space of translation

[Space of] Translation

00CONTENTS 01

020304050607

abstract

thesis statement

research

site and context analysis

conceptual / preliminary design studies

citations

conclusions

08 bibliography

01ABSTRACT

An individual’s life experience is the filter through which they see the world. Because of this, there is an inherent difficulty to design architecture that encounters the body. Many architects have adopted a phenom-enological approach to architecture that incorporates a multi-sensory experience of place making, striving to create existential places through sensory. With a better understanding of our body and mind, and how they connect to their surroundings, we can increase our capacity to design in a way that is both sympathetic to a persons altered state and conducive to healing.

[Space of] Translation focuses on the design of a Rehabilitation Center for the U.S. military, a demographic that encounter threats returning back to civilian life. The aftermath war has on the psychological effects of a veteran are endless; suicide, depression, homelessness, mental stability. Trauma affects a person’s perception of the world and their ability to function within it. The goal is to adapt the environment to them by explor-ing the interaction of the human senses with the built environment. By creating a catalog environment for healing, we may begin to understand how design can have a mental effect on the end user, helping create settings that promote holistic wellness.

The taste of the apple… lies in the contact of the fruit with the palate, not in the fruit itself; in a similar way… poetry lies in the meeting of the poem and the reader, not in the lines of symbols printed on the pages of a book. What is essential is the aesthetic act, the thrill, the almost physical emotion that comes with each reading. - Jorge Luis Borges

02THESIS STATEMENT

The effects of architecture do not lie in the structure or in its form, but rather with its encounter with the body. By reconnecting our bodies to their surroundings through the integration of a multi-sensory architectural design experience, we may restore our body and mind with the larger context of the environment and give meaning to our self-identity.

22 miltary suicides per day,One every 65 minutes

03RESEARCH

INTRO

“When I raised my right hand and said, ‘I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America,’ when I gave them everything I could, I expect the same in return.” 1 Military service is difficult, demand-ing and dangerous. But returning back to civilian life poses the largest challenge for the men and women who have served.2 As a member of the military you are a ‘pawn of the game’, psychologically trained to be a strong, independent, mentally and physically tough person; because that is what is needed to accomplish a mission. The problematic part of training is that there is no psychological reverse to diminish this war mentality.

WAR-IS-HELL

Suicide became the leading cause of death in the military since 2011 according to the Pentagon medical sta-tistical analysis journal. 3 Suicide has outranked war, cancer, heart disease, homicide, transportation accidents and other causes as the leading killer. “People’s natural instinct is to explain military suicide by the war-is-hell theory of the world. But it’s more complicated.” 4 According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs there are 22 military suicides per day, one every 65 Minutes. On any given night, 57,849 Veterans are homeless. According to the U.S. Department of Labor 33.2% of Military Veterans are unemployed compared to 14.9% civilians. 5 Wounds of the war can go far beyond what meets the eye. The impact on the mental health of soldiers is a significant issue. Military men and women returning from war can experience catastrophic mental problems including violent behavior, depression, drug and alcohol abuse, sleep apnea, and, the most common, Post-Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 6 Most mental issues that soldiers develop occur within the first 3 to 4 months of returning home.7 There-fore, the first 3 to 4 months are some of the most critical months in a soldiers return to society.

The question needs answered: how can we treat and prevent the mental issues that are a result of war? Programs do exist, such as helplines, rehabilitation centers, and peer reviews. Yet there are more suicide deaths post-war than ca-sualties in actual combat itself. 8 Additionally, veterans may not consider the existing programs to be worthwhile. A 2014 study in The Journal of the American Psychiatric Association found that of 204,000 veterans nearly two-thirds stopped PTSD therapy within a year, before completing treatment. A smaller study from the same year found that 90 percent dropped out of therapy. 9

Can there be a better solution? Is there a way to develop a solution that veterans want to participate in? How do we tackle an issue that requires complex evaluations of how the human mind processes experiences?

TRAUMA

Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event.10 War can therefore be considered an event that could cause psychological trauma.

Mental health professionals are constantly evaluating ways to understand trauma and help patients develop coping skills. Somatic therapy is one therapy approach that involves evaluating the relationship between the mind and the body to process trauma. Somatic therapy evaluates the body, its somatic experiences, and the embodied self, including therapeutic and holistic approaches. 11

