T005 → Thesis
Thesis Statement
My thesis is an architectural solution that holistically heals people suffering from mental illness who are involuntarily committed into a psychiatric hospital. It has a focus on taking care of patients from after they attempt to commit suicide to after they are discharged from the psychiatric hospital. This means including a hospital capable of taking care of patients with medical conditions and injuries. Not only are wards needed to house patients, but counseling offices for current and discharged patients are also necessary.
To harm oneself, with or without the intention of suicide, can result in legal intervention in the United States. In the state of Nevada, a legal document, called the L2K form, is Nevada’s legal intervention. AN L2K form initiates transportation to a psychiatric hospital against the patient’s will. An “L2K” is called by a licensed clinician, usually a psychologist. What qualifies for an L2K call is if a person is in imminent danger to themselves or others or if a person can not take care of themselves physically, resulting in a “life-endangering crisis.” In Nevada, patients must then spend 72 hours in a psychiatric hospital. This time period is meant to stabilize the patient’s mental state, ceasing the initial risk of harm. After the 72 hour period, patients are reevaluated. The patient must meet safety requirements in order to be discharged. If the patient does not meet these requirements, prolonged stay in the psychiatric hospital or transfer to a more long term facility is required.
The “L2K process,” as I will call it, is a traumatic process to say the least. The typical process starts with suicidal ideations or an attempt. This then prompts transportation to either the emergency room or the psychiatric department of a general hospital. Once determined a danger to oneself by a licensed clinician, transportation to a psychiatric hospital is next. The intake process at a mental institution can take hours. Patients are isolated, monitored, and stripped of their belongings before entering their respective wards. Once patients are admitted into their ward, the 72 hour count begins. If a patient is determined stable after 72 hours, they are released back into the real world. Many times, released back into the same situation that began the entire process.
In order to improve this process, one must understand the patient’s mindset while going through the “5150 process.” From attempt or ideation to discharge, what is the patient feeling? When first entering a psychiatric hospital, one is most likely traumatized by their attempt or ideation. A psychiatric hospital must first feel welcoming and comfortable for incoming patients. When patients are admitted to their respective wards, one is overwhelmed by their current situation. The ward must feel safe and secure. When patients are discharged, one is scared to go back to their real life situations. The discharging process must feel encouraging and helpful. By designing a psychiatric hospital that succeeds in helping those in need, suicide rates can be lowered.
Abstract Show
When prompted with Abstract Show, I wanted my work to be a visual respresentation of emotion. Certain emotions are hidden behind a facade of contentment. I wanted to show these specific feelings and relate them to the facade. I knew that oil paint on canvas was how I wanted to achieve this visual representation. The picture below shows the process of creating all six paintings in my garage. This idea of relating the facade to inner emotions directly relates to the early explorations of mental illness for my thesis. I found that mental illness is an invisible disease of the brain. From the outside looking in, normalcy is seemingly apparent. But many who appear bright and happy are suffering from an internal battle. 1 in 5 Americans deal with this internal battle everyday. Chemical imbalances in the brain can affect one’s way of thinking, how their mood shifts, their behavior towards others and themselves. This struggle is often not treated accordingly, allowing the disease to manifest into a debilitating disability. Awareness and destigmatization is a start in helping those 1 in 5 Americans live a life that is not solely focused on the barrier that is mental illness.
My abstract work is entitled, “Invisible Illness,” and is constructed of three double sided canvases. One side presents the facade that many can relate to: false contentment. The other side presents three different mental disorders: bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, and depression. The goal of these double sided canvases was to raise awareness and destigmatize the realities of mental illness. The painting representing bipolar disorder features two profiles, each symbolizing both ends of the spectrum of manic states. The painting representing anxiety disorder features a front view of a clearly distressed face. The gritted teeth and disoriented eyes illustrate the emotions felt when overcome by anxiety. “A million miles an hour” explains the racing thoughts caused by anxiety. The painting representing depression features a profile of a face. The swirling pattern represents the overwhelming negative thoughts that often come with the illness. An example of one of these thoughts is written, “If I kill myself, can I not get into Heaven?”
Vellum
When prompted with Vellum, I wanted my work to contribute to a warm and comfortable environment. My thesis centers around how a built environment can help heal a sick brain. The built environment would need to be comfortable and inviting. In order to accomplish these feelings for Vellum, I knew I would work with warm materials, such as wood and some form of fiber product. With a fiber material in mind, weaving was the way to go for my furniture piece. Weaving gives off a feeling that is homemade, that is soft, that is familiar. I knew I wanted these emotions to be portrayed through the method of weaving. I chose to work with wood instead of metal, as metal can portray a sterile and cold feeling. When sketching the initial designs for Vellum, I explored chairs and benches. The chair I designed would be the first seat a patient would have once admitted into a psychiatric hospital. It had to be inviting and comfortable. When I was constructing the scale models, I mainly focused on weaving methods. This simplified the shape of the furniture piece down to a sort of stool. I explored different weaving patterns with each model, wanting to give the piece character. Once I constructed each scale model, I realized I wanted to make the stool square instead of rectangular. I also realized I wanted to use a different weaving method. When researching weaving patterns, I found Danish weaving. It is traditionally woven with Danish cord, a strong 3-ply fiber, and used to weave the seat of a chair. The style became prominent after World War II in Denmark and other parts of Europe. Given these realizations about how I wanted to edit my furniture piece ideas, I could start my Vellum piece.
