ABSTRACT                                                                                                                                                                     

The proposed Convent For the Sisters of Jesus the Saviour Convent will provide a living accommodation and place of worship for the Revered Sisters .A Convent is a community men or women in the Roman Catholic church leading a religious life. The principal parts of a Convent are: The chapel, the living accommodation with its kitchen, dinning  and laundry, recreation rooms, class rooms with  library and the recreation facilities. The living accommodation general provides for the dormitories and a house for the Mother General.

Sisters of Jesus the Saviour Convent comprises of three sections: Postulancy, Novitiate, and the Profession of vows of Religious Life. The Postulancy is the period of two years while the Novitiate is a the period of one year examination of the candidate by her Superiors . After comes the final Profession vow. There are first and  final profession, the latter being distinguished from the first by a ring to be won by the candidate.

The architectural problem is that of a community life. The design solution provides a courtyard system which traditional shows and emphasizes communal living and togetherness which are fundamental to such a religious community.

Spaces for the various activities are the ground floor. These include the Chapel, Assembly, Laundry, Kitchen and dinning facilities, the Clinic, Indoor Games, Offices and Academic Facilities.

While on the first, Second and Third floors are the living Areas which are self-contained flats except the Postulancy which has a dormitory.

CHAPTER ONE

                                                                  INTRODUCTION

• Background to the Study

The background comprises of a religious order for women, living a convent under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, female monasticism occurs not ably in roman. In some convent each nun has his own           individual room in others there is a common dormitory ,The life of convent is simple beginning in the     morning  with prayer and mass, with the rest of day spend according to the ends for which the institute was found. members of some convent spend the in prayer and meditation, while members of other convent are engaged in teaching, hospital work  and social work.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The  Sisters   of  Jesus  the  Savior  convent  has  not  enough  infrastructural facilities   to  serve the               administrative  and  formative aspects of  the  congregation . The  main  problem  is to  generate  what  will  help  to   organize  the  congregation  activities  as   well  as  implement  them  successfully.

There are several problems and demands of this Mother House. Chief among  them is an  appropriate  choice  of  location  within the  available  expanse of  land  as , a working  relationship  is  expected  to  exist  among  the various suggested land use as references to the Generalate and the external environment                        immediately of the estate, and remotely,

The Generalate will be made up of sections or departments: – secretariat, residential, chapter hall, chapel,    resource center and allied ancillaries. An acceptable integration of these units in a functional whole is a great internal problem that will accompany the whole project such that their meaningful and acceptable             resolution will go to great length to satisfy the demand for S J S Generalate .

    1.3 PROJECT AIMS

The main goals of this research is to provide a befitting Generate /Mother House for the Sisters of      Jesus the Savior Congregation

1) A functional secretariat

2) Comfortable residential accommodation.

3) An  chapel for religious activities.                                                                                                                                                     4) A resource center for information and formation.

5) Conducive meeting   place to decide on the affairs of the congregations [chapel House/

6) A homely atmosphere for the entire congregation.

7) A model of other convents of Sisters of Jesus the Saviour Convent

Because a generate is aimed of the provision of the above facilities. There are other demands by these projects which will include:

A good  allocation  for  the  spaces  to  the  desired  activities .

Uninhibited  circulation route  through  which  to  co- ordinate  these  activities  and them work perform them .

Availability of  entrances  and exits  to  accommodate  peak  periods in  the  individual

Provision  of uninterrupted  services  without  interfering with the normal  activities  of the  entire Generate.

    1.4   PROJECTS OBJECTIVES

The aim of this research work is to find out how the Rev Sisters do operate

This research work is carried out through case study

This is research work is been carried work to know the existing structure of a convent.

 

 

1.4            MOTIVATION FOR THE PROJECT                                                                           

The Sisters of Jesus the savior is one of the indigenous congregations, perhaps the most promising one, in Nigeria that has spread wide within and outside the country. This geographical spread is accomplished by the presence of Pilgrimage Centre, Elele River State, Port Harcourt and Madonna University Elele, Madonna University Okiga, Madonna Secondary School Abuja, Osisatech (Our Saviour Institute of Science, Agriculture and Technology), Osisatech Secondary school Emene, Caritas University Amorji Nike Enugu, Our Saviour Secondary School Elele,e. t. c . All these are established under the congregation of Sisters of Jesus the Saviour  after the ordination of each batch most of them will be distributed to be in charge. were founder has his      establishment. These three apostolate are already responsible great architectural contributions to the          Nigerian environment.

Structural development has been part of the historical achievement of the Sister of Jesus the Savior     congregation. There is the Postulate House (for the Postulancy stage) and the Novitiate at Elele, Port         Harcourt Community Houses or converts have been built around other projects or establishments owned or managed by the Sisters of Jesus the Savior.

Our congregation of concern has got an enormous army of personnel at the medical, legal, educational and administrative professions, among others, both at local and international levels.

Her present General Superior (Mother General) is a consultant medical practitioner working among an      assembly of a highly technically informed team of councilors. About 75% population of the human              endeavors  and they are all employed in ecclesiastical, government and private enterprises, manifesting  a wide range of taste, orientation and understanding. Such an exposure is also concomitant with a richness of diversified   relationships at personal, cultural and international levels. This great achievement at personal and  structural dimensions of development in both local and international levels notwithstanding, there is yet to be a befitting Mother House or Generate.

These considerations, among other, have led to the acquisition of land at the presently developing     Harmony Estate in Enugu by the Sisters OF Jesus the Savior.

    1.5  SCOPE OF THE PROJECT 

The expanse of land acquired by the S J S at Harmony Estate is very wide and many other projects are also proposed e.g. an ultra – modern Nursery / Primary and Secondary school, a shopping center, a business center, etc. There will, therefore, be the initial option of comprehensive planning of the entire site before the development of the portion for the Generalate.

The Generalate belongs to an ecclesiastical tradition of religious house, which also include monasteries, abbeys, friaries and priories, diocesan secretariats, presbyteries and convents. This project will, therefore examine such houses so as put the project of concern within the tradition of ecclesiastical architecture of its type .

A Generalate will necessarily comprise of three units: the Church orChapel, the office complex or  secretariat and the residential accommodation. Ancillary services of Resource Center, library and achieves, Chapter Hall, infirmary or sickbay, laundry and culinary services are the main ancillary services. All these will be brought together in a housing unit. The project will therefore try to integrate these activities in a flowing functional pattern.

This research will cover literary or library work, case studies, interview with the Superior General and other important members of the S J V congregation for a comprehensive brief, visits to the site of project and design          activities, to bring about an acceptable solution or which would satisfy of the desires.

                  1.6. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

Many approaches are demanded to achieve the collection of required data for this project.                                Through Literature Review, the meaning and the historical development of the present state of religious life was obtained  . Case studies were undertaken on selected existing religious houses so as  to examine           departmental units such as  types and forms in Generalate architecture as an offshoot of ecclesiastical              architecture in general.

Interviews were carried out among the S J S congregation Sisters to assess their understanding and              interpretation of both the spirit and the charism of the congregation. Many meetings and dialogue sessions were also held with the Superior General and the council of S J S  in order to furnish a brief

The researcher  also made himself  available to the  congregation  by  attending many functions organized by the   sisters  and  continue   to  worship with them  as  participant  observer . visits  were made  to the  site  with  some  project co-ordinates  of the  sisters   of Jesus the  savior  convert  on  several