The medieval psalter received the award for graphic design

Prague - The work on the book for which graphic designer Robert V. Novák received one of the awards in the Czech Grand Design competition on Saturday evening took several years, but its result should last for decades or even centuries. Novák and his colleagues received the award for creating a new psalter for the monks of the Trappist order in France. "The previous psalter served them for 300 years. Ours must last at least a hundred years," Novák told ČTK.
    His work is evidence that quality design does not only pertain to things associated with recent advancements. The large book, which exists in only 26 copies, is adorned with aluminum plates. The text is also set in capital letters - so that several people can see it at once, not just the one who has it directly in front of them.
    "The psalter is unique in that such a book is made once every hundred years, meaning that not every graphic designer or every generation has the right to participate in such work," said Novák. He praised the approach of the monks, who carefully considered every step in the preparation and production of the book for a long time. Unlike other clients, they did not want to rush anything - aware that they were creating something that would serve not only them but also others who come later.
    "When it comes to practical matters, the corrections were made by the monks singing them, because it is a hymn book. They would take the texts, rewrite them entirely, mark the corrections, and indicate the accent marks," he describes the work involved in the creation of the psalter. The entire procedure was then repeated, for instance, after a year, until the final version that this thirteen-kilogram book has today was created.
    The Trappist order originated in the mid-17th century in the French monastery of La Trappe as a stricter branch of the Cistercians. Trappists blend contemplative life and the study of theology with manual labor. They live in seclusion from the world, in silence and solitude. Monasteries are built far from cities, amidst fields and forests. The order operates in many countries, with 85 male monasteries and 50 female monasteries, totaling 3500 monks and 2000 sisters.
    In the early 90s, the idea arose in France to establish a Trappist monastery in Bohemia as well - at that time, several Czech novices came to the Trappist monastery in Sept-Fons. The abbot then sent them to find a suitable place in Bohemia for establishing a new monastery. In Nový Dvůr near Teplá in Karlovy Vary, a monastery was created by converting a former Premonstratensian monastery courtyard and a later state farm.
    The new wings of the monastery were designed by London architect John Pawson. The monastery is considered one of the prized projects of contemporary architecture in the Czech Republic, and was a finalist in the Mies van der Rohe Award competition. The church was consecrated in 2004, and there are currently 15 monks living in the monastery, but it has space for 40. Last year, construction began on a new monastery for Trappist nuns in Poličany in the Benešov region.