reconceiving the institution

“There they stand, isolated, majestic, imperious, brooded over by the gigantic water-tower and chimney combined, rising unmistakable and daunting out of the countryside – the asylums which our forefathers built with such immense solidity to express the notions of their day. Do not for a moment underestimate their powers of resistance to our assault. Let me describe some of the defenses which we have to storm.” – Enoch Powell

This project explores the correlations between the socio-architectural archetypes of the ‘institution’ and the ‘home’ as they relate to perceptions of appropriate housing models for dependent people. Indeed, it was not until the 1950s and 60s that the nineteenth century ‘institution’ was deemed archaic, perceived to be representative of a destructive hierarchical system that emphasized administrative control and supervision at the expense of a resident’s basic rights for privacy, autonomy and social connection. Reformers demanded a change, instigating a movement towards more normative and, arguably, more humanitarian approaches that empower the resident, represented both socially and architecturally in the archetype of the contemporary ‘home.’

The ‘institution’ and the ‘home’ present us with ideals, each embodying the desires and beliefs of a particular society at a particular time. However, due to the programmatic and social requirements of this type of housing, neither model is, in itself, fully appropriate. Thus, this project operates as an investigation of the in-between, an attempt to mediate these unique typologies in order to reveal a new housing approach – a reconceived institution – that appropriately balances the benefits of administrative support emphasized by the ‘institution’ with the benefits of resident autonomy and control exemplified by the ‘home.’

My project explores these qualities through applying them to the design of a permanent, supportive home for chronically alcoholic homeless individuals in Wellington city. My project utilizes two Wellington buildings – the Wellington Fever Hospital and a new home in Porirua – in order to explore the institution-home dichotomy. These buildings provide a physical analogy of the societal transformation that has occurred, an attribute that I intend to exploit. The resultant design will be formed through creating a dialogue between the old ideas expressed by the institution and the new ideas expressed by the home. In essence, the Fever Hospital will provide the foundation onto which the Porirua home will be physically and symbolically overlaid, emphasizing their distinction and alluding to the creation of a reconceived institution.

Based on my findings, I was able to create a synthesized solution that drew on a variety of sources, including feedback from actual users. Specifically, through comparing the archetypes of ‘institution’ and ‘home’, it was possible to identify five specific spatial qualities that render the institution inappropriate (and the home appropriate) for contemporary notions of suitable housing for dependent individuals. These traits, in turn, suggest ways in which supportive housing could be ‘reconceived’ to spatialize mechanisms of distributed control, and thus empower both staff and residents.

+ report: covers resultant design methodology and in depth account of the spatial qualities that distinguish “institution” and “home”

+ blog: documentation of the project’s development