Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness: A Mental Therapy Retreat

Abstract

In America alone, 19 million people live with depression. Untreated depression is the leading cause of suicide in the United States and the third leading cause of death between 18-25 year olds. The aim of the project was guided based on the idea that we could take sadness as a manifestation in order to allow the possibility of controlling and manipulating it. The idea was based on a well documented understanding that melancholia creates a permeable boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness. In melancholia there is an internalization of behaviors that insulate and isolate the individual. With this level of introspection also comes an underlying gift of deep passion, curiosity and cognition. This gift brings a deep understanding to the workings of the world. It is in this dual reality that lies a realm of complexity and possibility. This understanding of depression led me to believe in how powerful and how necessary the simple yet essential feeling of hope was. The concept of hope seems like an illusion but sometimes it\'s the only thing you have. The hope is what keeps you going and allows a tangible identity to sanity. How can architecture reflect hope and how can a space help the weary hearted? These questions pleaded for answers and this thesis is a result of the search. The search for a better place in our minds. The desire for a hope that we are not prisoners to our sadness

The quest for answers laid its journey on a cliff edge on the Olmsted Island of Great Falls, MD ; a site amplified with majestic soaring views and soundscapes of water and nature that accentuate the program of an alternative mental therapy retreat.