Urban spiritual retreat

The design of this project - a religious retreat - although based on the form of a traditional monastery differs from it in its basic premise. The idea of monastic life is based on solitary contemplation and restricted social exchange, while a retreat places group interaction at its base. lt is a place where a community of persons shares time and thoughts, but also where each individual is given a space of his or her own to which to retreat when needing privacy.

The retreat consists of three separate elements: a church, a dormitory complex and a "Unity House" that includes a library, and meeting and dining spaces. A massive travertine wall that divides public (profane) and private (sacred) spaces, is the main geometrical, focal and symbolic element to which the three buildings relate.

In the design of this project the questions of what constitutes the necessary qualities of spaces in the structures designated for a religious purpose were explored. The design was approached with the understanding that for a project such as a religious retreat natural and man-made environments must be treated as one. Only then, design resources will allow for creation of harmonious, intimate and poetic spaces and give the retreat participants a chance to quiet themselves and experience the surroundings with all their senses.