Designing for Mental Health: a Psychiatric Hospital in Seinäjoki
Batrakova, Natalia (2018)
Batrakova, Natalia
2018
Arkkitehtuuri
Talouden ja rakentamisen tiedekunta - Faculty of Business and Built Environment
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2018-06-06
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201805141680
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201805141680
Tiivistelmä
How to design a psychiatric hospital?
We would hear radically different answers to that question during the 200 history of mental hospital architecture. Rarely a building type is linked with such conflict of concepts, ideas, and design principles. From structures defined by order, symmetry, segregation, and hierarchy, to open institutions with patients in the center. Today we have a unique combination of improved understanding of mental illness, growing involvement of patients and their families in treatment process, emerging evidence the influence that built design can have on wellbeing. Even though the hospital operation principles have changed a lot, the architecture is still to follow with its response.
Psychiatric hospital is a complicated institution - it is a place where two very different groups (patients and medical professionals) coexist, where environment can be very stressful and prone to conflict. Private space, dignity, authority, power, collaborative care, and cooperation with community are some of the factors reflected in physical design, that shape patient's and staff's experience.
In my thesis, I try to make sense of ideologies and beliefs that have influenced the development of psychiatric hospital design through time.
I focus specifically on Finnish history and policy regarding mental health services. Through analysis of modern mental hospitals, literature review of existing research I formulate design principles that I employ in my design of a mental hospital in Seinäjoki, using the existing program and guidelines provided by the hospital. The project is intended to be an experiment, an alternative version of the real hospital that is going to be built in 2021.
We would hear radically different answers to that question during the 200 history of mental hospital architecture. Rarely a building type is linked with such conflict of concepts, ideas, and design principles. From structures defined by order, symmetry, segregation, and hierarchy, to open institutions with patients in the center. Today we have a unique combination of improved understanding of mental illness, growing involvement of patients and their families in treatment process, emerging evidence the influence that built design can have on wellbeing. Even though the hospital operation principles have changed a lot, the architecture is still to follow with its response.
Psychiatric hospital is a complicated institution - it is a place where two very different groups (patients and medical professionals) coexist, where environment can be very stressful and prone to conflict. Private space, dignity, authority, power, collaborative care, and cooperation with community are some of the factors reflected in physical design, that shape patient's and staff's experience.
In my thesis, I try to make sense of ideologies and beliefs that have influenced the development of psychiatric hospital design through time.
I focus specifically on Finnish history and policy regarding mental health services. Through analysis of modern mental hospitals, literature review of existing research I formulate design principles that I employ in my design of a mental hospital in Seinäjoki, using the existing program and guidelines provided by the hospital. The project is intended to be an experiment, an alternative version of the real hospital that is going to be built in 2021.