Dr. Peter A. Levine has studied somatic therapy and the ability of somatic therapy to help release traumatic shock. He has researched the physiological state of a human after they experience a traumatic event. In his studies he com-pares the traumatic state of a human being to prey animals, based on evidence that humans and other animals possess nearly identical brain/ body survival mechanisms. Mammals are able to automatically regulate a survival response after they feel threatened. When threatened, a large amount of energy is mobilized for self-defense. Once the mammal no longer feels threatened the energy can be “discharged” through use of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) by shaking, trembling, and breathing. This act of discharging allows the mammal to recuperate from the traumatic event

and restore the body’s equilibrium. Human beings are similarly designed to discharge energy after a traumatic event, but humans have a problematic ability to override the discharge of survival energy. Human instincts, rationalizations, judgements, and feelings of shame disrupt a human’s capacity to bring the mind and body back to equilibrium. This results in a suppression of the traumatic event and an unbalance of the nervous system, disturbing our body. This un-resolved trauma is now a physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral threat that resurfaces, affecting not only the mind but the body as well.12

A potential method of healing, somatic therapy, explores using the body as the primary entry to process trauma, which in turn facilitates emotional and cognitive processing. The brain functions on three levels of processing; cog-nitive, emotional and sensorimotor which interact and affect each other simultaneously. Human’s higher levels of processing often influence the lower levels. Sensorimotor information is processed by lower rear portions of the brain, emotional by more intermediate limbic parts, and cognitive processing by the frontal cortical upper parts of the brain. With this information we can illustrate what is called “top-down processing”, the cognitive function can ignore the sensation of hunger even when there is a physiological processes associated with hunger, secretion of sa-liva or contraction of stomach. 13 Top-down processing involves the higher cognitive part of the brain that directs the lower levels; at the same time the functioning of the higher level is dependent on the functioning of the lower levels, sensorimotor and emotional systems. Bottom-up processing is dominated by our sensorimotor and emotional system. Many traumatized people experience a disruption between these two systems, which affect their capacity to regulate physical reactions and emotions. These two different directions of information processing hold significant implications for the occurrence and the treatment of trauma.14

Senses therefore can directly affect cognitive thoughts. What if a solution could be developed using the principles of somatic therapy to affect the cognitive thoughts of a solider returning home from war? The existing programs do not have a complex approach that considers the benefits of somatic therapy. There is evidence to show that returning veterans do not enjoy the experience of sitting through a PTSD meeting or a calling a helpline. The solution needs to provide soldiers with something that is desirable; a soldier should want to participate. Somatic therapy shows that by reconnecting the human body to its surroundings through the integration of the senses, identity may be restored within the larger context of the environment.

Architecture can be the therapist. The basis of somatic therapy is influencing cognitive thought via the senses. The senses are directly affected by the environment that a person is experiencing. Architecture can be used to create an

environment that directly influences the senses, and subsequently cognitive thought. Specifically, sensory design is an architectural approach that involves considering how architecture affects the senses. Sensory design can be used to integrate military men and women back into society by transitioning the senses back to normality. What if military men and women had a place to go that was desirable, influential, and fulfilling? Unlike existing programs that exist to help soldiers cope with trauma, that involve undesirable meetings in environments that do not have positive sensory impacts, a new program could be created. This program could utilize an environment that was architecturally devel-oped using sensory design to influence a soldier’s senses in a positive way.

SENSORY DESIGN

In 450 B.C. Greek philosopher Protagoras noted the importance of our senses when he stated, “Man is noth-ing but a bundle of sensations.” 15 Our world is surrounded by objects and spaces, and without effort, we are able to use our senses and take in the properties of these surroundings, their texture, appearance, and smell. It is our human instinct to touch, taste, smell, see, and hear. Sensory design emphasizes the role of having a multi-sensory experience with the built environment to influence our attitudes, behaviors, and well-being.

“Sensory experiences become integrated through the body or rather, in the very constitution of the body… Our bodies and movements are in constant interaction with the environment; the world and the self-inform and re-define each other constantly. The percept of the body and the image of the world turn into one single continuous existential experience – there is no body separate from its domicile in space, and there is no space unrelated to the unconscious image of the perceiving self .”16

Juhanni Pallasmaa’s writings are important in this argument because he critically evaluates why architecture needs to inform a direct expression of existence, of human presence in the world. Architecture needs to considers the integra-tion of all sensory response mechanisms and base its form on the language of the body. He believes that architecture is a powerful element in integrating our senses and achieving a sense of temporality, experiential depth and sense of belonging within the world. He identifies two different types of architecture in our age: “the architecture of essence and the architecture of form”. The architecture of essence allows people to experience a space with their entire body, through movement, memory and imagination. It is about the dialogue between a person and architecture. Experienc

ing architecture has less to do with how the building looks, but rather how the building engages with not just one, but all of our senses. 17

“Only the actual building allows the eye to roam freely among inventive details; only architecture itself offers the tactile sensations of textured stone surfaces and polished wooden pews, the experience of light changing with movement, the smell and resonant sounds of space, the bodily relations of scale and proportion. All these sen-sations combine within on complex experience, which becomes articulate and specific. Some may say that the building speaks through the silence of its perceptual phenomena.” 18

Architecture only exists, when it is experienced. “When our sensory experience is intensified; psychological dimen-sions are engaged.”19 The introduction towards the end of the eighteenth century by French architects of sensory design called attention to look at architecture as a multi-sensory experience and power it has in increasing our senses and engaging our psychological self.

