Asylum: a Place of Refuge

American University of Sharjah, College of Architecture, art and Design, Sharjah

Project idea

As mental health issues, namely anxieties and depression, have reached an unprecedented peak, with recent research showing that they have increased by 70% in the past 25 years, it is necessary for architects to address the issue by realising the impact of the environment in shaping our thoughts and emotions. The 18th century Asylum implies this realisation through the intervention of nature - vast pastures and bucolic settings - believing it has the power to cure the human psyche and, at the same time, offer redemption. As a result, this project seeks to create a reinterpretation of the 18th century Asylum within an opposed, yet equally fascinating, setting; that of the vast desert and rocky mountains, secluded from urban activity. The use of a powerful, specific and emotive language inherent to the setting, seen through materiality and form, creating unique experiences, allows for Asylum: a Place of Refuge to be a safe haven for people to resort to, away from the pressures and stresses of everyday life marked by the bustling cities.

Project description

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life" as Picasso once said. But what happens when the dust of everyday life cannot be easily brushed off. Instead, it lingers and accumulates, to create a mound of fossilised dirt.

Life being filled with turmoil increased by technology and the constant interaction with people can result in mental-health crisis such as anxieties or depression. In fact, as research has shown, depression and anxiety especially among teenagers increased by 70 % in the past 25 years (Bedell, 2016). Although many of the patients seeking help are being given proper attention, the problem persists.

Perplexed by this discovery, one ponders on the question of whether the environment, both built and natural, which in many cases is the enabler to these conditions, can be the source of relief for those in need? Nature, as having redemptive and healing powers, has often been a motif expressed in many of the arts, namely through the visual arts, performing arts and literature. This was portrayed more recently in 2014 in the movie Wild where the protagonist hikes 1.1 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail. Here, she goes on a healing journey to redeem herself and heal from the traumatic experiences she has gone through. This notion that nature has redemptive powers is one that is particularly intriguing and comforting. Consequently, can we satisfy the need of the user and return to the original meaning of the asylum as a place of refuge through nature and the built environment?

Natural features, especially the desert and mountains, are known to provide humans with a comforting shelter where reflection, meditation and internal revelations take place and flourish, similar to the proverbial couch in therapy sessions. As a result, this project is immersed within the transition of these two powerful natural conditions. This site was chosen not only due to the inherent powers it disposes and to its undeniable captivating character, but it was also chosen due to what this site can symbolise; as one enters the project they do so from the rocky south side but as one proceeds along the project the vast desert makes way depicting a person’s transition of state from an initial heavy mind to departing with a clean slate, free of the previous turmoil.


In terms of context, the project makes use of the existing canyon-like condition to place the project alongside one of the mountains. This allows for direct contact with the textured surface of the mountain creating an intimate relationship with it. The project can be perceived as divided between the formal and the informal part. The formal part constitutes the project while the void constitutes the informal part. This void is created by almost a second canyon condition, this time, between the project and the second mountain. Here, hikers can use this passage as a bypass path instead of going around the mountain. Below this void are recreational spaces that one can peak into from above.

The entry of the project is defined by a compressed gap between the mountain and the volume. As one proceeds forward they are consumed by an expansive courtyard space where nature is present through trees and views to the informal part, and where the built environment makes a dramatic yet comforting statement of protection and care. This theme of nature and architecture collaborating together to create a safe haven is a recurring motif of this project. This is also seen from the north side, characterised by the desert, where the sand penetrates the project through erosion, creating sand baths where people can immerse themselves into the hot sand, proven since ancient times to have therapeutic and physiological benefits. Below are also thermal baths, which continue with the theme of nature and architecture as one entity.

To conclude, Asylum: a Place of Refuge is a project which seeks to provide a safe haven for people who suffer from the stresses of everyday life. Being in a context where nature’s supreme powers reign, the architecture itself does not seek to overpower the beauty nor to undermine the crucial role of the landscape, but on the contrary, it seeks to collaborate with it in order to create a unified design which reflects the importance of both the natural and the built environment to resolve the increasing mental health issues people are facing in our day and age.




Source

Bedell, G. (2016, February 27). Teenage mental-health crisis: Rates of depression have soared in past 25 years.
Retrieved from: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/teenage-mental-health-crisis-rates-of-depression-have-soared-in-the-past-25-years-a6894676.html

Technical information

Renderings: Entry Sequence Series, Sand Baths, Aerial 01, Aerial 02
Sections: Cross Section, Longitudinal Section
Plans: Site Plan, Conceptual Plan, Plan 0, Plan +1, Plan +2, Plan -1,-2,-3
Diagrams: Generative and Conceptual

Co-authors

Mentors: Professor Michael Hughes and Architect Fernando Menis