Date of Submission
Spring 5-13-2026
Degree Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Architecture
Department
Architecture
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Ehsan Sheikholharam
Abstract
Addiction in Mexico is often associated with stigma, isolation, and institutional models of rehabilitation that reinforce punishment rather than healing. Many rehabilitation centers remain socially invisible, poorly maintained, and disconnected from the communities they aim to serve, particularly in border cities such as Tijuana, where displacement, instability, and addiction frequently intersect. The project responds to these conditions by exploring how architecture can redefine rehabilitation as a process rooted in dignity, belonging, and renewal rather than shame and confinement.
Grounded in Aaron Antonovsky’s Salutogenic Model and theories of community-centered healing, the proposal reimagines recovery through the concept of work as therapy. Activities such as carpentry, sewing, cooking, and agriculture become tools for routine, identity-building, emotional expression, and reintegration into everyday life. Organized through layered public, semi-public, and private zones, the rehabilitation campus balances visibility, protection, and community engagement while supporting gradual transitions between reflection and social participation.
Housing, communal courtyards, vocational studios, dining spaces, and contemplative environments work together to create a therapeutic framework centered on connection, accountability, and human dignity. By integrating work, community, and healing within a single architectural system, the project positions rehabilitation not as confinement, but as a spatial process of restoration, belonging, and reconnection to society.