PERCEPTUAL SYSTEMS

Psychologist J.J. Gibson has taken the five senses and reformulated them into active, highly inclusive systems that are capable of obtaining information about objects in the world. He believed that our feeling of buildings and our ability to identify with them is more significant to our architectural experience than any information that they can give us. Gibson describes theses five sensory systems as “perceptual systems” to better understand some of the fun-damental elements that generate our experience within architecture. In place of sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch, Gibson created new systems of visual, auditory, taste and smell, basic orienting and haptic systems. 20

HAPTIC SYSTEM

“The haptic realm of architecture is defined by the sense or memory of touch, which includes our perception of weight and materiality. When the materiality of the details forming an architectural space become evident, the haptic realm is opened up.”21

The haptic system is referred to as the sense of touch. It is a system of recognizing objects by their physical properties such as temperature, pain, pressure, kinesthesia, and encompassing body sensations and muscle movement. It is a system where humans are in contact with their environment through movement and physical exploration of space. The sense of touch is often referred to as unconscious vision, providing three-dimensional information to objects.22 Pallasmaa believes that our sense of touch is one of the most natural experiences in architecture. “Touch is the sensory mode which integrates our experience of the world and of ourselves. Even visual and other perceptions are fused and integrated into the haptic continuum of the self; my body remembers who I am and how I am located in the world.” 23

AUDITORY SYSTEM

“Buildings do not react to our gaze, but they do return our sound back to our ears… [S]ound often provides the temporal continuum in which visual impressions are embedded.”24

Gibson believed that the sense of hearing is omni-directional, unlike vision which is focused, it provides a three di-mensional atmosphere. He states that, “its exteroceptive function is to pick up the direction of an event, permitting orientation to it, and the nature of an event, permitting identification of it.”25 Each building or space creates a char-acteristic sound that has its own spatial quality. The reverberation time of a space can tell a story about the shape and size of that place while the tone can tell us the softness and structure of the materiality. In contrast, the lack of sound can also create a certain atmosphere that produces a different perception. “The silence of architecture is a responsive, remembering silence. A powerful architectural experience silences all external noise; it focuses our attention on our very existence, and as with all art, it makes us aware of our fundamental solitude.”26

THE TASTE-SMELL SYSTEM

“…blandness makes for undifferentiated spaces and deprives us of richness and variety in our life. It also obscures mem-ories, because smell evokes much deeper memories than either vision or sound.”27

The taste-smell system has the ability to capture and preserve the memory of a space. Taste and smell function togeth-er to stimulate our memory and imagination of a place. They are capable of being remembered and identified later as an experience of similar phenomena. The tongue is only able to distinguish up to 8 different types of tastes, while the nose is able to identify hundreds of substances. The nose works together to heighten the taste of the mouth, similarly when used in architecture it may heighten the experience of the place.

THE VISUAL SYSTEM

“Vision reveals what the touch already knows. We could think of the sense of touch as the unconscious of vision.”28

Our environment is perceived with our eyes, what we see. Vision is regarded as the most privileged and important sense. Our eyes collaborate with the other senses. When the eye sees, touch, smell, sound, and taste are confirmed. The visual world can be described as “extended in distance and modeled in depth; it is upright, stable, and without boundaries; it is colored, shadowed, illuminated, and textured; it is composed of surfaces, edges, shapes, and inter-spaces; finally…it is filled with things that have meaning.” 29According to Pallasmaa “our eyes stroke distant surfaces, contours and edges, and the unconscious tactile sensation determines the agreeableness or unpleasantness of the ex-perience.” 30 All of the senses are extensions of tactility, when we see a surface we can determine its weight, density, temperature and moistness.

THE BASIC ORIENTING SYSTEM

“The body knows and remembers. Architectural meaning derives from archaic responses and reactions remembered by the body and the senses.” 31

Gibson created the idea of basic orienting system based on the relationship between horizontal ground plane and our vertical posture. The resulting orientation leads us to seek a symmetrical balance where we perceive information with our senses in relation to gravity, force, and acceleration. Humans have a need to symmetrize frontally the stimulus impinging on the senses of sight, sound, touch, and smell. 32 Pallasmaa believed that when we experience a structure our bones and muscle feel the need to mimic its configuration. A structure, and the understanding of architectural scale is understood with the body’s skeletal system.

