A process of subdivision : creating a therapeutic environment for a Northampton mental health community

Abstract

This thesis explores the fractal behavior of subdivision through the design of a new mental health community in Northampton, Massachusetts. The underlying premise of this thesis is that it is therapeutic for a person to have a sense of place. Creating a sense of place is accomplished through the development of a site plan and building system based on the historical system of plot division and subdivision by which Northampton was formed. Once the principles of Northampton's pattern of subdivision are abstracted, the proposed new site plan becomes an exposition of the operation of these principles. The result is an intensified landscape, with a juxtaposition of a range of sizes from the largest void to the largest solid. These abrupt changes in scale are beneficial both in their architectural and didactic quality. The second part of the thesis explores whether architectural value can be extracted from a land pattern. Through the development of a gym (largest collective size), a prototypical house (smallest individual size), and a library (mid-size), various issues of siting, enclosure, and structure are explored. Through the fractal behavior of subdivision, the smallest elements of a house become integral to the overall site plan, creating a stronger sense of place. The program of a mental health community and the site in Northampton therefore serve as a vehicle to explore the fractal behavior of the city's formation, and to examine to what extent this system of subdivision can be applied to architecture.