Serjeant Award for Excellence in Drawing
‘The Writers’ Retreat’ is sited on the coastal edge of Barcelona, from this point one is able to escape the city and look back in a moment of reflection. This is a place where a writer can detach from the complexities of the urban landscape and find solitude. Elements of the building will gradually fragment due to corrosion, thus ‘The Retreat’ progressively gets pushed over the boundary of Barcelona and into the drifting sea. As this occurs the building shifts creating a non segregated, boundless space, an area for one to retreat from the city, sit and contemplate.
Sarah's focus during the year has been social interaction, both intentional and accidental. Her project for a Script Writer's retreat weaves these ideas together with a strong material agenda, creating a bold, layered and enigmatic addition to the Barceloneta Beach. Identifying the writers' need for solitude, Sarah locates on the edge of the city, allowing the writer to look back at the city from afar. Public and private areas are at first separate, but as time passes and materials degrade, the relation between them becomes increasingly blurred, confusing the hierarchy between the observer and his subject of study.