I am sorry this is happening.
Imagine a retreat center around 400 sq. ft. first and gradually expand.

Four revisions . . . try taking a step back; clearing your head. Going in hand with that, if possible, visit the site (or site materials). It sounds like a beautiful site and the program seems to be directing you in a particular direction . . . let it.
And try not to worry about technical details just yet.

And if that doesn't work . . . since time is an issue ... look at Zumthor's Therme Vals.

eat some magic mushrooms, that always works for me...

pull all four together and get your instructor to have a little conversation with you - not just about where you should go but give each previous iteration it's due attention. give them each a little crit, see what you can glean from them so that what you got out of each isn't lost in the process. i'd see if you can make this happen away from your desk. pin them on the wall and get the instructor off on your own without distraction or hurry.

then, when you've got a handle on what's working, zero in, figure out what the most basic, essential threads are and GO!

40k sf can still be based on simple premises - and possibly should be in order to remain legible. diagramming and over-arching ideas don't get abandoned just because the program gets complicated.

turn all your drawings over, or rotate them all 180 degrees if you working in the computer...sometimes you can get stuck looking at a project from one particular orientation.


On a more abstract note...are you able state what the project is about for you personally? Eventually coalesced as a single sentence but first perhaps written out longer. Once you know what your project is about, then, you will have a something measurable to weigh each of your design decisions against (i.e. does this move make my idea strong or weaker)?

good luck.

f you can, go WALK the site for a few hours, observing whatever is there, be it sights, smells, sounds or touch.

i second Steven Ward's advice -

but offer another one of my own, as it worked for me in the past; forget about the project and go to your library, and look at as wide a variety of architecture books as possible - again, not thinking at all about your project - this is just trying to reset your mind on vernacular, spacial solutions, etc...once you feel you accomplished that, go back to a fresh sketch book, and write down the simplest possible version of your concept statement; then sketch the simplest possible solution to the problem - that should lead to a more clear direction on where to proceed with the project - it worked for me, as I used to get hung up on pragmatic decisions earlier on, and would not be able to shake them loose later on the project - doing this, i'd find out that 3/4 of the solutions were not needed to solve the problem at all...and as one of my professors once said, remember, this is fun!!! (looking back, it was!) - good luck!

Start with a line...