2011 Juliane GrebJuliane Greb - Psychiatric Hospital Laboe
Different to the “Asylums” described by Goffman and Foucault before the 1970`s psychiatric hospitals today contain many specific entities which are more or less open to the outside, aiming to re-integrate patients back into society and daily life as far as possible.
Laboe, a village at the Kiel bay, is popular among tourists: The beach and the war memorial next to the site – a field of 12.000 square meters- are highly frequented.
Using the site in its full extend, the proposal is to integrate the program psychiatry and the program garden. The Garden is the happy sheltered counterplace that the psychiatric clinic needs to provide but cannot be or represent itself. The Garden with its borders is a concept which is part of everyday life. It is the kind of place one can introduce personal meaning into, where people can mould their freedom, independence and dreams.
A field of different gardens is planned - some public, some for a specific group of people - one for each entity of the hospital. According to the requirements, the house divides the garden into more intimate and open spaces. Height and permeability of the garden wall refers
to the degree of shelter the specific entity needs. Hence the border between the indoor spaces and the garden can be fluent. In contrast to the firm brick garden wall, the house is a simple wood-construction, easy to change or abandon if no longer needed.
Alleys leading through the field to the gardens can be entered at different points along the site. The most sheltered places, the inpatient and locked wards, are only accessible from smaller dead-ends. A narrow footpath, along the backside of the gardens and inside the walls, gives the overnight-patients the opportunity to reach for example the therapy-workshops without using the public alleys.

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