The Hutterites: architecture and community

Abstract

Built form is often an important cultural expression of any settled society. This study explores the relationship between social organization and built environment of a particular society, the Hutterites. The Hutterites are the most long-lived religiocommunal society in the western world. In spite of continuous persecution over some 450 years, the Hutterites maintained their religious doctrines and the concept of communal life. Recently, dramatic changes occurred with the introduction of "worldly" designs on the colonies that are not compatible with communal life values. The study explains how the built environment of Hutterite colonies has changed, discusses reasons for these changes and explores concepts for alternative settlement and housing design. The document divides in three parts. The first is an historic account of Hutterite building history using their migrations through Europe and North America as a tool to reconstruct, describe and analyze the development of building types and settlement patterns. The second part examines in detail the architectural world of two colonies. The descriptive and critical analysis and the inferences drawn from part two create the baseline for part three, a conceptual design proposal for colony design.