THERAPEUTIC DESIGN
three decades have witnessed a break with the descriptive history of ‘insanity’ presented as a stream of medical and social progress.” At that time there was a new openness in the perception of ‘madness’, which gave some credence to the actual phenomenological, spatial, and architectural experiences of the ‘insane’. My research concerns the ‘life world’ of mental health settings, which is exposed though the eyes and mind of a person with bipolar disorder. I consider the quality of designed objects and physical space – from the inside to the outside, chair, bed, bedside table, wardrobe, window, view, opening, door as entrance and exit, corridor as pacing promenades, breakfast table, washing machine, and games and social space. The drugs cabinet is designed as an object of dispensation. The ward, in the day and night, represents light and dark moods. Colour, lighting, and brightness. Entrances and exits; gardens and external space to freedom and escape. I argue that, based on my research experience, increasingly the voices of service-users and the mentally unwell need to be listened too, and that in the future, they should have a major input into all the design of their healthcare settings.
Design participation in mental health settings In all forms of ‘social institutions’ there are calls for accountability, inclusion, transparency, and participation. To achieve this we need to open up our understanding of mental health settings with more insight and experience. For so long they have been secret settings with associated taboos and stigmatisation; perhaps the public might have certain perceptions about what life inside a mental health facility is actually like?
Schools of Psychology, Health, Architecture, and Design need to collaborate with mental health Trusts and
participation has become significant and important. Equally, should mental health patients have a significant input into their healthcare setting? Such involvement can be therapeutic, working at all scales.
A painting by Dr MacDonald ‘inspired’ by Vincent Van Gogh's 'The Stone Bench in the Asylum at Saint-Rémy'.
investigate the latest state-of-the art spatial and architectural design. At Liverpool John Moores University, architectural postgraduates have visited (guided by DiMHN President, Joe Forster) a secure hospital as part of the ‘Healing Pavilion’ Exhibition and Conference.
In the design of domestic space, user
Designing their own ‘lock-ups’ The late Will Alsop (a Stirling Prize Winner for the Peckham Library) was an architect who asked prison inmates to design their own lock-ups. Had he gone soft on crime, or did his plans encourage rehabilitation? He believed architecture could redeem as well as inspire, particularly for people who spend so long within the same four walls, which is very appropriate during this time of COVID-19 lockdown. All involved need to liberate our collective minds, bodies, and space. Transforming design for mental health is, however, no easy task. Workshops, ‘living labs’, staff, service-users, carers, and nurses, all have a role to play in developing new buildings which will meet their needs and deliver high quality environments, in turn improving patient care and staff satisfaction. My research and evidence indicate that this is the future direction of the design of all progressive mental health and wellbeing facilities. It is essential that service-users talk about their mental health – and that they are listened to.
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Dr Robert G MacDonald
A book about Kurt Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948), a German artist born in Hanover, who worked in several genres and media – including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, painting, sculpture, graphic design, typography, and what came to be known as installation art. He is most famous for his collages, called ‘Merz pictures’.
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Dr Robert G MacDonald, RIBA, is an architect and academic, and a former director of the Design in Mental Health Network. He is Reader in Architecture at Liverpool John Moores University, and holds the Roscoe Citizenship Award 2014, which was presented to him by Lord David Alton for Life Long Services to Mental Health and Well Being. In 2019 (see photo) he received the DiMHN Recognition Award 2019, which was presented by GP and broadcaster, Dr Philip Hammond (shown right) at the year’s DiMH Awards Dinner. He is co-author, with architect, Bill Halsall, of the specialist publication series, ‘Design for Dementia’. Together they developed the BRE Dementia Friendly Demonstration House at the Building Research Establishment’s Watford Innovation Park. Currently, they are working on The Virtual Care Home for People Living with Dementia during COVID-19 – a multidisciplinary project involving care professionals, service-users, and designers, on which they have been invited to present to the BRE, and the Department for International Trade Finland and the British Embassy in Helsinki. Dr MacDonald is also a Design Champion for Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, and a ‘Check and Chat Buddy’ during COVID-19 – a role that has entailed him talking with those living in isolation in Liverpool who are facing mental illness.
JANUARY 2021 | THE NETWORK
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