Coalescence
(n.) the joining or merging of elements to form one mass or whole.
Problem Statement
The programmatic conditions in institutional child care lack the nurturing and stimulating environment destitute children need for a healthy psychological development. According to studies done by the department of psychiatry at Tulane University, 53% of children who have been placed in institutions were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder at 54 months.
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The environment in which one grows up is a big factor in their development and institutions are not the ideal environment for a child. Institutional homes are not only secluded from residential or urban spaces creating a boundary between the community and the children in those facilities. The spaces in the facility often have program dysfunction. The spaces are overcrowded, children are placed in massive rooms with rows of beds, there is no privacy, or signs of a home environment.
Thesis Statement
Many children enter residential care because they have been abused in their homes or their parents are unable to support them financially or emotionally. The living conditions that these children have is an institutionalized experience instead of a home environment.
They are placed in large rooms where they wake up surrounded by other children who might be having different issues. Another problem these facilities have is the inability to care for each individual child’s needs.
Although children are placed in these spaces for temporary periods, only 30% get adopted yearly and the other children are forced to make these buildings their childhood homes.
Throughout the thesis, research was made to define common psychological problems children encounter during their placement into childcare facilities as well as the influence of architectural elements on the children’s minds. These studies were done through case studies that showed different ways in which child care residential facilities have tested ways to improve the environment of child development.
The proposed site is testing a different idea of a home environment where children will be able to feed off of positive energy. The purpose is to maintain children active and allow them to choose their activities as they would in the comfort of their home.
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