THE INTEGRATION OF SENSORY DESIGN

The effects of architecture do not lie in the structure or in its form, but rather with its encounter with the body. The objective of this thesis is to create a transitional retreat center for the U.S. military to hinder post war effects by means of exploring the interaction of human senses with the built environment. It seeks to qualify and associate differ-ent physical variables that have sensory responses. Joy Monice Malner, in her book Sensory Design, stated that there are three types of sensory responses: An immediate physical response to stimulus, a response conditioned by prior knowledge of its source, and a response to stimulus as it becomes identified in ones memory with a particular time and place.33 Research from the University of Gothenburg concluded that the space around us effects the brain. They show that well designed spaces that incorporate sensory stimulation have the ability to increase a patient’s recovery both physically and mentally.34 A transitional retreat center could stimulate the senses and provide a better solution than any other post-war program that currently exists. The transitional retreat center would seek to remind post-war military men and women that a positive environment exists when returning home. How could this be achieved? By careful evaluation of sensory design and development of a solution that targets the vulnerable senses of post-war mil-itary men and women.

The precedents displayed all depict successful architectural moments that stimulate a multi sensory response from the viewer that encourage the proccess of healing. This thesis does not claim that architecture can heal a person, rather that architecture can be used as a tool to promote holistic wellness. Each example is unique and succesful in a different way. Each creates a heightened sensory response and is designed for the architectural ef-fect. Through a multi sensory design, an environment can be made that heightens the senses and promotes heal-ing of the user.

PRECEDENTS

04SITE AND CONTEXT ANALYSIS

Location of the rehabilitation center needs to foster the feelings of safety, security, and trust. By creating a center within distance of familiar military units, hospitals, and ther-apeutic centers the center can maintain a comfort of location. to create a healing space, a designer must use a patient-based approach, and design for the comfort and conve-nience of the patient by understanding their journey. a location within nature promotes and nurtures the process of healing. the open, secluded space must incorporate the co-forts of a home-like environment through materials, finishes, and textures. It must cre-ate spatial relationships and adjacencies to ease transitions, ultimately lessening anxiety and tension. Embededding the center within the mountain creates trusted areas that promote wellness and create an environemnt of healing.

Dickey Ridge Visitor Center

Byrd Visitor Center

Loft MountainInformation Center

STRASBURG FRONTROYAL

LURAY

STANLEY

WASHINGTON

SPERRYVILLE

SHENANDOAH

ELKTON

MADISON

STANARDSVILLE

GROTTOES

CROZET

WAYNESBORO

CHARLOTTESVILLE

1940ft2085ft Signal Knob Overlook2085ft Gooney Run Overlook

3035ft Little Hogback Overlook20

25

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55

60

65

70

75

95

100

105

80

85

90

50

15

10

3385ft Hogback OverlookMathews ArmElkwallowSee detail map at right

2655ft Gravel Springs Gap

1390ft Shenandoah Valley Overlook 5

Jeremys RunOverlook2410ft

Pass Mountain 2460ft Overlook TunnelMarysRockPanoramaPark Headquarters

Jewell Hollow Overlook3320ftPinnacles3350ft3100ft Stony Man Overlook3215ft Little Stony Man Parking Skyland See detail map at right

See detail map at right

Lewis MountainSee detail map at right

3360ft Timber Hollow Overlook 3550ft Crescent Rock Overlook3365ft Hawksbill Gap ParkingBettys Rock

HazelMountain

Pass Mtn

TannersRidge

SpitlerHill

Three Sisters2085ft

Grindstone Mountain2850ft GreenMountain2149ftPiney Mountain1975ftHuckleberryMountain2158ft

4051ft HawksbillHighest Peak in Park Franklin Cliffs Overlook 3140ft3150ft Spitler Knoll Overlook Fishers Gap Overlook 3140ft3465ft Tanners Ridge Overlook3250ft Naked Creek Overlook

3235ft The Point Overlook Bootens Gap3235ft

Dark Hollow FallsParking3490ftMila m Gap 3230ft

Upper Hawksbill Parking 3630ft

Whiteoak Canyon Parking 3510ftLimberlost Parking3680ft Highest Point on Drive Hemlock Springs Overlook 3380ftHughes River Gap 3100ftPinnaclesOverlook 3320ft

Hazel Mtn Overlook 2770ftTunnel Parking Overlook 2510ft

Beahms Gap 2485ft

Range View Overlook 2810ft

Hogwallow Flats Overlook 2665ftJenkins Gap 2355ftCompton Gap 2415ftLow Gap 1790ftDickey Hill

Piney River

Thorofare Mtn Overlook 3595ft

Rapidan Camp

3125ft The Oaks Overlook

2950ft Dean Mtn Gap

2620ft Smith Roach Gap

2255ft Simmons GapEaton Hollow 2490ft Overlook

2770ft Two Mile Run Overlook2860ft Rockytop Overlook2860ft Big Run OverlookLoft MtnWaysideBrown Mtn2840ft Overlook

