Designing tranquillity

Abstract

In designing tranquillity, a historical research is conducted into the architectural design of psychiatric institutions from the 19th century in the United States. During the 19th century there was a lot of social change which led to the collaboration between physicians and architects. They tried to positively influence the healing process of patients through architectural design. Many of these design principles are still relevant today, but a number of things have been lost over time as well. Meanwhile there is still a relevant problem in the Netherlands, namely stress among psychiatric patients. This led to the question addressed in this historical research: How can a striking example of 19th century mental health care architecture be useful to reduce stress among psychiatric patients in contemporary Dutch facilities? The historical part of the study focusses on St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. designed on the basis of the design principles of the revolutionary physician Dr. Thomas S. Kirkbride. Furthermore, the research compares this historical research with contemporary scientific research into the influences that architectural interventions have on people’s and psychiatric patients’ stress. Finally, the research ends in a number of recommended design choices based on historical principles and contemporary scientific research which is substantiated with examples from contemporary innovative Dutch facilities. Thus, recommendations are made to design tranquillity.