Finding the Site
As for deciding the site, many factors must be considered. My thesis focuses on the process of involuntary admissions to psychiatric hospitals. In order to improve the current state of involuntary admissions, the site at which patients are sent once admitted to a psychiatric ward must aid in their healing process.
One of the main factors being considered is how densely populated the area should be. For one to be able to recover mentally, isolation from society is most often required. Considering this, a more isolated location would be necessary. Whether the site should be in the desert, mountains, or in the middle of a forest, society would not become a distraction during the healing process. Isolated areas also change the mindsets of the patients, as their surroundings will completely change. The unfamiliar scenery can physically and mentally take the patient out of the situation they started in. Not only does isolated areas prevent distraction, it connects people back to nature. I find this similar to camping; people camp to reconnect with nature and escape their everyday lives. I want the same effect for psychiatric wards. Patients should be able to experience a form of escapism while in the process of healing themselves. Placing a psychiatric hospital in an isolated location will help achieve this.
Another factor to consider is climate. Does climate affect the patients? Being in a different climate from usually populated climates changes your mindset. You are in foreign, neutral ground. How does the desert climate affect your mood versus subtropical climates? Sunlight has been shown to improve ones mood, so being placed in a desert climate with lots of sun can reap good results. Cloudiness and rain can negatively affect ones mood, so being placed in a temperate zone during the winter will not reap good results. The architecture of the psychiatric hospital will have to adjust to the climate it is located in. If it is placed in a desert climate, shade and natural ventilation is going to be necessary. If it is placed in a colder climate, natural ventilation and shade will not be as important.
Overall, site can affect ones state of mind and their mood. Placing patients in isolated locations allows them to physically and mentally escape from their usual everyday lives. It also prevents distraction from the public. Choosing which climate to place a psychiatric hospital is also important. Certain climates can affect ones mood, i.e. the patients.
Las Vegas History
Las Vegas is an infamous city located in southern Nevada, known for its glamour, gambling scene, and entertainment. But the opulence and glamour is only a facade covering the dark reality of the city.
The Las Vegas Valley was first settled by the Paiute tribe, as early as 700 AD. It was scouted by Rafael Rivera in 1821 in order to extend the Old Spanish Trail between New Mexico and California. This was a part of Antonio Armijo’s expedition to open the trade route. Rafael Rivera named the valley Las Vegas, meaning “the meadows.” The valley transitioned into United States territory due the Mexican cession in 1848. In 1855, Brigham Young sent a group of Mormon settlers to try and occupy the valley, but failed. The area was later taken over by Octavius Gass, an American prospector and politician. He renamed the valley Los Vegas Rancho. Las Vegas was not incorporated until 1911. This was due to the Salt Lake and Los Angeles railroad, the San Pedro, arriving in 1905 and connecting Las Vegas to the main railroad systems and the Pacific Ocean. Thousands of workers moved just east of Las Vegas in order to begin construction on the Hoover Dam in 1931. With the influx of workers moving near Las Vegas, showgirl venues and casinos opened up on Fremont Street. With the Hoover Dam completed by 1936, the first flashing signs of Fremont’s “Glitter Gulch” was powered by hydroelectricity.
Las Vegas may have a glamourous facade, but it has deep roots in organized crime. The state of Nevada outlawed gambling in 1910, but illegal casinos and speakeasies continued the practice. East Coast organized crime had found a home in Las Vegas and continued their practices through the legalization of gambling in 1931. The Strip was started with the El Rancho Vegas resort in 1941. It was constructed just outside of the city’s jurisdiction. Most of the casino-hotels that were built afterwards took on an old western theme. But Bugsy Siegel, who was a mobster supported by Meyer Lanksy’s Mexican drug money, opened the resort, the Flamingo, which took on a Hollywood theme rather than old Western. It became majorly popular, as it was attended by celebrities and booked top talent. After Bugsy Siegel’s death in 1947, more mobsters built the Sahara in 1952, the Riviera in 1955, and the Sands in 1952. The casino-hotels attracted up to eight million tourists a year by 1954. This was mostly due to entertainment provided by gambling and celebrities such as Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.
The Nevada Gaming Commission was established in the 1950s. They were responsible for licensing and overseeing gambling operations. By the late 1950s, they were able to reduce the power and freedom of gangsters in Las Vegas by formulating a “Black Book,” which was a book with all the names of individuals with criminal records, and banned everyone in the book from casinos. They also succeeded in getting rid of organized crime through enforcing the law and removing corrupt politicians from their place of power. This led to corporations taking over the casinos.