Rocky Mount2740ft

Trayfoot Mtn3374ft Blackrock

TurkMountain2960ft

2880ftPasture Fence Mountain

Bucks Elbow Mountain2787ft

Scott Mtn2760ft

RockyMtnBrownMtn

County LineMountain1980ftLoftMountain

Flattop Mtn3320ft

Saddleback Mountain3375ft

KirtleyMountain2593ft

Bush Mountain3527ft

Pinnacle Peak3401ft4011ft Stony Man

Pignut Mtn2530ft

GimletRidge The Peak3000ftMt Marshall3368ft 3474ft Hogback Mtn

Old Rag3268ft

Hazeltop3812ft

LewisMountain

BluffMountainBearfenceMountain

Hightop 3587ft

Brokenback Mtn1750ft

Big FlatMtn

3295ft Bearfence Mtn Parking

2710ft Swift Run Overlook

2520ft Blackrock Summit Parking

2920ft Riprap Overlook2975ft Crimora Lake Overlook

2195ft Sawmill Run Overlook

1900ft Rockfish GapRockfish (South) Entrance Stationto Staunton, 18 miles

2532ft Beagle GapMcCormick Gap 2455ft Overlook 2485ft Calf Mtn OverlookMcCormick Gap 2434ft

Jarman Gap 2175ft

Turk Gap Parking 2610ft

Skyline Drive lies withinShenandoah National Parkand all park regulations apply.

2730ft Riprap Trail Parking

2330ft Blackrock Gap Tr ayfoot Mtn Overlook 2575ft

Doyles River Overlook 2870ft

Ivy Creek Overlook 2885ftLoft Mtn Overlook 2450ft

Bacon Hollow Overlook 2450ft

Hightop MountainParking 2637ft

South River Overlook 2950ftSouth RiverSwift Run Gap 2365ft

Pinefield Gap 2530ftSimmons Gap

Powell Gap 2295ft

Jones Run Parking 2790ftBrowns Gap 2595ftDundo Group Camp

Wildcat Ridge Parking Area 2980ftMoormans River Overlook 2975ft

Swift Run Gap toHarrisonburg, 21 miles

New MarketThornton Gap toHarrisonburg, 42 miles

McGaheysville

Swift Run Gap toFredericksburg – 75 miles

Rockfish (South) Entranceto Richmond – 91 miles

Ruckersville

Front Royal (North) Entranceto Winchester, 24 miles Front Royal (North) Entranceto Washington, D.C., 72 miles

Thornton GaptoWashington, D.C.,80 miles

Wolftown

BancoSyria

Massies Corner

Bentonville Browntown

Port Republic

M A S S AN U T T E N

M O U NT A I N

GE ORGE WA S

H I N G T ON N AT

I ONA L F OR E S

T

Doubletop MountainFork MountainJone s Mountain

Blue Ridge Parkway

Big MeadowsSee detail map at right

See detail map at right2750ft

Swift Run GapEntrance Station

Thornton Gap Entrance Station 2304ft

Rockfish Gap (South) Entrance Station

Front Royal (North)Entrance Station

S henandoah

South

River

Fork

North Fork Shenandoah River

South Fork Shenandoah Rive

r

Jeremys Run

RunPass

CreekHawksbill

River

River

Rappahannock

Jordan

RiverCovington

River

RiverThornton

RiverHazel

RiverHughes

River River Rose Robinson

RiverRobinson

Dark HollowFalls

RiverRapidan

RiverConway

RiverSouth

RunSwiftNorth

Rivanna River

Fork

South Rivanna River

LynchRoach RiverRiver

Fork

Rivanna RiverRiverMechums

Lickinghole CreekSawmill Run

DoylesRiver

RiverMoo r mans

Madison Run

RunBig

Elk Run

RunDry CreekNaked

Rush81

81 66

64

64

250250340

250

340

340

340

33

29

29

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29

11

211

211

340

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663659

609607 606759

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649 670

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600 231

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BUS340

0 10 1 5 Miles5 KilometersNorth

Shenandoah National Park - Park map March 15, 2004 Lori

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05PRELIMINARY DESIGN STUDIES

WORSHIP COUNSELING NICHE SLEEPING WELLNESS RELAXATIONGROUPRECREATION

PHENOMENA

ANGLE

VOLUME

OPAQUE

MATERIAL

SPATIALITY

SPAT

IALI

TY D

IAG

RAM

TRAINING WAR DECOMPRESSION SOCIETY

0 - 250,000

250,001 - 500,000500,001 - 1 million

More than 1 million

21.8 MILLION VETERANS OF THE U.S. ARMED FORCES

WWI

WWII

Korean War

Vietnam War

Gulf War

OIF/OEF

4.7MILLION

16MILLION

5.7MILLION

7.8MILLION

2.3MILLION

2.3MILLION

30.2%UNEMPLOYED

ONLY 26%HAVE BACHELORDEGREES

REPRESENT 8.6%OF HOMELESS

[SPACE OF] TRANSLATION“The taste of the apple… lies in the contact of the fruit with the palate, not in the fruit itself; in a similar way… poetry lies in the meeting of the poem and the reader, not in the lines of symbols printed on the pages of a book. What is essential is the aesthetic act, the thrill, the almost physical emotion that comes with each reading. ” - Jorge Luis Borges

