Lost Fragments: A Therapy Center to cope with grief in Richmond, Virginia

An exploration began to understand the relationship between architecture and human emotion. Inspired by a personal story of loss, this thesis began to disseminate the five stages of the Elizabeth Kübler Ross model of grief. Each of the stages was studied in depth to find architectural elements that relate to every stage. Furthermore, the elements helped establish a mood and quality of the spaces that were directly associated with program, light, and material.

As the project began to evolve, a series of questions of architectural sequence, material practices, and placemaking followed and with every step, a decision was to be made. This constant decision-making was influenced by sets of conditions and contexts resulting in a methodology specific to a particular site.

This thesis presents a case to look at architecture through a qualitative design process. It endeavors to define and explore elements of architecture to create an experience, that has impact on human emotion.