Transcript

Design shame into pride with architecture | Sheenwar Siti | TEDxAmericanUniversityofKurdistan

foreign [Applause] mediation is the intervention in a dispute in order to resolve it so why would I use the term more commonly used for conflict resolution as a core principle for therapeutic design it all started when I had difficulties developing my architectural thesis back in London the thesis was a proposition to combine sports facilities with mental health treatment the idea was to use architecture as a tool to break the stigma associated with treating mental illness science says that exercise releases endorphins in our body also known as the body's feel-good chemicals this is why therapists often recommend to their patients to use exercise as one of the activities that can help both treat and prevent mental illness this combination of sports facilities and a mental health treatment center was actually inspired by the World Health Organization model for dealing with mental health of treat prevent and promote the building would treat with a mental health treatment center it would prevent with public sports facilities this successful combination would then be promoted with sports as that stigma fighting public face it sounds like I had it all figured out in reality when I applied this model to a single architectural design I found there were several clashing elements for example could I place a football pitch next to a therapy waiting room could I place a clinic next to a gym could I make a therapy room a big glass box for people to see as they walked by and be incentivized to seek treatment themselves of course I couldn't but it was figuring out what I could do that led me to a broader solution now you might be thinking what's this British accented guy doing all the way over here in the hook telling you how to deal with the stigma attached to mental illness I propose that the theory I developed during my thesis set in London is actually a theory that can be applied anywhere in the world us humans have been developing designs for mental health for over 400 years from lockup asylums where staff used to experiment on their patients spinning them on chairs hoping the madness might slip out to more moral Retreats where we realized patients have families they're humans after all today is the day of specialized hospitals with the advancement of technology and psychiatric knowledge at times barbaric each one of these were a gateway to a more developed practice in the last 50 years however the game has changed with the emergence of drugs successfully treating symptoms of mental illness this has meant less hospital visits less admittance to lock up treatment centers and more patients being treated at home in their communities with this many more of us have realized that we suffer from one of the more milder forms of illness such as anxiety or depression if we go by the studies of one of these common mental illnesses then a quarter of the people in this room that we are in right now have suffered or are currently suffering from one of the common mental illnesses if that statement doesn't relate to you then you better believe it's about someone you know we are aware many of us are suffering we are aware of the potential effect it's having on our productivity and in turn the economy we know that mental health is no longer just about that 1 in 100 severe case this is a society-wide problem unfortunately we're still ashamed going by the studies more than a half of us wouldn't want someone showing signs of one of the common mental illnesses to marry into our family the stigma that could be attached with mental illness could leave individuals in society leaving just feeling judged or outcast so if it isn't a hospital then what is the new Gateway for treatment of an illness of our time what is the new type of building that could help break the stigma associated with treating mental illness I propose it's not a type of building but a method of design I call the mediation Theory the mediation Theory Bridges societal acceptance of the treatment of mental health into something we can embrace inspired by the World Health Organization model of tree prevent and promote the mediation Theory allows a careful combination of these factors into a single architectural design we saw when we apply that model alone of treat prevent and promote that there could be clashes for example the choir and private nature of a Therapy Clinic against the constant shouting and clanging of a ball of a football pitch there is a clash of sound a clash of privacy in general we could say that these two activities are at odds with each other however if a clinic is to treat and a sports facility is to prevent then how do we pull apart these two clashing activities without splitting them entirely the mediation Theory allows us to create a distance between these two activities then build a transitional link between them this same principle is applied at every level and every scale of a project from idea to the layout of activity to the application of a wall or removal of a wall all with the single intention of creating a link but first we need opportunity where in your Society is there a community ready to take a leap in attitudes towards the treatment of mental illness only once you have determined this target audience can you then apply the steps of mediation to come forward with a physical solution take the Leisure Therapy Center for example in London in the UK the topic of mental health is a Hot Topic celebrities and athletes are coming out about their personal struggle with mental illness we could say that the subject is becoming normalized and the taboo is dying in the UK we could say that the general population is ready for some sort