CON

CEPT

UA

L RE

ND

ERIN

GS

LOCATION ANALYSIS

HEALING ATMOSPHERE

EMOTION

SENSE OF BALANCE

ARCHITECTURALELEMENTS

BIOLOGICALCONNECTIONS

EFFECTS

PSYCHOLOGICALINFLUENCES

PHYSIOLOGICALSTIMULANTS

MOODTHOUGHTS

MOVEMENTTHROUGH SPACES

GROWTHRENEWAL

NATURAL

CURIOSITYTRUST

CONTROL

TIME OF DAYCALMINGEFFECTS

CONNECTEDVS.

PERSONAL SPACE

PROTECTIONVS.

PRIVACY

SECURITYVS.

INDEPENDENCECARED FOR

VS.NOT FEELING TRAPPED

NOT OVERWHELMEDVS.

HAVING OPTIONS

INVISIBLE

VISIBLE

RESULT OF OTHER ELEMENTS

WIND

TIME

SOUNDHUMIDITY

LIGHTSHADOWS

REFLECTIONS

WATER

INTRO & PROPOSAL

AN INDIVIDUAL’S LIFE EXPERIENCE IS THE FILTER THROUGH WHICH THEY SEE THE WORLD. BECAUSE OF THIS, THERE IS AN INHERENT DIFFICULTY TO DESIGN ARCHITECTURE THAT ENCOUNTERS THE BODY. MANY ARCHITECTS HAVE ADOPTED A PHE-

NOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH TO ARCHITECTURE THAT INCORPORATES A MULTI-SENSORY EXPERIENCE OF PLACE MAKING, STRIVING TO CREATE EXISTENTIAL PLACES THROUGH SENSORY. BY CONNECTING OUR BODIES TO THEIR SURROUNDINGS THROUGH AN INTEGRATION OF A MULTI-SENSORIAL DESIGN EXPERI-

ENCE, WE MAY RESTORE OUR BODY AND MIND WITH THE LARGER CONTEXT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. ULTIMATELY, GIVING MEANING TO OUR SELF-IDENTITY.

[SPACE OF] TRANSLATION FOCUSES ON THE DESIGN OF A REHABILITATION CENTER FOR THE U.S. MILITARY, A DEMO-

GRAPHIC THAT ENCOUNTER THREATS RETURNING BACK TO CIVILIAN LIFE. THE AFTERMATH WAR HAS ON THE PSYCHOLOGI-

CAL EFFECTS OF A VETERAN ARE ENDLESS; SUICIDE, DEPRESSION, HOMELESSNESS, MENTAL STABILITY. TRAUMA AFFECTS A PERSON’S PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD AND THEIR ABILITY TO FUNCTION WITHIN IT. THE GOAL IS TO ADAPT THE ENVIRON-

MENT TO THEM BY EXPLORING THE INTERACTION OF THE HUMAN SENSES WITH THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT. BY CREATING A CATALOG ENVIRONMENT FOR HEALING, WE MAY BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND HOW DESIGN CAN HAVE A MENTAL EFFECT ON THE END USER, HELPING CREATE SETTINGS THAT PROMOTE HOLISTIC WELLNESS.

HEALING ATMOSPHERE

LOCATION OF THE REHABILITATION CENTER NEEDS TO FOSTER THE FEELINGS OF SAFETY, SECURITY, AND TRUST. BY CREAT-

ING A CENTER WITHIN DISTANCE OF FAMILIAR MILITARY UNITS, HOSPITALS, AND THERAPEUTIC CENTERS THE CENTER CAN MAINTAIN A COMFORT OF LOCATION. TO CREATE A HEALING SPACE, A DESIGNER MUST USE A PATIENT-BASED APPROACH, AND DESIGN FOR THE COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE OF THE PATIENT BY UNDERSTANDING THEIR JOURNEY. A LOCATION WITHIN NATURE PROMOTES AND NURTURES THE PROCESS OF HEALING. THE OPEN, SECLUDED SPACE MUST INCORPORATE THE COFORTS OF A HOME-LIKE ENVIRONMENT THROUGH MATERIALS, FINISHES, AND TEXTURES. IT MUST CREATE SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND ADJACENCIES TO EASE TRANSITIONS, ULTIMATELY LESSENING ANXIETY AND TENSION. EMBEDEDDING THE CENTER WITHIN THE MOUNTAIN CREATES TRUSTED AREAS THAT PROMOTE WELLNESS AND CREATE AN ENVIRONEMNT OF HEALING.

