Mental Health in La Serenissima [Venice]

Mental Health in La Serenissima Sofia Hoch

‘The Healing of the Possessed Man at the Rialto’ painting by the Italian artist Vittore Carpaccio (ca. 1495) was the inspiration for this project. In the 15th Century Venice, the idea of being mad was associated to the idea that the body was possesed and that the mind was separated from the body. The act of ‘healing’ those madman was the expulsion from the main islands to the islands of San Servolo and San Clemente.

the study takes place on gardens selected by space syntax analysis and environmental studies. The first ones are divided into: catchment networks of the institutions with mental facilities, angular step depth from them, normalised choice measurement (radius n) and visibility graphs. The second studies are levels of noise, water and light.

Selection of the gardens The analysis suggested the selection of four gardens that satisfied the matrix of the values assigned to those studies and were suitable to host the re-contextualized therapies (hydrotherapy, herbal therapy, art-music therapy and ergo-therapy). The gardens that correspond to those are: Giardino Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta, Giardino dei Pallazo Loredan dell’Ambasciatore, Giardino Ca Bembo and Giardino dell’ Ordine di Malta.

Since historically madness was isolated from the main islands, the aim of this project is to re-integrate spaces for mental health in the city’s urban structure based on a re-contextualization of the therapies used in the past to treat mental disorders.

Nowadays, in Italy, there are 3 million (nearly 5% of the population) that suffer depression.

This disorder is characterized with a loss of interest in activities and an inability to deal with daily activities (WHO, 2001). Based on this statistics, this project focuses on this population and their spatial needs.

Healing gardens The garden’s design is based on the existing configuration and visual relations. In the case of the garden for hydrotheraphy, its close location to the main hospital and the high through movement but low visibility makes it ideal for a calm atmosphere.

The herbal garden provides structures for growing herbs used as medicine such as lavender, lemond balm and chamomille.

The arts and music garden is adapted to host expressive activities. Finally, the ergotherapeutical garden is the most active and movement inspires its form. In conclusion, a progressive process of recovery integrated in the city can be beneficial to depressive patients in Venice.

Re-contextualization of the therapies In order to understand the current scenario, the Madness Museum in San Servolo guided the historical journey into how madness was treated in the past: pharmacotherapy, hydrotherapy, ergo-therapy, music therapy, and electrotherapy were experimented as treatments for different mental illnesses.

The strategy for the re-contextualization of these therapies was based on the selection of an urban scenario that could heal.

Scientifically, the scenario that has proven to improve mental health is the garden. Hence,

Figure 1. The Giardino Ca Bembo in Dorsoduro, where the herbal therapy was recontextualized

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TORTURES

TREATMENT

MENTAL HEALTH DISCOVERIES

Electrotherapy, straitjackets and other measures for movement restraintment.

EMERGING DESIGN RESEARCH + CRIT 02 + MADNESS IN VENICE + SOFIA HOCH

Figure 2. Museum of Madness (2018) Graphic examples of the therapies and tortures experimented in the San Servolo Asylum.

As seen in this spatial analysis, the closest and more defined spaces reflect behaviours of despair and stray. On the other hand, the rooms with more room and open areas are enjoyed and liberating.

Figure 3. Spatial Analysis based on the Mental Asylum’s documentary film San Clemente by Raymond Depardon and Sophie Ristelhueber (1982)

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This map shows the overlap of Angular Step Depth high values and the complete network from the institutions with mental facilities

Figure 5. Normalised Choice Analysis of the Street Network of Venice (radius n)

Figure 4. Angular Step Depth Analysis from the three Institutions with mental facilities: The Hospital S.S. Giovanni e Paolo, the Palazzo Boldu (daycare center) and the Hospital G.B. Giustinian in Dorsoduro.

The selection of the four gardens based on the angular step depth and the normalised choice: The Giardino Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta, Giradino dei Palazzo Loredan dell’ Ambasciatore, Giardino Ca Bembo and Giardino dell’Ordine di Malta.

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Figure 6. Herbal Garden components: the planting wall , the modular stations for a market display and the triangular bases for herbal planting.

HERBAL THERAPY

GIARDINO BOTANICO

Figure 7. Giardino Ca Bembo, the herbal garden visualization.

[CA BEMBO]

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Ovid utae vollest, ut rati quam sin nullabo.

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VISUAL CONNECTIVITY

Figure 8. Plan and Section of the Giardino Ca Bembo with its context.

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Figure 9. Visibility Graph Analysis with and without access to the piazza.

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