of change here in the hook however the population is smaller we still have the factor of everyone knows everyone if I was seeking treatment and I was worried about my privacy there's a real risk of it getting out the news the idea of therapy might not be for everyone and it might not be for me the younger generation however the social media generation gen Zed or K-pop gen as I like to call some of them these communities are more aware of global Trends and subject and the subject of mental illness they may be less worried and more prepared to engage in the idea of treatment here we could say the Youth of the hook potentially hold a key for the Leisure Therapy Center I knew that my target audience was the general population for this audience I needed to find a user range I could use as a sample in the city if this program was successful it could then be applied city-wide and perhaps even Nationwide for this General user range I found potential patients local patients and local community members in general for this user range I needed to find a mediation of activity I needed to then lay out this activity on a chosen site this activity and the intended connections would then be activated through the idea of architectural and spatial design for this user range I needed to find a range of activity from therapy to a familiar Community activity Sports captured the city's popular gym culture and with the act the preventative aspects of exercise this would work well as that stigma fighting public face so great I had my sports and I had my clinic we know these together alone could create a Clash so I needed to find a mediated range of activity from Leisure to therapy here I simply proposed Leisure therapy Leisure therapy are activities such as yoga meditative Leisure Pond and Spa swimming Gardens places to sit amongst the greenery activities that have both therapeutic and physical health benefits would work well in that range from the two contrasting sides of the Leisure Therapy Center so great I had my carefully selected mediated range of activity I needed to apply the same principle to a chosen site My Chosen site was sat well with my user range with a hospital on one side and the community on the other I could quite naturally lay out the clinic and therapy activity on the hospital Edge and the stigma fighting public face of the center on the community Edge between these I would place the Leisure therapy activity that would create that transitional link from one part of the site to the other in order to make this building a part of its Community two pedestrian paths would cut right through the center and expose the activity to the passers-by this would activate the parts as a promotional path for the center so great I knew that therapy could work well next to Leisure therapy I knew that orange could work well next to Green I needed to ensure these intended connections were activated through architecture and spatial design I needed to find Opportunities to reduce and remove walls amongst other things I prepared a catalog of wall types that ranged in transparency allowing me to apply the correct wall type for a given boundary take this Garden entrance to the clinic for example the layout of the garden pushes the clinic into the background away from the public walkway outside this mediated layout has enabled me to use a more transparent boundary type if we look at this fence the horizontal buttons and the gaps in between allow for passers-by to get a glimpse of the activity on the other side here is an example of how promotion can happen at an eye level through architecture this is one of the most important Leisure therapy spaces in the building it's one of the main places where both users interact that's patience and community members patients who are progressing in their therapy would be recommended by their therapists to sign up to yoga and Leisure classes in this space the same place where members of the community would have their classes now because this was a transitional a sensitive moment in the progression of patients therapy I wanted to maintain the Privacy by closing off the walls to the outside the promotion however happens Within These Walls where the coming session can come to a internal waiting space around the edges as they wait for the central session to finish this final pit drawing Cuts right through the Leisure Therapy Center it shows how a boundary between two spaces can become a transitional space in itself the foot the fence of the football pitch has been offset to create a ring of spaces that allows for Greenery and cultivation to happen this Greenery would reduce views coming through the fence from the football pitch all the way across the courtyard to the Community Building we could say that this drawing is symbolic of the holistic nature of the Leisure of the mediation Theory with a hospital on one side and a community on the other a mediated range of activity from Leisure to Leisure therapy to therapy is finally activated through spatial and Architectural design where even a boundary between two spaces can become a transitional space in itself it starts with finding a community ready to take a leap it closes the distance of the sleep in order for us to land on the other side with our feet firmly on the ground it starts with finding a hole in society that can and should be filled it then provides a blueprint to fill the hole it finds an opportunity on paper and provides a solution in concrete the mediation Theory doesn't just have to be about breaking the stigma associated with mental health it could be for any stigmatized subject in society the theory allows for a physical solution allowing for society and communities to slowly Embrace and accept positive change thank you [Applause]