TARG

ETED

DEM

OG

RAPH

IC

RUN BY VETS FOR VETS, SPACE OF TRANSLATION PROPOSES A PRACTICAL REHABILITAION CENTER FOR VETERANS VIA A STRUC-TURED PROGRAM OF HOUSING, COUNSELING, ANIMAL THERAPY, AND JOB PLACEMENT. THE CAMARADERIE OF FELLOW VETS WORK-ING TOGETHER ESTABLISHES A TRUSTWORTHY ENVIRONMENT TO AID THE INTEGRATION BACK INTO CIVILIAN LIFE.

PRECEDENT STUDIES

HEALING ATMOSPHERE

EMOTION

SENSE OF

BALANCE

ARCHITECTURALELEMENTS

BIOLOGICALCONNECTIONS

EFFECTS

PSYCHOLOGICALINFLUENCES

PHYSIOLOGICALSTIMULANTS

MOODTHOUGHTS

MOVEMENTTHROUGH SPACES

GROWTHRENEWAL

NATURAL

CURIOSITYTRUST

CONTROL

TIME OF DAYCALMINGEFFECTS

CONNECTEDVS.

PERSONAL SPACE

PROTECTIONVS.

PRIVACY

SECURITYVS.

INDEPENDENCECARED FOR

VS.NOT FEELING TRAPPED

NOT OVERWHELMEDVS.

HAVING OPTIONS

INVISIBLE

VISIBLE

RESULT OF OTHER ELEMENTS

WIND

TIME

SOUNDHUMIDITY

LIGHTSHADOWS

REFLECTIONS

WATER

06CONCLUSION

TRAINING WAR DECOMPRESSION SOCIETY

Spaces range from semi-private to private encouraging a holistic approach with the body. Breaking the barrier between internal and external space with views out to the landscape.

PRIVACY, COMPANY AND DIGNITYVIEWS

NATURE AND OUTDOORSCOMFORT AND CONTROL

LEGIBILITYINTERIOR

Isolated from the center, allows for the retreat of an individual for re�ection, prayer, and meditation.



LEGIBILITYINTERIOR

A more personal space that can be retreated to for solitude or the communication with a higher order. These rooms encourage individual focus and achievement.



LEGIBILITYINTERIOR

An open active space that boosts therapeutic healing. Comforting views to the exterior and large amounts of light penetrate deep into the space.



LEGIBILITYINTERIOR

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A compact human scaled space that provides comfort for personal contemplation or small interactions. Light materiality allows open views to green spaces.

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LEGIBILITYINTERIOR

Sleeping quarters provide a smaller, physical and emotional comfort through materiality and views. The space allows privacy and safety with the connection of fellow veterans.



LEGIBILITYINTERIOR

Run by vets for vets, space of translation proposes a practical rehabilitaion center for veterans via a structured program of housing, counseling, animal therapy, and job placement. The camaraderie of fellow vets working together establishes a trustworthy environment to aid the integration back into civilian life.

Space of Translation proposes to create a catalog environment for healing that has a mental and physical effect on the user. B. Lawson developed de-sign tools in the UK that explored ways to design with healing in mind. He looked at what features of a building can be controlled or elaborated, and what types of environments to produce. Incorporating these tools into the design of the rehab center, the seven environments of healing were designed based off of six categories; Privacy, company, and dignity, Views, Nature and outdoors, Comfort and control, Legibility, and Interior.

The goal is to adapt these healing environments to the users by exploring the interaction of the human senses with the built environment. By creating a catalog environment for healing, we may begin to understand how design can have a mental effect on the end user, helping create settings that pro-mote holistic wellness.

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TRANSVERSE SECTION

LONGITUDINAL SECTION

07CITATIONS

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Are Ending." US Military Suicides Top Combat Deaths But Only Because the Wars Are

Ending Comments. TIME, 16 Jan. 2013. Web.

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New York Times. The New York Times, 19 Sept. 2015. Web.

1. Chandrasekaren, Rajiv. "After the Wars: A Legacy of Pain and Pride." Washington Post.

The Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2014. Web.

2. Morin, Rich. "The Difficult Transition from Military to Civilian Life." Pew Research

Centers Social Demographic Trends Project RSS. Pew Research Center, 08 Dec. 2011.

Web.

3. Zoroya, Gregg. "Suicide Surpassed War as the Military's Leading Cause of Death." USA

Today. Gannett, 31 Oct. 2014. Web.

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LA Times. N.p., 14 Jan. 2015. Web.

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FOR ANSWERS." Mccormickfoundation.org. Robert M. McCormick Foundation, Dec.

2012. Web.

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Are Ending." US Military Suicides Top Combat Deaths But Only Because the Wars Are


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Web.










Nicosia, 2004. Web.






