IN TSIRA: TRAUMA-INFORMED ARCHITECTURE FOR SURVIVIORS OF VIOLENCE IN NORTHERN NIGERIA
Disciplines
Architecture | Development Studies | Environmental Design | Environmental Studies | Geography | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social Justice | Urban, Community and Regional Planning | Urban Studies and Planning
Abstract (300 words maximum)
This thesis asks a focused question about how trauma-informed and sustainable design strategies in wellness centers can foster safety, healing, agency and empowerment for women and children survivors of gender-based violence in Northern Nigeria. Trauma-informed design centers safety and steadiness, using clear layouts, gentle light and sound, and consistent cues to lower triggers, while giving users real control over light, air, and privacy. Sustainability is framed as climate smart practice that adapts to local conditions through deep shade, glare free daylight, cross ventilation, rainwater capture, solar power, and repairable local materials. The proposal is set on a city edge site in Northern Nigeria and draws on compound traditions and daily movement patterns. Nature is used as a design tool through shaded courts, trees, water, and productive gardens that support therapy, routine, and livelihood. The scholarly context shows growing interest in trauma informed and biophilic strategies, yet findings are largely qualitative, Western centered, and hard to replicate in places like Northern Nigeria where survivors may face ostracization, bereavement, interrupted schooling, and complex reintegration with children and extended families across wide catchment areas. Methodology combines literature review, cultural mapping, and site analysis with program testing, adjacency modeling, and section first environmental simulations, and sets measurable outcomes for safety, healing, agency, and empowerment. Expected results include a transferable design framework and a design prototype organized by layered courts that pair care with education and livelihood, for example counseling beside clinic, and skills training beside childcare and a small market edge. The contribution is both design and method, offering spatial rules of thumb, evaluation metrics, and a phased delivery plan with local partners so that architecture can move beyond shelter to support recovery, dignity, and long-term reintegration.
Portions of this thesis used AI assistance for idea generation, outlining, and language refinement. I verified and edited all content and conclusions are my own.
Use of AI Disclaimer
yes
Academic department under which the project should be listed
CACM – Architecture
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
ROBIN PUTTOCK
IN TSIRA: TRAUMA-INFORMED ARCHITECTURE FOR SURVIVIORS OF VIOLENCE IN NORTHERN NIGERIA
This thesis asks a focused question about how trauma-informed and sustainable design strategies in wellness centers can foster safety, healing, agency and empowerment for women and children survivors of gender-based violence in Northern Nigeria. Trauma-informed design centers safety and steadiness, using clear layouts, gentle light and sound, and consistent cues to lower triggers, while giving users real control over light, air, and privacy. Sustainability is framed as climate smart practice that adapts to local conditions through deep shade, glare free daylight, cross ventilation, rainwater capture, solar power, and repairable local materials. The proposal is set on a city edge site in Northern Nigeria and draws on compound traditions and daily movement patterns. Nature is used as a design tool through shaded courts, trees, water, and productive gardens that support therapy, routine, and livelihood. The scholarly context shows growing interest in trauma informed and biophilic strategies, yet findings are largely qualitative, Western centered, and hard to replicate in places like Northern Nigeria where survivors may face ostracization, bereavement, interrupted schooling, and complex reintegration with children and extended families across wide catchment areas. Methodology combines literature review, cultural mapping, and site analysis with program testing, adjacency modeling, and section first environmental simulations, and sets measurable outcomes for safety, healing, agency, and empowerment. Expected results include a transferable design framework and a design prototype organized by layered courts that pair care with education and livelihood, for example counseling beside clinic, and skills training beside childcare and a small market edge. The contribution is both design and method, offering spatial rules of thumb, evaluation metrics, and a phased delivery plan with local partners so that architecture can move beyond shelter to support recovery, dignity, and long-term reintegration.
Portions of this thesis used AI assistance for idea generation, outlining, and language refinement. I verified and edited all content and conclusions are my own.