The term ‘disenchantment’ describes the state of our digital society, determined by strictly rational concepts. This cultural rationalisation and devaluation of mysticism is distancing us from the experience of wonder, of bodily intimacy and creating a thirst for spiritual experience for the present generations. How can we experience a shared spirituality and embodiment in such a virtual world? The aim of the project is to create a new architectural and conceptual typology of contemplative spaces. The project addresses our era of extreme digitisation, which makes us lose contact with our own bodies when we exist, most of the time, in a kind of virtual void.

The contemplation cubes – contemporary hermitages – are designed to help people regenerate, enhance the present moment and create a bodily experience. Contact with a pleasant and haptic material, wood; a soothing view of the horizon of Lake Geneva; the surrounding natural environment – this is what the experience of silence can bring.

The space has a cubic shape defined by a wooden structure resting on a concrete platform, with an additional cube floating on the lake to provide a more intense moment of solitude. This space is intended to exploit in a sensitive way, the potential of the already existing furniture in the proposed public space. Platforms built decades ago have been abandoned due to their unattractive appearance. The same applies to the old hermitages where the hermits used abandoned cracks and shelters. This typology will be integrated into the natural landscape structure of Lake Geneva without any negative impact on the environment.

The bell at the centre of the ‘hermitage village’ links the hermitages immaterially with each other through a haunting sound. From the experience of devotional practices, an interval of 20 minutes is an ideal length of time for a person to centre their attention and learn to focus on the present moment. This bell is a subtle reminder for anyone learning to contemplate, that when they lose their attention with wandering thoughts, they can easily return to the present moment, gently. Instructions and guidance for those wishing to learn the centering prayer will be available.