Riverine Canvas: Residency and Art Retreat

Project idea

In a world where artists are constantly navigating the demands of exhibitions, seminars, and conferences in bustling cities, there is a growing need for spaces of pause—where creativity can breathe, unburdened by deadlines and distractions. The Retreat Art Centre answers this need by offering a contemplative environment where artists can reconnect with their practice, their thoughts, and the land itself.

Nestled in the tranquil countryside of Savar, along the serene banks of the Dhaleshwari River, the Riverine Canvas: Residency and Art Retreat is envisioned as a sanctuary for artistic reflection, collaboration, and creation. Designed as a space for artist-in-residence programs, this project embraces the rhythms of nature and rural life, offering a peaceful retreat away from the noise of urban intensity. The architecture is rooted in local context—responding to climate, culture, and landscape—while creating spaces that nurture both solitude and community. It serves as a platform for interdisciplinary artists to live, work, and engage with their surroundings in meaningful ways, fostering creative dialogue and cultural exchange within a restorative environment.

The name “Riverine Canvas” was chosen to evoke the Dhaleshwari’s ever-flowing waters as a living palette for artists, while “Residency & Art Retreat” clarifies the dual nature of the program—as both a creative home and a place of restorative pause.
The design and landscaping unfolds as an architectural journey of transitions—between public and private, openness and enclosure, high and low. From arrival to residence, visitors and artists move through a choreographed sequence of elevated and depressed floor plates, and alternations of transparency and opacity. Like layers of paint on a canvas, these spatial shifts invite a slow, attentive exploration, echoing the creative process itself.

At the centre of the Art Retreat is a 200-year-old banyan tree. Respecting this tree, a courtyard has been designed, which becomes the project’s living nucleus—an al fresco gallery and gathering space that anchors the architecture to both river and woods. Here, the path through interior and exterior galleries, shaded pergolas, and workshop porches collapses the boundary between making and exhibiting art. A crystalline pond at the heart of the dormitory blocks reflects sky, canopy, and building, offering a quiet counterpoint to public activity. Oriented on a 45° axis to frame river views from every balcony, the ensemble of two- and three-storey volumes choreographs light, sightlines, and scale to guide users from collective engagement toward private contemplation, much like a brushstroke moving from bold gesture to fine detail.

Project description

Upon arrival, guests are greeted by a welcoming sculpture and a shaded drop-off, setting the tone for a place where art meets hospitality. The entry ramp slopes gently upward, flanked by exposed brick walls and concrete columns, instilling a sense of ceremony as one progresses toward the reception and the indoor gallery. Beyond, the outdoor gallery—nestled beneath a pergola—casts a dynamic pattern of light and shadow that shifts throughout the day, teasing views of works in progress and completed installations.
From this public realm, the path naturally bends through a social lounge in front of the dining hall, toward a semi-private zone defined by the workshops. The workshops hall is strategically positioned at the juncture of the art centre and the dormitories. Here, the volume extends toward the river, simultaneously delineating the banyan courtyard from the central pond. In this space, resident artists may demonstrate their craft to visitors, then step away to a shaded porch for quiet contemplation by the water’s edge.
The courtyard itself is a living exhibition yard: bounded on three sides by the building and open southward to the river, it offers sheltered seating areas under the sprawling banyan canopy. Every primary function of the art centre—gallery, workshop, dining hall—opens onto this yard, fostering a seamless interplay between interior program and outdoor life.
Beyond the courtyard, the residential quarters unfold in three blocks around the pond. The central block rises three storeys, while flanking wings remain two storeys, creating a graduated scale that underscores the transition from communal areas to intimate retreats. Each room—whether single or twin-share—is oriented at a 45° angle from true north, ensuring every balcony captures glimpses of the pond and the river beyond. At either end, breakout lounges span between blocks, framing dual vistas of the woods to the north, east, and west, and the river coursing from east to west along the southern boundary. A deck in the junction of the middle and east block of the dormitory extends from a breakout zone towards the pond, creating a poetic atmosphere for artists who enjoy sitting by the pond, sketching or writing poems. The space’s scale variation of single-height to double-to triple height makes this place one of the most interesting location of the whole project.

This deliberate modulation of form, scale, and orientation—combined with a tactility of brick and concrete—invites users to experience the building as both canvas and collaborator, where every space is an invitation to see, feel, and create.

Technical information

• Orientation & Levels: The entire plan is rotated 45° from true north to maximize river views. Subtle floor-level shifts (±0.00 m at entry, rising toward galleries, dipping into workshops, then returning at dormitory corridors) articulate the journey.
• Structure & Massing: A three-storey central dormitory block bookends two-storey wings; the entry hall, reception, and indoor gallery reach two storeys. Exposed brick anchors public volumes, while cast-in-place concrete defines private studios.
• Envelope & Openings: Double-height glazing in gallery and lecture spaces opens onto the banyan courtyard; deep pergolas provide sun control and sculpt light. Solid concrete façades in studios ensure privacy, punctuated by operable windows for cross-ventilation.
• Program Highlights: Welcoming sculpture, parking, drop-off, reception, indoor and outdoor galleries, AV lecture hall (75 pax) with support spaces, multi-media workshops, dark-room and shaded porch, dining hall with self-service kitchen, and a three-block dormitory array around a central pond, with breakout lounges and extensive landscaping under the banyan tree.