A E I N P A T I E N T
University of Miami | Third Year Studio
Professor Cristina Canton | Spring 2022
As a mental health healing ground, ae inpatient is both a community center and youth inpatient facility. Ae inpatient is inspired by the nature of recovery through mental illnesses itself, with a rigid, oppressive exterior structure that represents the beginning stages of depression and an expansive, healing interior representing the beginning stages of recovery. Triangular panels were chosen to redirect the view of pedestrians and patients towards the edges of their viewframe, to move their eyes up. On the outside, these panels expand the building’s envelope to encroach on the public space. A feeling of discomfort and smallness is felt by those on a pedestrian scale, which symbolises the first stages of a mental illness. As someone walks into the space, it is bright and healing, which symbolises the treatment itself patients receive.
Diagram showing the stages of construction. Triangular mesh panels double as passive cooling strategies as well as help heal patients through the introduction of sunlight and natural ventilation. The other panel material, cross laminated timber advocates for the usage of innovative construction processes and sustainable materials. Cross laminated timber is significantly more sustainable than concrete, one of the most popular construction techniques in Miami.
Isometric Construction Process | 2080 Context
Model | Appeal to Form
AE Inpatient is simplified to its defining element: the form. Strings work to
Mental Heath on a Pedestrian Scale