Open Collections

Wang, Noa

Beginning in the 19th century, the landscape of death has become engulfed by that of institutions. The nature of death, and the spaces in which we die, have become a highly medical affair which leaves little space for human connection. The hospice offers an alternative space for the final human experience, one which chooses to value present wellbeing and comfort. It strives to deliver the necessary care and peace that is needed at the end of life, and yet the hospice is not always such a suitable place for the dying. This is because the physical spaces that it occupies are still subject to the same culture of concealment and silence regarding death, distancing those near death from their communities, social circles and that which gives their lives meaning. The architecture of the hospice is not free of institutional patterns that seek to treat and monitor, which ultimately fail to truly care for the human being. The simple conclusion that waits for you, me, and everyone else is trapped inside architectural labyrinths of emotional starvation and social isolation. This thesis asks, in what kind of spaces should we be dying? Is there a way to absolve hospice patients of an early social death, by bringing them closer to life rather than hiding them away? The experience of death is a certain and inescapable one, but the hospice has the responsibility to guide how we countenance it, individually and together.

Vancouver (B.C.)

Text

University of British Columbia. ARCH 549

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0432047

Applied Science, Faculty of; Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/