Space.”







Web.










Nicosia, 2004. Web.






Space.”




Space.”

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Space.”


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Space.”



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Space.”




Space.”


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Space.”



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33. Malnar, Joy Monice., and Frank Vodvarka. Sensory Design.

34. Sahlqvist, Kristina. “Architecture and Design Help the Brain to Recover.”. N.p.: n.p.,

2011. Print.

08BIBLIOGRAPHY

"About SE." Traumahealing.org. N.p., 2016. Web.

Avery, Gilbert. "Anthropology of Odor." Explorations in Aroma-Chology. Kendall/Hunt


Beebe, Beatrice. " ." Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute. N.p., 2016. Web.

Bloomer, Kent C. Body, Memory and Architecture. New Haven: Charles Willard Moore, and

Robert J. Yadell., 1975. Print.

Chandrasekaren, Rajiv. "After the Wars: A Legacy of Pain and Pride." Washington Post. The

Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2014. Web.

Friedman, Brandon. "Military Suicides Top Combat Deaths – But Only Because the Wars Are

Ending." US Military Suicides Top Combat Deaths But Only Because the Wars Are


"THE GROWING PROBLEM OF PTSD: VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES LOOK FOR

ANSWERS." Mccormickfoundation.org. Robert M. McCormick Foundation, Dec. 2012.

Web.

Hadjiphilippou, Panagiotis. "The Contribution of the Five Human Senses towards the Perception

of Space by Panagiotis Hadjiphilippou." Academia.edu. Diss. University of Nicosia,

2004. Web.

Holl, Steven. Intertwining: Selected Projects 1989-1995. New York: Princeton Architectural,

1998. Print.

Ledoux, J. The Emotional Brain. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996. Print.

Malnar, Joy Monice., and Frank Vodvarka. Sensory Design. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 2004.

Print.

"About SE." Traumahealing.org. N.p., 2016. Web.

Avery, Gilbert. "Anthropology of Odor." Explorations in Aroma-Chology. Kendall/Hunt


Beebe, Beatrice. " ." Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute. N.p., 2016. Web.

Bloomer, Kent C. Body, Memory and Architecture. New Haven: Charles Willard Moore, and

Robert J. Yadell., 1975. Print.

Chandrasekaren, Rajiv. "After the Wars: A Legacy of Pain and Pride." Washington Post. The

Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2014. Web.

Friedman, Brandon. "Military Suicides Top Combat Deaths – But Only Because the Wars Are

Ending." US Military Suicides Top Combat Deaths But Only Because the Wars Are


"THE GROWING PROBLEM OF PTSD: VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES LOOK FOR

ANSWERS." Mccormickfoundation.org. Robert M. McCormick Foundation, Dec. 2012.

Web.

Hadjiphilippou, Panagiotis. "The Contribution of the Five Human Senses towards the Perception

of Space by Panagiotis Hadjiphilippou." Academia.edu. Diss. University of Nicosia,

2004. Web.

Holl, Steven. Intertwining: Selected Projects 1989-1995. New York: Princeton Architectural,

1998. Print.

Ledoux, J. The Emotional Brain. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996. Print.

Malnar, Joy Monice., and Frank Vodvarka. Sensory Design. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 2004.

Print.

McCarter, Robert, and Juhani Pallasmaa. Understanding Architecture: A Primer on Architecture

as Experience. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Morin, Rich. "The Difficult Transition from Military to Civilian Life." Pew Research Centers

Social Demographic Trends Project RSS. Pew Research Center, 08 Dec. 2011. Web.

MURTHY, R. SRINIVASA, and Rashmi Lakshminarayana. "Mental Health Consequences of

War: A Brief Review of Research Findings." World Psychiatry. Masson Italy, 5 Feb.

2006. Web.

Olssen, Michelle C. "Mental Health Practitioners’ Views on Why Somatic Experiencing Works

for Treating Trauma." Master of Social Work Clinical Research Paper, 2013. Web.

Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. Chichester: Wiley-


Philipps, Dave. "In Unit Stalked by Suicide, Veterans Try to Save One Another." The New York

Times. The New York Times, 19 Sept. 2015. Web.

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Boundless Open Textbook." Boundless. Boundless


Sahlqvist, Kristina. “Architecture and Design Help the Brain to Recover.”. N.p.: n.p., 2011.

Print.

Salamon, Maureen. "After the Battle: 7 Health Problems Facing Veterans." LiveScience.


Zarembo, Alan. "Detailed Study Confirms High Suicide Rate among Recent Veterans." LA

Times. N.p., 14 Jan. 2015. Web.

Zoroya, Gregg. "Suicide Surpassed War as the Military's Leading Cause of Death." USA Today.

Gannett, 31 Oct. 2014. Web.







2006. Web.










Print.













2006. Web.










Print.







space of translation

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