print.Jarzombek, Mark. "4.605 Global History of Architecture - MIT Spring 2012 - Prof. Mark Jarzombek." MIT, n.d. Web.