Close to home

Can architecture help to ensure a better mental health for urban citizens in China?

‘Close to Home’ is a speculative architectural and research project which engages in one of the key challenges of today’s rapidly urbanising world: mental health. Often stigmatised and misinterpreted, mental healthcare facilities in China are typically large, centralised and in-humane institutions located far from the everyday spaces of patients.

Based on a process of interdisciplinary research and design proposals, this project posits a local alternative in the urban setting of Beijing, where mental health care is of immense urgency.

Each intervention is crafted and represented with precision through a range of architectural media which speculate on potential architectural interventions made across the city fabric. In strengthening existing neighbourhood structures the project explores how architecture could play an essential role in ensuring the future mental well-being of urban citizens.