Las Vegas continued to grow due to its resident entertainers: Elvis Presley, Wayne Newton, Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis, Jr. Its rate of growth reduced during the 1970s recession and after the MGM Grand Hotel fire in 1980. But during this time, Steve Wynn, who was an entrepeneur, took advantage and bought and renovated old casinos. He also built new ones, the most popular being the Mirage in 1989. Las Vegas experienced a jump in population growth in the 1980s. The population increased by over 100,000 people between 1980 and 1990. The area eventually reached a million people in the mid-1990s.
The last of the 1950s era hotels, the Dunes hotel, was demolished, symbolizing a new era of hotels for Las Vegas. With the new century coming about, a new generation of high end and luxurious hotels were being erected. These hotels include the Venetian and the Bellagio. Las Vegas would now be known for its opulence and glamour.
Las Vegas Suicide Risk
Suicide is the action of taking one’s own life. It is one of the darkest aspects of humanity. After becoming self aware as humans, existentialism soon followed. Human beings discovered free will. We could take the action to end our own life instead of solely focusing on surviving to produce offspring, like any other organism in the animal kingdom. In America alone, there are about 1,149,475 suicidal annual attempts. In 2020, 45,979 of those attempts were successful. The cause or causes of suicide and the desire of it are not clearly defined. Émile Durkheim, a French sociologist, argues that suicide can be explained sociologically in his book, Suicide (1897). His theory states that suicide rates are not “the outcome of individual circumstances or mental states,” but the outcome of social processes. “When social interaction weakens, [...] life’s meaning lessen, and the suicide rate increases.” The primary causes of suicide rates defined by Durkheim are “egoism and anomie.” Suicide caused by egoism occurs when there is a “lack of integration within society” and people become hyper-individualistic. Suicide caused by anomie occurs when “traditional rules no longer work to restrain individual aspirations.” Another aspect of the cause of suicide and the desire of it is mental illness. Mental illness is an invisible disease, as it affects the brain. Illnesses range from anxiety disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, to dissociative identity disorder. All can include a side affect of suicidal thoughts. Émile Durkheim argues against this theory, but over 50% of people who die by suicide have major depression.
Las Vegas has the highest rate of suicide out of any other city in America, with 34.5 per 100,000 people annually. This is about twice as high as the rest of the country. The city has a population of about 646,790 people, as of 2021. According to sociologist Matt Wray, both tourists and residents of Las Vegas face a higher risk of suicide.
In Matt Wray’s article, “Leaving Las Vegas: Exposure to Las Vegas and risk of suicide,” the experiment conceptualizes “four different types of potential suicide risk with respect to Las Vegas: (1) risk of suicide among usual residents of Las Vegas [...], (2) risk of suicide among temporary visitors to Las Vegas [...], (3) risk of suicide among Las Vegas residents visiting elsewhere [...], and (4) risk of suicide among travelers in general [...].” The results found that among residents of Las Vegas, risk of suicide are at least 50% greater than any other city. Among temporary visitors to Las Vegas, risk of suicide were doubled. Among Las Vegas residents visiting elsewhere, suicide risk was lowered by 20%. The article comes up with three possible reasons for the rates of suicide risks: ecological effects, “selection effects whereby those predisposed to suicide disproportionately choose Las Vegas to reside in and visit,” and contagion effects. As for ecological effects, Las Vegas is a fast growing town. This means the population growth and demographic change can lead to “social isolation and a lack of community cohesiveness.” As for selection effects, those who are suicidal are more likely to choose Las Vegas as their destination for committing suicide. This could be because they did not want their families to find their body at home or because Las Vegas is seen as a last destination due to its wild reputation. As for contagion effects, “high numbers of suicides tend to lead to even greater numbers over time, as people emulate the suicides of others.”
The true resaons why Las Vegas is the suicide capitol of the Unites States is still unclear. General reasons for suicidal ideation have been identified: easy access to guns, drug or alcohol addiction, isolation, money problems, and relationship problems. Researchers have theorized Las Vegas attracts people who already suffer from gambling addiction, alcohol addiction, and other disorders.
Located about 20 miles outside of downtown Las Vegas, there is a rock formation off of Alamo Road. It is north of Corn Creek and west of Sheep Peak. The site is isolated from the general population, as the nearest town is six miles away. The nearest hospital, Centenntial Hills Hospital, is about a 20 minute drive away. The city is located in the Mojave Desert, which is a subtropical hot desert climate. This means Las Vegas receives long, hot summers and short, mild winters. I chose this city because Las Vegas tries to create this facade of glamour, but the city actually suffers from many deaths by suicide. I also chose this rock formation, as it is isolated from the general population. This allows patients to change their mindest, as their surroundings change. It also physically takes patients out of the environment that caused them stress in the first place.
Final Drawings
Final Model