Midterm Review Reflections

My review went terribly. Read: second worst review I've ever had, outdone only by my final review third year where 8 jurors ripped me apart.

That said, it's time to move on.
While I can't work harder and please them, I need to find a way to please myself. Last week was hell. I hardly slept or ate, skipped all my classes and didn't do any of my other work. I made myself sick for something I didn't love.
And I refuse to do it again.

I have 6 weeks to fall in love with my project and end on a good note. I started today by not going to studio, taking the day to go shopping, be outside, reflect on architecture, and dream about future possibilities.

The criticism for my project has been the same over the last few weeks: it feels confused, disconnected, and conceptually weak. I have to agree, considering there has been no time for thought, I've spent the entirety of my days and nights producing new formal iterations based on nothing but elevation proportions, I've become increasingly frustrated by my professors' lack of interest in the program.
However, there is one kernel of interest from the comments I received: the suggestion that it wants to be a monastery.

While this by no means solves all of my problems (especially concerning circulation), it at least provides some solid inspiration and a new route for research. An interfaith monastery!!
It is so obviously meaningful, I don't have to argue for it.
Monasteries have rich historical formal relationships that could be extorted.
An urban monastery has obvious inherent juxtapositions embedded in the concept: enclosure, quiet, and seclusion in the context of a city... all of the things I wanted to explore but couldn't argue for. Programatically it makes sense to have large contemplation spaces, private cells, a library, a kitchen and dining hall, a large central courtyard, etc... and for them to be very separate.

I know there are several monasteries in the city... perhaps I could visit to get a better idea of what they are like.