1. As the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States, Alzheimer’s disease
currently affects approximately 5.3 million Americans.1
With no known cure, the
disease primarily targets neuron cells, diminishing the brain’s ability to make neural
connections vital to normal functioning. As a result, progressive memory loss occurs
and eventually, the body loses its ability to perform even basic tasks.
Begun as an investigation into the philosophical mind-body debate, the design
seeks to reconcile the disparity between the mind and body that occurs as a
result of Alzheimer’s disease. Although Rene Descartes set off the mind-body
debate with his theory of dualism, current theory postulates that the mind is merely a
function of the brain which completes specific processes known as mental states.
The mind/brain and body can work in tandem, though, to both perceive and relate to
the world around us; as Michel Foucault puts it, though they may be “set off against
each other, [they are] implicated by each other.”2
Ideally, the mind and body should
exist in a continuous state of equilibrium; utilizing physical space to dissolve
boundaries and instigate interaction and integration between the mind and body
can therefore act to resolve the conflicts and setbacks between the two that
inhibit this sense of balance.
1 Alzheimer’s Association website, http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp
2 Michel Foucault, "Of Other Spaces." Architecture/ Mouvement/ Continuite 5. (1984).
WASHINGTON D.C.
SUNLIGHT STUDY
yraunajlirpaylujrebotco
mp3mp21ma9 6 pm overlay
0 175 350 525
SITE RELATIONSHIPS
SYNAPTIC SYNERGY: INTEGRATING THE MIND AND BODY
A CENTER FOR ALZHEIMER’S RESEARCH AND TREATMENT
12 PM9 AM
1600’
800’
400’
200’
3 PM 6 PM
NO SUNLIGHT
OVERLAY
JANUARYAPRILJULYOCTOBER

2. PROGRAMMATIC ORGANIZATIONGENERAL CIRCULATION
FORM DETERMINATION
USABLE AREA OF SITE PROTECTIVE BORDER FOR
ALZHEIMER’S PATIENTS
SETBACK FROM MAIN
ENTRY STREET
REMOVAL OF INTERNAL AREA FOR
ALZHEIMER’S GARDEN
ACCOMMODATION OF
EXISTING BUILDING
S Y N A P S E :
from the Greek syn- ‘together’ and haptein ‘to clasp’
n. the junction across which a nerve impulse passes from an axon terminal to a neuron
AXON_ TRAJECTORY
NEURON_ PROGRAM
SYNAPSE_JUNCTION OF
CONNECTIVITY
[L] SYNAPTIC FIRING: from http://www.biologynews.com.au/2008-09/
[R] SYNAPTIC CLEFT: from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=keeping-up-with-the-neurons
ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY
X ? Y
X S Y
Many contemporary Alzheimer’s care facilities primarily employ aesthetic or material
strategies to comfort and orient patients, but these objectives are seemingly forgotten when
designing the basic structure of these facilities. Although these strategies are helpful, are they
really able to mentally exercise and stabilize patients? What if the space around patients is
the mental exercise, inherently reorienting and navigating them with surface strategies as a
second layer?
A ‘synaptic overlay’ demonstrates an organizational structure that guides users along
determined points in a trajectory, much as synapses guide neurotransmitters between
neurons. In this analogy neurons can be thought of as programmatic elements; axons can be
considered trajectories; and synapses become junctions of connectivity and integration. As
Alzheimer’s disease is responsible for reducing synaptic activity in the brain, patients have
difficulty linking together pieces of information; to help them better retain spatial linkages,
special programmatic spaces [‘s’ spaces or junctions of connectivity] are always situated
between two other main programmatic elements to aid patients’ navigation and orientation
through the building.

3. NORTH-SOUTH SECTION
0 32 64 96
GROUND FIRST
SECONDBELOW
SCALE STRUCTURAL MODEL

4. RESIDENT
GROUND FIRST SECOND
RESEARCHER
VISITOR
USER INTERACTION PATHS
FACADE MATERIALITY
OPAQUE PAINTED METAL FRITTED GLAZING TRANSPARENT GLAZING
LIBRARY INTERNAL THERAPEUTIC GARDEN SUNROOM
In addition to the synaptic overlay strategy, the facility is also
designed to promote interaction between Alzheimer’s
patients and Alzheimer’s researchers and doctors. Not only
do these interactions provide positive mental exercise for the
patients, but they also encourage direct involvement on the part
of researchers and doctors to actually see and understand the
patients rather than studying from remote locations.
Programmatic elements such as the library, therapeutic
garden, and sunroom (as ‘s’ spaces) also serve as points of
connection for these users in order to provide more
one-on-one contact than the typical hallway may allow.
The facility’s facade is also utilized as part of the patients’
experience by employing opaque, translucent, and transparent
elements to vary the degree of visibility and exposure to the
external environment. These measures serve to calm, focus,
and orient agitated patients.