Date of Submission
Spring 5-12-2026
Degree Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Architecture
Department
Architecture
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Ameen Farooq
Abstract
The study of U.S. Veterans mental illness presents a unique opportunity to explore how architecture can respond to the psychological, emotional and economic struggles through spaces that provide solutions beyond conventional institutional healthcare models. Findings suggest that veterans continue to experience complex forms of trauma, including but not limited to, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) and existing clinical spaces are often disconnected, making the reintegration back into society harder. This study will examine how architecture can shift its focus from housing a facility to becoming part of the process by integrating housing, therapeutic spaces and community reintegration within a unified framework. The study will begin with a historical timeline, analyzing the evolving methods used to combat mental illness from the Civil War up to contemporary battles. This context reveals a pattern, in which invisible injuries have been misunderstood, minimized and treated in isolated clinical spaces. Although mental illness understanding has progressed, therapeutic spaces have remained institutional, keeping the focus on cure rather than process. This research also explores theories of spatial perception to understand how built environments influence the safety, emotions and senses of its users through biophilic designs, color theory, multisensory experience and neuroarchitecture. This framework suggests that healing can be more effective when users interact with their environments. Findings suggest that safety, familiarity, and choice are essential in mental growth and elements such as light, materiality, acoustics, scale, and spatial awareness have a critical role in shaping neurological and emotional responses. While findings reveal that veteran housing development, institutional resource centers and therapeutical support facilities are successful, it also identifies limitations when acting independently. The study finds a gap between reintegration, healing, and living spaces, proposing a framework that balances the merger of all three programs to create a smoother transition and easier access for the healing process. It can help enhance social interaction, community unity, a sense of belonging and gradual transitions with its surrounding context. This research contributes to a broader discussion in architecture and urban design by reinterpreting healing spaces as process rather than a solution.