John Lazaro

spaces of mindful healing

Spaces of Mindful Healing is a passion project of mine as it touches upon the topic of mental health. The process of designing this project allowed me to delve deep into this challenging topic. As someone who has dealt with trials and tribulations of the struggles of mental health, I felt very strongly about making this the main focus of my thesis project. It is never easy to address these issues, let alone design for them, but it is crucial to talk about them and seek solutions to these concerns. Although this project is not about solving the mental health crisis, I wanted to explore different ways to help cope with these concerns. Discussing what we are experiencing can be challenging, so allowing people to explore their emotions through architecture might help clarify them.The project allows visitors to go to any of the pavilions they choose. Each pavilion has its own designated space. The idea is to give each pavilion its own standalone experience for visitors to explore. Each one can be experienced on its own, or all together. There is no set order, which allows visitors to explore what works for them and what they choose to experience. It could be one pavilion and then leaving, or experiencing them all, the choice is theirs.

“Escape is a word that can be described as breaking free from confinement or control; as it embodies a sense of freedom or a feeling of being free—many urge to have this in their lives, especially students. Considering the increasing awareness of mental health issues among students, this thesis project explores ways to provide spaces for escapism within educational environments and how spaces can be designed to offer students a reprieve from their busy schedules and promote mental well-being. This exploration will help identify strategies for creating environments that facilitate different emotions/experiences that students may need during mental distress.”