Healing By Design - Is This Enough?

ARCH IX: Thesis

Professor Lia Dikigoropoulou - Christopher Mancia - Healing By Design - Is This Enough?

Healing imposes the idea of a restoration, a process in which one understands the trauma that one has been through and works to push through it, eventually getting to a place where we comprehend what has happened and its effect on us. Can we look at healing as the baseline, developing a new standard for the way in which we move through trauma? Placing trauma as a tool for empowerment, looking at trauma we’ve worked through with the intention of deep understanding, and reinforce the values that have allowed us to push through. 

I believe trauma is a case study in which we can develop ourselves as individuals, as members of a community, and as members of society. Recognize that this trauma is present and allow it to establish connections with those around us. Instead of placing individuals into isolation, can we bring them together? Can we not only teach individuals the skills required to deal with trauma, but allow them the tools to use their trauma as a springboard to the best version of themselves? Can we look at healing as the bare minimum, initially with the intention of creating a personal equilibrium or leveling the playing field, and instead ask for something more? I believe by allowing individuals to pedestal themselves through the recovery process, it will allow them to become an example for others around them, elevating themselves as well as their communities.

The first step of healing is to interpret the trauma that has taken place, understanding the moment in which it has happened, how it happened, how it has affected us. The second step is to take the necessary action to recognize what we have been deprived of, understand that something has been taken from us and attempt to begin to rebuild. This rebuilding process often comes with the understanding that we have changed from the trauma. I believe this is the moment in which empowerment can come to the forefront. Can we use this trauma as a light that guides us to a higher version of oneself, not just bring us back to the person we used to be but allow us to recognize we are now stronger than before. We have faced the trauma, and recognize we are now someone stronger by working through it. Can we now teach the members of our community about how they too can work through trauma, and be better after it? Can we do this as a neighborhood? A city? A country? 

With my thesis, I look to research the country of my familial heritage, to see if we can create a beacon for the country’s healing through the use of Architecture. With the first portion of the thesis, I look to analyze the country, city, and inner communities and understand the trauma the country has faced. Secondly, proceed to understand what it has been deprived of, how it has changed through the trauma, how the people have adapted to the conditions. Using this information to design a cultural springboard to not only fix the conditions caused but empower the city through the Architecture of Healing.