Re:MIND
A Public Library for Private Well-Being
M.C. van de Ven (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
A.E. Rout – Mentor
M. Mateljan – Mentor
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Abstract
Mental health challenges are increasing, particularly among teens and young adults, while opportunities for prevention and mental health education remain limited. Many people lack the knowledge and tools to understand, manage, and strengthen their own well-being before problems escalate. This graduation project explores how architecture can support preventive mental health by enabling mental health literacy within an accessible civic setting: the public library.
The project proposes a public library that combines learning, social interaction, and spaces for reflection with low-threshold mental health resources. Located on the former Pyrkal site in Athens, the building is positioned at the intersection of pedestrian routes and designed as an open and accessible environment for young people, supporting both collective and individual use.
The library is embedded beneath a public park landscape, allowing the site to remain open and publicly accessible while creating quieter and more private environments below ground. A series of pavilion entrances distributed throughout the park provide multiple points of access to the building. Inside, the library is organised as a sequence of longitudinal bands that accommodate different functions and atmospheres, ranging from active and social spaces to areas for focused study, consultation, reflection, and retreat. Daylight is introduced through atria and skylights integrated into the landscape above, while materiality, atmosphere, and spatial sequencing reinforce the gradual transition between different modes of use and levels of privacy.
By integrating mental health literacy into a familiar civic typology, this project explores how architecture can create accessible environments for learning, reflection, and support while lowering barriers to engagement with mental well-being.